Don't pour bleach on your lawn.

Use vinegar and salt.

Here is a link that might be useful: Killing Poison Ivy with Vinegar

Amine 2,4d or RoundUP or Finale will do the trick. The question is do you want to get rid of the poison ivy or do you just want to keep trying to get rid of it? Tom

Bleach doesn't just "go away". Nor does salt. A full-strength vinegar spray might work on the foliage.
What is the specific objection to Roundup? I haven't used it for a really long time, but recently found out that there are 2 types of roundup, and one of them is 'acceptable' for use near food crops. If you get the spray just on the foliage, it dries quickly, does not get into your soil, but will kill the roots. I don't want to get into a big roundup debate, I just wanted to point out that there are different formulas.
If you try hand-picking it, it will come back. Maybe if you pick it then bury the area in compost/mulch...? Since you said it is clay and no worms, sounds like it needs some work.

s.

seahorse

Yes, bleach does go away. The chlorine gas evaporates very quickly into the ambient air, leaving water that you can drink.

Many clay growing-fields here in Georgia have very few earthworms because the soil is so heavy. But crops grow anyway. Eventually they show up when the soil has organic matter added to it, and that's all to the good!

Scagitgoatman

I've read the Roundup literature saying that it doesn't get into the soil and don't have a problem using Roundup for poison ivy in some areas, except not in the garden where edibles will be grown soon after its application. I'd rather err on the side of caution. (For many years, people were told that DDT was perfectly safe, and since then I've distrusted chemical companies until the final word is out about products after several years!)

Violet

I don't object to pouring vinegar on poison ivy but salt in the earth is not what I want either. Do the two of them together kill PI down to the roots? Maybe nothing does except Roundup. Other threads here on GW include comments about using it and having to apply it once a month for 2-3 times to kill PI.

The PI that's there is still small spring growth, and I think it crept underground from the woods beside the field. I may have to dig it up and hope for the best this year.

Would several sheets of newspaper placed on the bare earth (on top of the PI) and then the planting soil put on top of the newspaper help suffocate these pesky vines? If kept moist, I know plant roots eventually penetrate down through the newspaper. Would the poison ivy die if the sunlight were blocked and the leaves are unable to reach the light?

We have a yard FULL of poison ivy. Started using round up to get rid of it. Normally I don't use such things around the yard because i'm so allergic to them. Hubbie has been doing all the spraying.

Hopefully we'll be able to get it under control. Luckily our whole family seems to be immune to the stuff. Sadly, because of where the ivy is we can't take any visitors into our back yard to see the woods and stream. I'm hoping to eventually get it cleaned up. REmove some of the HUGE logs that are back there, and then plant things like blueberries and wildflowers.

In the meantime, it's battle poison ivy. We've been pulling it up by hand in the front garden. It's so bad, we even had the cable guy REFUSE to dig a line for cable tv in our yard because of the ivy.

There is a way of using RoundUp that doesn't get any on the soil and doesn't risk nearby plants due to spray drift.

Use a rubber glove (like the kind sold for hand washing dishes) and a small sponge. Mix the RoundUp as normal in a bowl or small bucket (empty milk gallon jug or 2 liter soda bottle with top cut off works well) and dip the sponge in the mix. Squeeze the excess water out so there is no dripping and then gently squeeze it around the stem of the plant and pull up gently so as not to break the plant top off.

That plant is dead.

No mess, no skin contact, no soil contact, no spray drift, dead weed.

justaguy

That's the most precise way of applying Roundup that I've ever seen. Good idea.

anney,

Did you read the link I provided above? You don't pour the vinegar and salt in the ground. You make a spray.

;)

Read the info and you'll see it worked for them.

I don't recommend Round Up because despicte what the "label" says, it has been found to soak into the ground and be carried by run-off water to wind up in our lakes and streams and other water bodies. It takes much longer to break down then you think.

For the record, even the Round Up specifically for poison oak and poison ivy doesn't kill the stuff on my land. Just kills the leaves, then it comes back. After I finally decided to bite the bullet and go that route. Ah well.

