poison ivy invasion

Ok, so I have inherited my house and all the gardens that come with it. The gardens, which are many, have not been dealt with for a very long time. I have cleaned some out and decided it is best to give them a year of observation to determine what is growing. (This decision came after I accidentally ripped up a bunch of hostas not knowing what they were because they hadn't come up yet.) Things seem to be going well surprisingly.
Except for in two areas I have a MAJOR poison ivy problem. Now as I am HIGHLY allergic to poison ivy I can't very well go in there and clean it all out by hand. I have some really cool plants in there, I think. I'm fairly certain I have roses, hostas, bleeding hearts, a bayberry bush, holly bushes, coriopsis, phlox, irises, day lillies, and who knows what else in there. The big problem is I am trying to go as all natural as possible. I thought of possibly coating my entire body in tea tree oil soap (which has appeared to dry up my poison ivy rashes super fast) wearing a thousand layers of clothes and just risking the rash, but I'd really rather not. Any suggestions for a natural way to deal with this?

Hire a landscaper, handyman, etc. to come in and remove the poison ivy for you.

Asking neighbors you don't like, small children, etc. to help also come to mind! LOL.. Just kidding.

This message was edited May 20, 2009 10:15 AM

I asked one of my co-workers ( I am a substitute teacher) and she said the same thing and recommended maybe hiring a few students to do it. I instantly started compiling a list in my head of all the students I would love to see covered in poison ivy! I guess no matter how hard I try to be nice to them a mean thought here or there sneaks in! I would never do it, but thinking about it sure made me get through the next class better!

I guess I am one of the lucky ones. I get a little itchy for a couple days but thats about it. I have an entire bed being over run by the stuff and have decided to wait till fall and dig up everything to be kept and trans plant to another area. Until then I am using round up at twice recomended strength to keep it at bay. I wish you best of luck! My neighbors who are highly allergic are having a landscaper come in in the fall to deal with thiers.

g, rather than use Roundup at twice recommended strength, you might use it at recommended strength and then if any happens to regrow make another application. It's not going to do any more good at twice rec. strength anyway.

I know you were kidding about using students to do it, but can you imagine the outcome if any of them came down with a bad reaction?
Fun to fantasize about though.

Poison ivy is super tough, so you need brush b- gone or something just for poison ivy. Any spray you use can kill any surrounding plants so you can brush it on with a paintbrush and you can put it just where you need it, leaves and roots.

brushing means getting closer, and therefore creates a hazard for the one doing the application. Is brush b-gone a brand name for 2-4,D? It will do a good job, but Roundup is also an all-purpose herbicide. There isn't any product that is "just for poison ivy." It sounds as if this is a large area, so brushing would take forever and just isn't practical. If there are valued plants nearby that could be affected by a drift of the mist, (and this should be done on a still day) they can be covered with layers of newspaper or old sheets or something.

http://lawn-and-garden.hardwarestore.com/77-488-brush-killer/ortho-brush-b-gon-poison-ivy-killer-274241.aspx

I sympathize with you on the poison ivy. My wife and daughter just have to look at it or so it seems to get a painful rash that sometimes requires medical attention. I'm less sensitive to it but I wouldn't grab a handful of it either.

In this case, hiring someone is probably the best idea as long as you let them know what they are getting into.

When I started cleaning up our lot I cut it with pruners close to the ground, used a hatchet to cut the thick vines that were growing up some trees (I just let the vines die that were up the trees and raked up the debris the next year), and dug up roots where I could. I tried to handle the cut vines and leaves with a rake or pruners so I wouldn't have skin contact and threw the cuttings in a trash bag (DO NOT BURN). Now when I see small piece of it come up either from missed roots or seeds from birds, I spray with brush killer or a stronger RoundUp that advertises it kills poison ivy. Persistence does pay off but it may take a couple of years or longer to get rid of it all.

I spayed the poison ivy I found with round up and covered my plants in plastic with muslin covering the plastic. The muslin absorbed any spray and kept it from dripping and the plastic protected my plants.

