Painting - Prepping for ivy remains

We have a spanish style home with stucco. We took down some ivy that was growing up the wall and now there are little feet where the ivy attached itself to the house. How do we prep for this? Can we paint over them? They are next to impossible to remove. I already tried using a wire brush. Thank you.

They are tough buggers to remove. Many people give up and paint over them. The job will always look bad.
Ways that have been successful: 1> powerwashing with a 10-15 degree tip. 2> Treating with a lye solution to soften, then brushing with a stiff brush. 3> treating with an enzyme to soften or dissolve them. The enzyme idea sounds ideal, but it is the slowest and the most expensive way. 4> "burning" them with a strong muriatic acid and water solution, along with scrubbing.

Thank you 2000! I will give your suggestions a try.

I have a frame house with wood composite siding that had ivy on it. I took the ivy down, it was to the point of covering up the 2nd floor windows, and am left with the "feet" as well as some damage on the lower edge of the siding in some places. I will be interested to hear of the results of trying the methods suggested. So far I have tried scraping - poor; water - poor; detergent - poor. I am concerned that anytihng strong enough to take these off will also dissolve the siding! I'm hoping to paint this place this fall, so any comments would be appreciated.

Good luck.