Fortunately, I am not allergic to either, but other people are. I'll have to try the vinegar recipe and see how it does.

violet

Yes, thanks for the link, and I did read it. Actually, small amounts of salt do not damage much -- I lived on the inland coast of NC for years, and hurricane storm surges with all that salt water did not make the land sterile at all or even disturb what was in the garden unless uprooted or crushed by debris -- and that was more than "small amounts" of salt water. The wild asparagus in particular loved it and thrived.

I'll keep the vinegar-salt solution in mind, and go down the list of suggestions in hopes that something works besides Roundup. I'm still wondering if the vinegar/salt kills the poison ivy roots. The author says only that it kills the vegetation, not the whole plant.

I pulled mine by hand. Thankfully I am not allergic. It is not easy. And yes it took a couple years but each year I would see less & less. When you pull by hand you will see just how much it does travel just below the surface, rooting again wherever it touches the ground.

I wore long sleeves with gloves. Use a plastic shopping bag, placing your hand inside the bag (grabbing the vine) and pull the vine while turning the bag inside out. Get as much as you can in the bag then dispose of it, bag and all.

Poison Ivy is some tuff stuff and no matter what method you choose, you will likely have to repeat, and repeat and stay right on top of it. Luckily, spring when it first sprouts, is the time to begin your campaign. Just be relentless.

My experience has been unless you get the roots out, they seem to come back to life. I will add that unless you have a scorched earth policy it will not be easy and may have to repeat your chosen method. A combination of methods may be best.

Just remember to wash up and avoid touching your face - wether you are allergic or not, the last place you want it is on your face, mouth, or eyes.

Good Luck,
Gumby_CT

I'm still wondering if the vinegar/salt kills the poison ivy roots.

Vinegar doesn't kill plant roots. The vinegar kills what it touches. That is why RoundUp has become so popular, it's one of the few things that will translocate into the root and kill it.

Hopefully it is a new infestation and you can pull it out and that's the end of it.

I hate to be such a polutionist...(which Im not) but, Diesel fuel poured right into thos roots will work. Dont light it. Just let it soak, Now Im not saying kill everythang around it, but just use small amounts. Most folks are like "MY God This Man Has Lost His Mind" but Ya wanted to know what eradicates poison ivy?

This may not work for some, but it did for....now I need to figure out what kill poison sumack, cause diesel fuel doesnt.....Yikes, I hate even doing this.......

justaguy

It is a new infestation and not very heavy right now -- that poison ivy wasn't there last year. It was a cleared space where I put my open-bottomed containers. I think I'll water that space until it's totally soggy and then see if I can pull it up, follow the roots as far as possible.

blanesgarden

I ain't using diesel fuel in my garden patch!

Folks get so desperate about this invasive pest that they'll do anything to kill it, I suppose.

I have first hand experience using diesel fuel to kill brambles and poison ivy. It will kill the brambles, not poison ivy, at least not in one shot, and nothing else is going to grow there for a long time.
Round Up will DESTROY poison ivy, but you might have to use it more than once if you have the huge vines that it can develop. Crops can grow after the Round Up has been used.
Actually, I hate using Round UP and I would NEVER use it in my garden, but it will kill poison ivy.
And I have never seen much else that will, unless you use brush killer which will kill mature trees or anything else.

The only thing we (the landscape and garden crew I work with) have found to really work is pulling the stuff by (gloved) hand. Gumby's directions are pretty much what we do. It's easier to do before the leaves are out but you can still get the rash from the vines IF YOU ARE NOT CAREFUL. You have to focus on what you are doing and make sure you carefully follow the vines and remove the roots. It tends to root all along the vine. I use a hand weeder to help. You do have to keep at it, it returns and probably got there in the first place because poison ivy berries are a major food source for birds. (In our area the Chinese bittersweet spreads the same way)

After pulling it all and sending it to the landfill, I wash with Tecnu (really just a special soap) to remove any oil that might have gotten on my skin. That stuff works even after you get a rash. Problem is, the oil bonds with human skin and will spread with water, spreading the rash all over. I've been using it for at least 10 years. It is cheap and effective.

