does creosote kill ivy?

if it does I want some.....not bloody creocoat .....

All the durable ones tend to be somewhat toxic and high VOC (some of them deliberately so to stop the wood from rotting).

Avoid any with a pigment formulation you want a penetrating wood stain rather than something that sits on the surface and then flakes off. There is an expensive Dutch one Sikkens(?sp) that is a base coat clear technology the first coat to colour and the second to do UV protection. It is expensive but it did a good job on the VH picnic tables (probably overkill for a fence though).

The other option is a rot proof hardwood like opepe (hell to work with).

Pointless. You can kill ivy by lopping stems off above the ground and just pulling. I let some survive in my garden for the birds at this time of year the ripe ivy berries are a very useful food reserve. I also have the root parasite of ivy Orobanche hederae aka Ivy Broomrape.

It doesn't do much to stop the vigour but it must do something. It doesn't grow as vigorously up here as it does down south.

Ground ivy is my problem, till it finds the garage wall. I regularly abuse it with this

I agree pigment/water based finishes are very short lived.

I'll explore the Sikkens range. I have used their products in the past

Well it killed my honeysuckle a few years ago. I'm not a botanist though. Brian

If you go to a Dulux decorator centre and tell them what you want to do they will be able to advise on the options and prices. You can always walk away again if the options are too expensive.

Sheds tend to have rubbish grade products in that simply don't last.

That's surprising. Honeysuckle is tough as old boots.

Ivy and holly seedlings will often survive a direct hit with glyphosate

- their shiny waxy coating is that impervious.

only dozy dotes kill ivy

No kidding :-)