I m new, just inherited a new garden, and have been told we have Poison Ivy.
What can we do ?
thanks !
Eaten alive
If you or a family member is highly sensitive to it, wear long sleeve shirts and gloves while trying to eradicate it or get an experienced person to take care of it for you. Wash clothes and gloves after working around it and perhaps any tools that came in contact with it as well.
This is what I've done for getting rid of poison ivy. I cut it at the ground level if the vines are growing up trees, fences (let the leaves alone if you are highly sensitive to it) with pruners or hatchet if the vines are very thick. I spray younger plants and any new emerging plants (the ones I cut earlier) with a strong weed killer/brush killer/poison ivy killer. I stay on top of it to get rid of it all which may include digging up roots if weed killer does not eliminate it entirely. I do not weed whack it since this can send the leaf bits everywhere along with the oil that cause the skin reaction. If I cut the vine or sprayed the leaves I wait until they are quite dried out before pulling them down with gloves or a tool (never a bare hand). Dispose of all parts in a trash bag.
You can wait until cold weather kills the leaves and then attack the vines but still take precautions against contact with the skin as the vines may cause some reactions. You may forget where it is if the leaves are gone so you can mark the area with spray paint or some other kind of reminder.
Burning even dried leaves releases the oils in the smoke, so avoid breathing the smoke esp important. It does go dormant after a few freezes and makes you able to deal with being around it. If you are told to use vinegar spray on it during spring and summer months instead of the brush killers(roundup for tuff problems) be aware this is a commercial strength vinegar. It works, but anything you use will still be in the soil after all is said and done. Some folks roll up a plastic or paper cone to direct the flow, or prevent the overspray from killing anything nearby with a cardboard 'wall'.
Have even heard of folks using the little vials that florists use to keep blooms fed as poison feeders on tough vines like smilax. Dont think I would try it on the poison trio tho, chuckl. Since the vine spreads so fast underground as well as above ground- be aware you are only killing the tops and the roots will remain and return if not dug out ...
Persistence will pay off though. I had vines as thick as my wrist when I moved into our house. I chopped them at the base of the trees they were climbing and let them fall down on their own which took a year or two. The smaller ones are easy enough to spray and spray again if you go that route - deprived of sunlight they will eventually die, root and all.
Eventually you will get rid of them all but you must stay diligent for new seedlings brought in from the birds. Usually a squirt of weed killer is all you need on seedlings. I usually get two to three new ones each year. I'm now cleaning my daughter's backyard of weeds and I sprayed the poison ivy where I saw it and pulled it down after four weeks. Naturally it can hide under rose bushes, wisteria, and other bushes close to the ground. Get after it like a bulldog and don't let it beat you.