My mother's day present, I guess, poison ivy hidden in my yard reached out for me as I tried to rescue an overgrown tender plant. The last time I had it was during the jurying for Arts, Beats & Eats and I had to go to Prompt Care and get a cortisone shot. And then there was the time at the Des Moines Art Festival where luckily they had ER services on the site.
Anyone got good suggestions for keeping this at bay? Ever seen an art fair with poison ivy lurking nearby?
Replies
Connie, I have gotten rid of gobs of poison ivy from both of my yards. The key is to know exactly what it looks like. Buff can not tell even though I have pointed it out to him a million times. I have bought a spray that is pretty much called poison ivy spray. Buy a can and I will spray it for you. I have only gotten it 2 times and only had one or two bumps when I had it. I know it has touched my skin many times and I haven't broken out except for the 2 times. I have pulled it out by the roots from my raspberry patch at times. We will get rid of it.
Maybe that would make a good birthday present ;)
This will absolutely kill poison ivy rash but you need to put it on at the beginning of the outbreak and not use it for a really long time.
http://www.rxzone.us/product.cfm/rx/Fluocinonide-Ointment-005-15-GM...
We had a huge problem with poison ivy in the wooded area in our yard, areas about 10x10 thick with plants. We have very little now, just an occasional small plant which I pull out with gardening gloves on and throw it in a plastic bag and put in the trash.
This is what we did to get rid of it. I used no chemicals. I put down an old tarp and covered it with leaves and left it there for about a year. When I pulled it up, the poison ivy was gone and did not return. I kept moving the tarp and doing the same thing in other spots. I also mowed much of it down over and over again to keep from touching the leaves while waiting to get the tarp there. Also, if you can keep a thick pile of leaves in the area where the poison ivy grows, it grows up through the leaves and you can easily pull up the plant, getting lots of roots that are not in the ground. Grass clippings may do the same thing, but I haven't tried that. Just wear gloves, avoid contact with clothes, and put into a plastic bag and into the trash.
And yet one more old time remedy. Piss on it. It does work, but methinks that males will have better luck with this. Sharon and I have two boys, men now in their thirty's, who know that being country "boys" it is good to pee outside and to aim at the poison ivy along the margins where the field meets the yard.
It works very well. I realize that being a country person, this is a pretty easy way to help alleviate the problem and that your neighbors may object if you are forced to live where you can see and can be seen by neighbors.
This is not empirical in that is anecdotal and not experimental. It is solely base upon observations (empirical yes but no documents for substantiation) over the years. Not that they have moved on, the ivy creeps up. I fear that it may take more than one person to stop the tide so on to more powerful methods.
You could install port-o-potts in the ivy and have an art festival with lot's of beer, blow up bouncy things for the kids, music, clowns, jugglers on stilts, and an auction where all the artists have to contribute a piece of their work. A lot like the shows I like to avoid. You could get rid of it in one weekend.
excellent -- plus, you could send everyone home with a special present, free from the sponsor!
Remembering your son Jonathan's long legs, I'd think this would work well for him.
Me, standing in my small town backyard exposed to my new neighbors -- maybe not such a good idea. Of course my front yard faces on the highway, nah, probably not there either. I'll get Norm out there.
Thanks for all this advice. The last time I had this stuff a friend gave me Tec-Nu, which seems to be doing the trick right now, hoping that is true! But as for the yard, I think I'll take the advice to turn the problem over to my yard guy Ralph who cuts the grass every week. He doesn't apply any chemicals but has helped in the past. Plus, I'll get some spray so I can retaliate when the ivy gets in my way while I'm cleaning out the beds and wear gloves, which I neglected to do on Sunday.
I'm very impressed with all this helpful info.
So, I shouldn't wrestle it out of the ground? Suppose I can get the spray at a gardening shop?
-
1
-
2
of 2 Next