Poison ivy is a pioneer species, taking advantage of disturbed locations. There is much more of it around today I think…
Clark, Native Americans actually had their own native treatments for poison ivy. Thus, they historically were as susceptible as the rest of us poor 85 percenters. They survived out in the woods by being smart, and knowing to avoid poison ivy/oak/sumac. Some Native American tribes would even pray to the vine. No truth to the myth that Native Americans somehow have an immunity, or developed an immunity. You’re just part of the 15 percent of the population (like my husband) who are non-reactors. But, non-reactors can develop a sensitivity at any time in their life (which I remind my husband of, any time we’re weeding, even out here in S. California).
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This thread is 9 years old… any updates from folks on safely eliminating poison ivy? I have some coming up on a trail our grandkids use. Have others used salt or bleach as recommended in some of these older posts? I weed whacked it last year, but it’s come back.
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Interesting so am I. My grandmother was full blooded Cherokee.
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Nope
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If it’s just ivy then mowing the leaves or using a weed eater works for me. For all that it grows fast it does not seem to like losing leaves and tends to either die back or stall for weeks. It is not a permanent solution though, although consistent defoliation will keep it contained.
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Skin is the largest organ. I dont go seeking out poison ivy.
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I have started fighting an infestation at our place. I wanted to avoid herbicides, since it’s near a veggie garden. I used 45% vinegar with some orange oil added and it seems to be working. Once it is fully defoliated I go in and cut the limbs and vines back. I’m hoping over time to exhaust it.
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I know there are companies that rent out goats to eat overgrowth and underbrush. Notably poison ivy.
It sounds like you are dealing with a less intense infestation. For something like that I use either a trenching shovel with a long handle or a lightweight garden cutter mattock. I sever the stem of the plant just below the soil line (1/2 to 1 inch down) and it doesn’t grow back.
Many styles of hoe would also work well. If I am dealing with vines that are growing up a tree and aren’t very large in diameter then I use the axe side of the mattock. They almost always die and don’t regrow. Wood chips (containing urushiol) can be produced by the cutting action of the mattock, an axe or a machete, but a chainsaw is the most likely way to get hit with sawdust and cause a skin reaction. Vines growing up trees are the most problematic because they do grow so large, but also because they are the ones mature enough to produce the flowers that turn into seed clusters that birds then eat and spread when they poop.
After I am done cutting I clean whatever tool using a strong liquid dish soap and something to agitate. Urushiol is an oil, and a gentleman on YouTube has a good video demonstrating that the most effective way to keep from having a skin reaction is to use a wash cloth to scrub with a liquid soap. I take it a bit further and use a Scotch Brite pad to fully exfoliate anywhere I might have made contact. As long as I know that I’ve been exposed and I wash this way on the same day I avoid any issues. I will selectively wear pants when attacking the plants growing on the ground if they are too numerous to avoid touching by accident, but pants aren’t an end all be all. Wearing pants and cutting vines with a chainsaw led to the fabric being so impregnated that, even after being laundered, a subsequent wearing of the clean pants weeks later transmitted enough urushiol onto my thigh that I had a subdued reaction at that point. I soaked the pants in hot water mixed with liquid soap to strip out the oil, laundered like normal and never had a problem with them after that.
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I can personally vouch for the efficiency of goats. We rented 5 and they cleared about 1/4 acre in a little over a week.
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If it is confined to a path, I would throw a piece of carpet or thick pressboard over it. Then a bit of mulch for aesthetics.
I do the high potency vinegar spray. I’m highly reactive and won’t dare try to pull it out. Two rounds of vinegar in spring kills it back for most of the year. But, after 5 years of doing this, I can confidently say it does not reduce spring growth. Perhaps it’s slowing the spread, but it still spread more each year.
I work in and around poison ivy often. I don’t catch poison ivy, but my wife gets it very easy.
I have found that the best clean up process is to spray my clothes and tools down good with rubbing alcohol . Rubbing alcohol will neutralize the urushiol oil on contact.
Something to keep in mind, besides Poison Ivy, Poison Oak, and Poison Sumac there are common fruit and landscape trees that also contain urushiol oil.
Mango trees, pistachio, cashews, Brazilian pepper all contain urushiol oil
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I have three poison ivy anecdotes for you, cautionary tales, if you will.
- When my father was a youngster, he appeared to be immune to the stuff, while his older sister was not. I cannot imagine the dynamic or logic applied at the time, but somehow he was picking on her for the fact and decided to roll around in it. It turns out that puberty was a turning point in more ways than one for him and he was no longer immune. His sister found the turn of events highly satisfying.
- When I, myself, was significantly shorter, I had a fascination with bonsai and noted that poison ivy was woody in some areas and more viney in others. I decided I was going to bonsai some and filled up a plug flat with the stuff. Somewhere between 2 & 3 inches tall, they all lost their tops overnight and I was let to believe the random fieldmice that infiltrated our house now and then had grazed it all down. When my brother later wanted to experiment with another crop, I witnessed the quiet creativity of my elders in inspiring the plants to fail in an assortment of, mostly failed, manners.
- And, as with most yards the plant frequents, it speads quite well underground. Frequent mowing keeps the greenery at bay, but it will invariably find corners in which it can gain a foothold, often at quite a distance from the parent plant/s. Boxwoods were common in my neighborhood and were planted along the front of our house and I decided to clear it out on year. I put on my leather gloves and very thoroughly removed every leaf, vine, and runner. It is one of the few underground roots I can absolutely recognize without needing to see nearby plants. For the next three summers, I would get poison ivy at the beginning of each gardening season. The oils remain quite well in leather gloves if you don’t fully clean them.
I rarely get it bad any more, but I get it easily. Bumps are already starting to form between my fingers and on my calves because I spent this much time typing up this response.
Sadly, completely pulling it all up is the only means of removal I’ve found effective, and birds will gladly deposit you some new seeds each year, although they seem to favor multiflora rose. Poison Ivy favors a little shade around its roots, so allow sun to reach as much space under and around things you want it to minimize its presence within; and, cut the vines when you find them climbing up your trees, as the berries seem to be emboldened to form by height. This trend seems popular among invasive vines.
As others have said, don’t take it for granted that immunity will be life-long, and don’t fall for the notion that it cannot be tramsmitted. Washing well as soon as you realise you’ve been in contact seems to be the most effective means of avoiding contracting the rash, and not scratching can be done, which discourages its spread. Anything that dries it out shortens the cycle. Playing in garden-grade dirt seems to be especially helpful.
Nuture tends to favor pairing treatments: Jewel weed tends to grow were poison ivy does much like goldenrod tends to grow were ragweed does.