Gardening Methods

Established ivy bed on hillside………?

I had an established ivy bed removed from a hillside several years ago. The ivy was removed and the soil tilled and then covered with landscape mat and mulched. The new garden is a mixture of shrubs and perennial grasses, none of which is doing well. The main problem is moisture, I suspect that the mat is preventing the plants from getting enough water. My question is this, if I remove the mat, will my ivy come back? The mat has been down for three years, but the ivy still appears through the mat occasionally.

Ivy is the devil weed. I am surprised that you only have a few sprouts after 3 years.
If you used landscaping fabric as the ” mat ” you described than water does penetrate it. However the hill side is going to , of course , shed the water down hill.
If indeed water is the problem than I would lay down soaker hose. i would think that would soak the soil Rather than run off.
removing that mat will be a pain but you could and then lay the soaker hose and then re install the mat.
Mulch heavily.

How To Install A Perma-Mulch Tree Mat