Here is a link that might be useful: tecnu information

I worked at the cranberry experiment station and came up with an invention that worked quite well. Based on the sponge and glove method I took one of those grabber devises that allow you to reach high up on a shelf similar to this (you can get no name ones at the hardware store): http://www.pikstik.com/ I then took a mophead and cut it in half. I attached one half to each arm of the grabber and there you have it. We used dye to see where you apply the roundup and soap as a surfactant. Dip the device into a bucket with your mixture then squeeze out the excess. Position the grabber on either side of a bunch of poison ivy and squeeze the trigger. The dye will show you what leaves you got, repeat until you don't see dye when you squeeze, rewet your sponge and continue. Applications during the fall work really well because roundup travels with the sugars in the plant and during the fall the plant is putting energy into building roots when the surface portion dies off during the winter.

daddymem - you got it right! Fall application of Roundup is when it really works. In spring and summer all the nutrients are heading out to the leaves but in fall the process is reversed. That's when Roundup comes into play. I did in a huge patch of knotweed with just one application in the fall. The roots were destroyed.. Amen.

anney .... you made a statement earlier that got my attention. You stated "Yes, bleach does go away. The chlorine gas evaporates very quickly into the ambient air, leaving water that you can drink."

I don't know where you got this information, but it is incorrect. You have been misled. It is true that bleach MAINLY breaks down into water, salt, and oxygen, BUT small to moderate amounts of adsorbable organic halides also exist in Bleach. These components do not break down immediately, and are released into the waterways creating a toxic environment for aquatic wildlife and organisms. Also, making the statement "leaving water that you can drink" bothers me. Sure you could drink it, but do you go around making a habit of drinking pool water? Of course not,so don't mistake this water as safe to drink.

If you are questioning my credibility, I am a biologist who deals with the cleanup of Kentucky's waterways as my career. In a recent inquiry I found that even the amount of chlorine used in most town's tap water supply can inhibit the growth of your garden. I studied this all day yesterday to come up with a solid answer, and YES, tap water does affect your garden's growth. It inhibits the growth of micro-organisms, and beneficial nematodes that your garden thrives on.

So, to answer your original question. I would personally use a concentrated ROund Up tough brush killer and spray a small amount at the base of the plant. Glyphosate IS a proven chemical that WILL break down once it comes in contact with the soil. No run off is present.

if you have large poison ivy vines, cut them off 3-4 ft long. then saturate the stump with roundup. do NOT buy the premix RU, get the concentrate and mix it strong, like 3-4 oz per gallon of water. this will kill the PI within days, and in 1 dose.

i did this to control kudzu and PI at one of our tower sites, now i only periodically have to spray at 2oz per gallon to keep the kudzu back. the PI has never regrown since the initial treatment 5 years ago.

you can use the sponge method if you like, the important thing is to mix the RU strong. the treated area can be planted within a week.

Garden Web has an ORGANIC SECTION. You should post your question there. Most people here use poisons. They do not realize that you can not poison the environment without poisoning yourself. Have you ever wondered why cancer rates keep rising.

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/organic/

Here is a link that might be useful: ORGANIC GARDEN WEB

One solution that works with some plants on the small scale is a pot of boiling water, ladeled out onto the leaves. Some plants keel over and die right away from it. Some seem to pretty much ignore it. I wouldn't recommend it for dealing with a large area, though -- you go through the water too fast. Perhaps if they had a little boiler you could attach to the end of a hose...

One way to kill many plants for good is to bury them. Put a tarp over the area or a heavy coating of grass clippings (or grass clippings, *then* a tarp!) and leave them to bake.

Just a couple additional ideas to throw out there.

My parents have a poison ivy vine that won't die, its HUGE, climbing up a tree. The vine has turned woody and is well over an inch in diameter, probally 2. It's reaching out over the garden now. Any ideas how to kill that monster?

kek

I've seen poison ivy vines like that, too. They cling like hairy parasites, almost growing into the tree-trunk. I think the only way they can be killed is to carefully cut out a foot-long piece of them close to the ground to prevent any reattachment of the main stem to the lower piece. You'd have to do it carefully to not harm the tree. Eventually the top will die and can probably be detached from the tree, but the stump will have to be cut back periodically until it's time for the tree to go. Then the PI stump can be killed or uprooted.

koreyk wrote :" Garden Web has an ORGANIC SECTION. You should post your question there. Most people here use poisons. They do not realize that you can not poison the environment without poisoning yourself. Have you ever wondered why cancer rates keep rising."