The stuff I wanted to actually dig up I did by wearing long sleeves and rubber gloves and over that I put a double layer of plasic grocery bags. I pulled the poison ivy out by the roots with my bag covered hand then just pulled the bags over it all and headed straight to the trash. I used one set of bags per root I pulled and just made sure the PI was in the bag completely before I threw it in the trash.

Unfortunately we found it when my son was digging up some unwanted shrubs and he ended up on steriods due to his severe reaction.

Yep, steroids sounds like typical treatment at the clinic. We spent our first day of vacation in Orlando at a walk in clinic for our daughter a couple of years ago. Steroids helped tremendously.

My wife had it so bad a few years ago she was referred to an infectious disease doctor. The nurse said it looked bad but she has seen worse. It looked like a huge bruise.

I usually get a little itching but usually can ignore it. A few days of Caladryl usually does the trick for me.

The investment in a workman/woman would be worth every penny! Call two or three yard services, explain what you have and what you want done and then when you choose a someone, put everything in writing. You may have to have someone come out twice this year and again next spring, but getting rid of the poison ivy will be worth the investment.
Since you are sensitive you really don't want to tackle this project yourself, no matter what protective clothing you wear. Think of all the plants that will be uncovered/rescued and the cost of replacing them. A hired worker is cheap in comparison!

I have a friend who had a log on the fire in the winter that had a vine of it and ended up in the hospital for three weeks. PLEASE be very careful or hire someone to come in and do it for you.

If you decide to tackle this yourself, be especially careful. Tecnu is a brand of poison ivy scrub that I use if I accidently get into it. Remember any tools, gloves, and clothes that you have on must also be cleaned carefully or thrown away.

I would be concerned over a lawsuit if someone you hired became seriously ill and required hospitalization. You would certainly need an ironclad written contract signed by them explaining the dangers involved and releasing you from any consequences resulting from their exposure.

Thank you so much for the advice. The trash bag idea, I think, is my best bet at this point. I'd love to hire someone but I definitely don't have the funds this year. This morning after I posted this thread I went out there for a closer look and decided, perhaps stupidly and stubbornly, that this garden will not defeat me. I cleared a way all the non poison ivy weeds and left the rest for my husband (who is definitely NOT allergic to it) I went directly in the house and took a steaming bath in tea tree oil soap and I guess I'm just hoping for the best. Thanks for all the input!

I am not a doctor and am not vain enough to give medical advice, but I can repeat what I have been told by a doctor. He said that people who have never had an allergic reaction to poison ivy before can develop one at any stage of their life. It can depend on a lot of things like the state of your immune system. My humble opinion is that everyone should respect the danger of contamination by poison ivy "oils" and avoid it just as if they were indeed allergic to it. For the record, I'm not a young man, and so far I've never had an outbreak, but I am as careful as can be. Why take chances?

That's right, poison ivy is a sensitizer which means if you are repeatedly exposed to it you can become allergic to it even if you haven't had a reaction before so he definitely needs to be careful. However, if he takes proper precautions when removing it that shouldn't be a problem, but make sure he wears long pants/long sleeves, gloves, etc.

Sylvaire, Oh gee do i feel for you. I'm having the same problem in my flowers and i'll have to hire it done. He'll be told what he's getting into. I'll have to scrimp somewhere else to pay for it but it will be worth it.
Everyone in my family is allergic. I did'nt use to be. Guess i hiked and camped in these woods too much.
Anyway good luck whichever way you go.
Vickie

Good luck. If you want more details on the trash bag idea DM me. I know the warrior mode I was there 2 weeks ago.

Thank you all so much! I'll keep you posted on how it goes.

