Poison Ivy control

I have successfully used Vine-X for several difficult vines including PI, but still kept finding young PI vines around the yard. Just recently I noticed some "different" leaves way up in an oak tree and discovered it was PI. This was obviously where most of the seeds were coming from.

I painted the bottom 12" of the vine (which was well camoflaged in the tree bark) with the Vine-X about 9 days ago. This is a photo of the stem and you can see the part I painted and how well hidden the vine was.

This is the part with leaves today. The leaves started about 15' to 20' up the vine.

what is poison ivy? Is it a type of nettle???

Poison Ivy is a vine, not a nettle; it has an oil (urishol?) that will cause a serious rash on many people if they come in contact with the leaves or the stem. If you burn the plant the oil can vaporize with the smoke and irritate some folks. Often a pet will come in contact with the vine and bring the oil into your home.

There is plenty of Poison Ivy in Georgia; google it and learn what to look out for.

I usually just take a machete and sever the vine near the base. Birds eat the berries in Fall and deposit the seeds all over the place!

I've done that with little success Darius. They come back so quickly in this area. Now I have eliminated the berries so hopefully I'll have fewer vines to deal with next year. They have just cleared the lot behind us for a new McMansion and that was the last of the wild wooded areas. I'll miss the birds but I won't miss the PI seeds.
Vine-X does in my other nemesis Smilax also.

thank you Ardesia.

Ardesia, can I get Vine-X at Lowe's or Wal-Mart? I'll need about 50 gallons of the stuff! LOL

Thanx for the tip!

This message was edited Aug 3, 2006 9:21 PM

If (when) you get into poison ivy, asap wash off w/ a good oil cutting soap ( I use GoJo). I keep on hand several bottles of a homeopathic remedy made by Hyland's..."Poison Ivy/Oak Control". Little sugar pills that work better than anything else I've tried (everything). They're safe, and I just take a few pellets whenever I start itching, and I swear, I can be PI rash free in a wk or less! NO JOKE!!

A few years ago, I spent hours sitting on the front porch watching a dead tree outside the fence. It was covered with woodpeckers and poison ivy. At any given time, we would see up to 4 different varieties. We had a couple of pileated, some downies, ladderbacks, even a flicker which is rare for us to see here. They were devouring the berries from PI. Today we have PI all over the place! I put on leather gloves and pull it up by the roots. Also use roundup type killer, haven't tried vine x but will look into it...

I live in a rural area and have to order most everything online. I have never seen it at WalMart or Lowe's. It is expensive but the bottle has a little built-in brush and you only paint about 6" at the bottem of the stem/trunk so it goes a long way. On small plants you only use drops of the liquid.. I did 12" on the vine I pictured because it was an old vine that went almost 20' up into a tree.
If you google VIne-X you will come up with the company site which lists where you can buy or order it.

Thanx Again for the tip! Will do...