Poison Ivy Removal

Okay, someone else mentioned this in minor rants, so I figured I'd jump in. Any advice on getting rid of poison ivy?

Our house backs up against basically swampland. Now that I have actually learned what poison ivy looks like (Hooray. [/Cyril Figgis]), boy is there ever a lot of it around the house, especially in the back "yard". Back "yard" is basically 10'x40' of weeds between the patio and the swamp.

So, what's the best way to kill this all? I'm thinking gratuitous application of poison. I'd be perfectly happy to just nuke all the other weeds back there. Don't want to kill the nice big trees though.

I've sprayed nearly a gallon of weed killer that specifically mentions poison ivy back there. Not sure that was quite enough for a sufficient application to really kill things. Some plants looking wilted, but the vast majority still look quite healthy. I can see some unharmed poison ivy.

Anything I can do better to kill it all? Once it's actually dead, how do I clear it?

Gotta get a goat...

On a more serious note, following because everywhere that's not what passes for grass in our yard has patches of poison ivy. We are in the city limits, so the livestock solution is out for us.

For big poison ivy vines that are climbing up a tree, put some thick rubber gloves on and cut the vines. I sometimes get a cheapie pruners for hacking up poison ivy and throw it away after use.

For smaller poison ivy, spray all the leaves with Roundup. Or pull it up by the roots with thick rubber gloves.

I'm interested as well. I've cut the vines that were running up 7-8 trees in my yard so all the poison ivy in the trees dies out. I have applied the poison ivy/weed killer to some of the smaller plants with varied success.

Poison Ivy specific weed killer does indeed work, but often seems to require repeat applications. If you really have a lot of it and large vines, some manual removal and disposal is probably going to be required for best results.

WilD wrote: Poison Ivy specific weed killer does indeed work, but often seems to require repeat applications. If you really have a lot of it and large vines, some manual removal and disposal is probably going to be required for best results.

I've also used some of the hints that others use- such as a tablespoon of simple dish soap will help the effectiveness of the killer.

One thing to add to the cutting the vines- if you can paint the stump with some killer, that helps, as well.

The vines going up the trees I pulled off as much as I could and cut a big chunk out. The vines I did that to look like they're dead/dying.

I guess it is just going to be a case of buying more weed killer and doing repeated applications.

it probably goes without saying but...

don't burn it, don't cut it with the lawnmower, be careful what you touch if you are grabbing it with rubber gloves...

and DON'T get it on your hootus.

Round-up.

There is a large area beside my house that is dead because of poison ivy. I nuked it early this spring.

^ We have used that quote numerous times in this process.

I'm keeping myself fully covered when I go out there. I actually wore one of those disposable painters' coveralls last time. Given how many applications I think this is going to take, I will probably just step it back to regular clothes each time and washing them right after.

Full body tyvek suit, with gloves and face mask.

Now that you have a full body condom on, weed wacker everything, and coat with an nice layer of salt and or poison.

If some of it happens to be growing on power lines our power poles, see if you can make it the power company problem. Mine has come out to properties with a helicopter dangling a giant saw blade and cleared out property. Well, at least they did it so we could install a bill board. It might have been expensive, it might have been paid by the power company I'm not sure.

I've also considered getting large drop clothes and laying a bunch of those out, weighting them down,and leave them for a couple weeks. Just smother everything. Any thoughts on how effective that would be or not? Would that result in an easier or more difficult mess to clean up than tyvek suit, weed whack, and poison?

Don't weedeat it. That's bad idea #1. All those little chunks go somewhere. Many on you.

Don't burn it. It can get in your lungs. That can go spectacularly wrong.

Spray it and let it die in place. Spray it repeatedly if necessary. Round-Up doesn't sterilize the soil, so the grass will recover with time, or you can replant it.

Oh, and it's a vine. If you cover it with drop cloths, it will just run out from under them and keep growing.

travellering wrote: Gotta get a goat... .

There's a place in Massachusetts that rents goats specifically for this purpose. They come to your place, set up a temporary electric fence and then drop a few goats in for a few days. They eat everything, including invasive plants like poison ivy and pricker bushes. When it's gone, they come back, wrangle the goats and remove the fence. It's brilliant.

I thought this was going to be about how to get Poison ivy off of one's self after being exposed to it.

We have a ~3 acre bit of land, and I've been fighting war on the PI since we bought it a few years ago. Every year, right about this time of year, I come down with a nasty case of PI and end up in the emergent care getting a steroid shot and a prescription for prednosone.

I always take full precautions- gloves, long sleeves, long pants, etc. Wash all clothes after exposure. Shower with Dawn dish detergent. Doesn't seem to matter.

Getting it out by the roots seems to be the only way to do it. We have a wooded area full of oaks that have the vines climbing up them- some the vine trunks are 2" in diameter. I just leave them be.

Even my wife, who is adamantly anti-herbicides, has said we may just have to go buy some commercial herbicides to nuke the PI. We tried 20% vinegar last year- it wilted some of it but it came back.

My mother always told me never to burn poison ivy with a flamethrower.

No, seriously, she did. I'm not quite sure why she expected me to need such a specific warning.

I just bought a gallon of vinegar to try w/ dish soap/water on the giant vine covering our neighbors house. It's a rented group house, so no one there, nor the owner, are going to take responsibility for it but I don't want it to spread. It's primarily running up the brick for the chimney, but it's grown into and out if all the siding/window trim/soffits. I'm hoping to kill back the leaves enough to be able actually get at the root vines and cut it.

Roundup Poison Ivy. You can get it at Walmart either pre-diluted or concentrate. I buy the concentrate, as I have 10 acres of the stuff. I keep a spray bottle loaded with the mix and when I walk through the woods, I spray every poison ivy leaf I see. After a couple years of doing this, I have really cut down on the stuff.

Hot mix of farm supply Trimec will take care of poison ivy and generally leave the grass alive, which gives a faster recovery than roundup.

Pave it all for parking project car.

Brian wrote: Pave it all for parking project car.

Are you suggesting that we pave paradise and put up a parking lot?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgMEPk6fvpg

1988RedT2 wrote:

Brian wrote: Pave it all for parking project car.

Are you suggesting that we pave paradise and put up a parking lot? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgMEPk6fvpg

At least you linked the original version. I hated the '03 cover.

When "Nuke it from orbit" is an option on the table, I would be hesitant to describe it as paradise.

Yeah. It's not paradise. It's the edge of an Ohio swamp. I like that there's swamp back there, but would not feel there is great loss by pushing it back an extra 10-20 feet.

I use this:

http://www.roundup.com/smg/goprod/roundup-concentrate-poison-ivy-killer/prod70320

Just always have a spray bottle around premixed to make it easy to spray from time to time as new seedlings pop up. I've been fighting ivy on our 3.5 acres for 2.5 years and it still pops up each spring. Gotta stay diligent!