I always keep an eye out for it when it is little....then I put on gloves, dig it up and plop it into a plastic bag and put it in the trash, thus I don't use chemicals. For really big growths, I try to do the same thing, but if it is too big, then I use the Ortho poison ivy killer, and it will take several applications. The vines and leaves are still "poisonous" even when the plant is dead as it is the oil we have allergic (histemic) reactions to.

Poison ivy and virginia creeper are often mistaken for each other. Poison oak looks very much like poison ivy, except it has extra "cuts" in the margins and it doesn't much matter as it causes the same reactions as PI and is killed in the same manner.

I am sure that you are aware that burning the vines, leaves etc. can release the oil into the air in the smoke and you can get VERY ill from that as well.

Poison ivy is one of the first plants I drilled into my daughter to be able to recognize. She may not recognize a columbine from a campanula, but she knows this plant now, in its spring coloration, fall coloration, and where to look for it in the winter as well.

My method for keeping me "poisonivy free" from reactions is to wear long sleeves and pants as well as gloves when I am around it. When I have been in an area I know it to be, or if I knowingly have been working with it, I will quickly (i.e. within 20 minutes as longer exposures will be too late to avoid the blisters) shower (bathing is a no no as it puts the oil on the surface of the water then it spreads to other...often more delicate areas) with strong soap (Felsnaptha or homemade lye soap). I then will wipe down the area (that is, my arms and legs which might have been exposed)with rubbing alcohol as a precaution.

Animals can sometimes get the oil on their fur and then transfer it to people. A friend's daughter kept on getting it along her side and underarm...the cat had been sleeping with her.

Blisters, as I am sure you are aware, cannot infect other areas of your body...only the oils can. Blisters can, however, get infected.

I know this isn't all you asked, but I thought I would share....it has been a long time since I had it (on my body, in my garden the birds spread it copiously through eating their seeds).

Thanks for the info, all very good advice!

I think it was a little bit of my mind working over the worst case scenaro, like head to toe rash yadda yadda. From what I was reading on the internet you'd beleive this stuff is like the plague and once it gets hold in your gardens/yard, it's impossiable to get rid of. Yea, it can be nasty stuff, but a few small plants here and there isn't worth stressing out about.

I'm going to put on a long shirt and rubber gloves and pull up the few plants I've spotted and just watch for it to come back and treat/pull again and not worry so much. I normally wear gloves when out working in the garden and I've never gotten a rash until just this last week so I'm going to take my mothers advice and cool my jets :)

Shannon

I have many box elder seedlings in my yard and they look JUST like poison ivy. I still haven't found a reliable way to tell them apart. I just use gloves to rip out any leaves-of-three.

Look at the stems. Box elder will be green at the size that it can be confused with PI. PI stems will be brown.

You can tell Poison Ivy from Box Elder like this: Box Elder is a member of the maple family. It's compound leaves are opposite one another on the stem. Poison Ivy is a member of the Diabolical Spawn of Satan family, and its leaves alternate down the stem.

LOL.. I like that new plant family!

That stuff can really hurt you if your not careful. I used to work outside in the yard without gloves.. see a weed and just pull it any other number of those chores that need done, but no more. I don't go out in the garden without them now.

Shannon

"Diabolical Spawn of Satan family" made me laugh out loud!! Thanks for sharing.
Poison ivy is a type of sumac of course,and it actually has a positive side.A lot of birds would go hungry in winter if not for P.I. berries.Yes they are immune to it,as are some humans.Also,the leaves are quite colorful in the fall...although I'm not about to plant some in my yard since I'm definitely allergic to it.

POISON IVY/ OH MY!!! DID ENJOY THE LAUGH...I POUR BLEACH ON IT AND SOFTENER SALT. BUT, BE CAREFUL AROUND OTHER VEGETATION...IT MIGHT ALSO KILL CLOSE BY PLANTS...VERY ALLERGIC...TO IT AND IT GROWS UNDER MY DECK WHICH HAS LATTICE FENCE AROUND IT SO THE BLEACH IS THE ONLY WAY I CAN GET TO IT..FROM UP ABOVE ON DECK...GOOD LUCK..KAREN

I think the fall is the best time of year to locate any Poison Ivy hidden in my yard. In my area it it just now turning a lovely shade of red, as is the Virginia Creeper. Imagine my dismay when I realized the humongous lovely vine covering a 30'tall tree was PI and not Virginia Creeper!!! (I really have to start wearing my distance glasses in the yard once in a while!) Nothing else is quite the same color red yet, so this week I plan to head out with the Round-up and do some PI killing. I"m too allergic to the stuff to let it stay for the critters.

I got a really bad case of poison ivy this spring...trying to clean out my rock flower bed that had become over grown fron neglect...I ended up going to the dr.and taking steroids to get it to clear up and it took months...I have not worked in that bed since but I know I will have too at some point...