Poison ivy

[lizziegrace]

My daughter and I are very allergic to poison ivy and poison oak. Fortunately, poison oak isn't very common around here.

Anyway, I have a lilac bush with poison ivy growing in and around it and several flower beds with some. I want to get rid of it, can't physically touch it and don't want to kill everything in the beds (or the entire lilac bush)

Any ideas? The reactions are so bad they require steroids and multiple trips to the doctor.

Thanks!

[hippywife]

1. I would probably try

putting on some latex kitchen gloves with a long sleeved shirt and pull them up and pitch them and the gloves, both. But I'm far from an expert on the stuff.

Please be careful. I got it for the first time ever last year and it took steroids to get rid of it. Just miserable stuff.

[Botany]

2. Round-up w/ a cheap foam paint brush

just paint the round up on the leafs of the p.i. ...... try to get the youngest leafs too (on the tip of the plant)
..... after the plant starts to die back cut the vine @ right above ground level and paint the stump w/ round up.

[LadyoftheRabbits]

3. I'll try that (This is Lizziegrace, my daughter's logged in)

with gloves and long sleeves. My father would have to wear a mask when he mowed over it in his yard (heavily wooded area) as he would get it in his throat.

Would boiling water poured at the base kill it?

[Botany]

4. Would boiling water poured at the base kill it?

no

a quick cross cut with a good pruner or saw should expose enough tissue so you can kill the plant.

btw do not buy the "pre mixed" round ..... you are paying for water .... buy the concentrate .... cheaper
and you will use much less chemical too.

[elleng]

5. Good luck to you!

I/we suffered much more trauma: sold the house! I PRAY that the new owners value the lilac as I do.

[troubleinwinter]

6. We met a care-taker of a National Park campground

who said he sprayed poison oak foliage with Chlorox. He did not want to kill the desirable plants, of course.

The efficacy of Chlorox dissipates quite quickly in light and air (why they put it in opaque jugs), so won't get into the ground after a coupla days from rain runoff or harm wildlife/pets. You just want to keep it off the lilac foliage as best you can.

I've not tried it, but the forest area was over-run with poison oak, but the area he treated was completely clear of it, and he swore it was all he'd used for 30 years.

[Arkansas Granny]

7. I'm going to put this to the test. I have poison ivy growing in a few places in

my yard, including a climbing rose. If I use the bleach with the foam brush mentioned above to just dab the leaves, I could avoid the rose and other ornamentals. I'd rather expose myself to a little Clorox than I would the Roundup. I'll report back with results.

[NJCher]

8. there's a product you can put on your skin

That keeps you from developing any reaction. If you can, wear that plus the long sleeves and gloves. I got mine at the drugstore in the poison ivy/oak et al section.


Cher

[bvar22]

9. You might consider paying someone a few bucks....

...to pull it out and remove it.
Don't burn it because the smoke can cause a very bad reaction too.

I'm mildly allergic myself. Used to get it bad as a kid.
Got a patch on my forearms for the first time in 30 years this Spring.


Don't mess with it yourself if you are that allergic.

[Arkansas Granny]

10. I would like to stress the point you made about not burning poison ivy.

I know a guy who is very sensitive to poison ivy who burned a brush pile that had poison ivy in it. The oils of the plant are borne in the smoke and his body was covered with it, which was bad enough, but because he also inhaled the smoke, his throat became inflamed and swollen and he nearly died when his airways closed up. He was in the hospital for several days.

[tekisui]

11. I wish I was closer to you.

I regularly pull it out with my bare hands and even weedeat it. As long as I wash off within 20 minutes with COLD water and NO soap, I never get even a spot of it.

I would happily remove it for you, but I am not in your neck of the woods.

[LiberalEsto]

12. Don't eat mangoes, pistachios or cashews

These are all part of the same plant family (Anacardaceae)as poison ivy, oak and sumac.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

13. I am highly alergic to mangos but not pioson ivy, pistachios or cashews