I understand that this is your opinion, but Organic is not the answer to everything. I have had 2 friends not related to each other in any way, nor did they even know each other die of cancer. One was an organic vegetarian, and had been raised as such, and the other was an organic everything nut. He had been since he was 14, and it didn't save him. I believe that if you a predisposed to have cancer you are going to have it. If not then you won't. Nothing you eat or drink will cause you to live longer. End of rant. :)

This place was a poison ivy lawn when I started to garden here. No round-up in those days so I used agent orange. Round-up was such a big improvement that as soon as it was invented, I switched. It isn't a permanent cure because the birds keep planting poison ivy so it's a continuing battle but round-up is what makes gardening possible for me. I don't 'get' poison ivy but my garden needs to be friendly to visitors as well as myself so the war goes on. Now there are just 2 places that need attention and as soon as it clears, they are going to get it. I use a hand squeeze sprayer for precise applications - no need to spread the stuff around any more than I have to.
For those huge plants that climb trees, I cut the poison ivy stem and then spray round-up on any new shoots from the stump.

Ortho Brush-B-Gone is a good product.

Many have talked about how to avoid a rash. Here is good advice from the FDA - http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/796_ivy.html:

Because urushiol can penetrate the skin within minutes, there's no time to waste if you know you've been exposed. "The earlier you cleanse the skin, the greater the chance that you can remove the urushiol before it gets attached to the skin," says Hon-Sum Ko, M.D., an allergist and immunologist with FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. Cleansing may not stop the initial outbreak of the rash if more than 10 minutes has elapsed, but it can help prevent further spread.

If you've been exposed to poison ivy, oak or sumac, if possible, stay outdoors until you complete the first two steps:

* First, Epstein says, cleanse exposed skin with generous amounts of isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol. (Don't return to the woods or yard the same day. Alcohol removes your skin's protection along with the urushiol and any new contact will cause the urushiol to penetrate twice as fast.)
* Second, wash skin with water. (Water temperature does not matter; if you're outside, it's likely only cold water will be available.)
* Third, take a regular shower with soap and warm water. Do not use soap before this point because "soap will tend to pick up some of the urushiol from the surface of the skin and move it around," says Epstein.
* Clothes, shoes, tools, and anything else that may have been in contact with the urushiol should be wiped off with alcohol and water. Be sure to wear gloves or otherwise cover your hands while doing this and then discard the hand covering.

anney, i have a yard that was covered in poison ivy 3 years ago when we moved here. we didn't even have soil several inches down in some areas the roots were so intermingled and overlapped from years and years of growth. we sprayed round up and NOTHING! if it killed anything it was quickly replaced. i am HIGHLY allergic to the stuff, but we had to pull it out, what a job... but three years later it is 98% gone even though the surrounding land is still COVERED in it. my opinion, the only way to get rid of it is to pull it up roots and all, they are vines so if you pull it up you may be surprised and find it is ALL attached to each other, easy! just wear long sleeves and gloves. last year i was on prednisone 8 times. though it needed to be done. pulling it out leaves no discussion for "environmentally safe" methods. good luck whatever you choose. sarah

I read with great interest all the postings, We have 2 properties and to my dismay, have loads of ground poison ivy on both. I had a huge reaction from a brush against my face, and am now in the throes of war. There is a new product - weedbegone that I have tried. Also roundup but not extra strength. Thanks to the postings I have some more ideas. It is me who has to do the work - my hubby has mobility problems. I cannot physically pull it all out as there is so much. My mother used roundup in a garden, and for a few years after, growth was inhibited. In this case however, if growth is inhibited, it is the lesser evil. There is a new weed in Ontario - hogweed - has anyone seen it?