I'm more walking proof of developing reactions to this stuff! When I was younger I pulled it for the whole neighborhood because it didn't effect me. I would pull it bare handed!! I had my first ever reaction last summer in my 39th year! It wasn't horrible - just kinda strange. I got these blisters of varying sizes and the fluid inside turned blackish blue after a day or two. I didn't pop any intentionally although a few did burst through scratching(my BAD!) I just used the caladryl for a few days and it went away.
BTW - when I got exposed last year it was while I was working for a landscaping company. It was embedded in a terraced area right up against the house, mixed in with a lot of evergreens and "monkey grass" (loriope, I think). It took about 9 hours to get it all out, and as of the last time I went to that house when I was working there - they were a regular mowing account - it hadn't come back. I don't know about this year - I got laid off when the owner lost over half his accounts over the winter. Thanks Wall Street!
At any rate - be up front with peeps if you decide to hire it out!!

BTW - I'm still unemployed! If anybody in the Lynchburg, Virginia area needs any yard work or stuff done shoot me a PM and we can work something out!! Gotta advertise EVERYWHERE now and days!! :-)

I have had poison ivy the last 3 summers by going into our woods not only to dispose of yard waste but last year was getting leaf mold out for my gardens so I swore that this year I was not going into our woods.
Well, did not realize that it is now growing under my fence and into my new garden that I just planted last year. Now I do not want to tend that area. Too late though because I am fighting it again by tending that garden early.That is the only way I could have gotten it I think. We have 6 lots , one of which is nothing but woods and it is INFESTED very bad with poison ivy. The first year I got it I was pulling a 'vine' that looked dead off a tree so I could put up a squirrel corn feeder. LOL,the vine was not dead or just any old vine. EVERY tree is the woods has those big old thick vines growing up it. Not to mention the whole floor of the woods. Poison ivy and lily of the valley and wild mustard. Neighbor wants me to pull the wild mustard out and I told him to go for it.

Not sure what to do but i have thought about going in while it is winter time when stuff is 'dead' and start clearing it out. Of course, I would wear 10 layers of everything plus a couple face masks!!!LOL

Good luck Sylvaere!!!

Poison ivy oils can also be transmitted by your pets so it is a good idea to monitor where your dog (and/or cat) is allowed to go. Pets usually don't display the reactions to poison ivy like people do but can still be part of the problem. The only reason I bring this up is one of our dogs did his business in some bushes at the dog park yesterday and then I noticed some poison ivy growing among the bushes. We wiped his fur down with baby wipes before putting him in the truck to head home and hope that was enough. My daughter has had some bad reactions the last few summers and figures the only way she gets it is through her cats or dogs.

I've had a similar experience, my old house in Ohio was on a couple acres and there was some woods at the back where I'm sure there was poison ivy--the dogs would sometimes go back there without me knowing it and I got a poison ivy rash from petting them or them brushing up against me a couple of times.

Just wanted to add an amen to the recommendation made earlier to use TECNU to wash in after being near poison ivy, oak or summac. I buy it by the quart from a mail order firm recommended by someone on DG, but I'm having a senior moment, and can't remember the name of the firm. It also works well if you apply it when first noticing an outbreak. I am toxic allergic to the poison vines and have been hospitalized 3 times (I'm 68 so that's not many), but I have been prescribed steroids so many times I now have a lifelong side-effect from them - they will mess you over. Better to prevent the stuff when possible. I also support the suggestion to use repeated applications of RoundUp (for vines) and Spectracide Brush killer. If you check the ingredients of the two, you will note that they are different. It took two growing seasons for us to eradicate the poisonous vines, and we check each spring for any new growth and apply the two killers again until the new growth disappears. I have nice neighbor who also owns rural property next to mine, and he has a sprayer outfit that he mounts on the back of a 4 wheeler cart.

Gee had'nt thought about the dogs carrying it. I know they've been thru it. I'll take precautions too. If I can get someone to get a start of some of my favorite plants out from poison ivy. I'll have him use round up the first time and i'll follow up.

YIKES!!!!! Just found this article after watching a video about this evil weed!!

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/discoveries/2006-05-29-poison-ivy-study_x.htm

http://www.comcast.net/video/how-to-treat-poison-ivy/1133316827

And I just discovered a new patch growing under my pine row :-(