Poison Oak Everywhere!

[ning]

If you're not a toxic avenger, goats or hand-pull when the ground isn't dry. It comes out fairly easily and if you get a decent amount of the roots it doesn't come back.
Just pile the stuff up off to the side, it breaks down in about a year. Definitely don't burn it, I once had a single strand of the stuff in a burn pile and I was coughing for weeks.

 

[jaxs]

First and foremost make sure it's poison oak then use products marketed specifically for killing it and read the label,,,,twice. Some chemicals kill it but are less effective and/or efficient than others. Some kill it but kill desirable plants as well. Heavy grazing is hands down best solution. Loan land rent free to a goat raiser until old growth is gone then cattle and sheep will control new growth in the future.

 

[Texasmark]

Foliar spray Triclopyr works well on poison oak when its growing. The advantage is that it won't kill the grass. 2,4d will kill everything.

If your PO is in tall bushes or even short ones you need to rip it out or mow it down first. The best time is in the winter when the leaves are off. The stems still contain Urushiol but there's a lot less surface area to spread it. I'd still stay well away from the mower and take all precautions afterwards such as washing any exposed skin. Whatever you do, don't burn it. The smoke will do to your lungs what the leaves do to your skin.

Once you have the bushes removed you can go over the area in spring and summer with Triclopyr. You'll have to keep at it for a number of years to kill the roots underground and exhaust the seed bank.

For large plants I use 25% Triclopyr in oil. Applied to a short section of stem, it soaks in and kills the plant in a month or so.

No it doesn't kill everything! Read the label!
Its a broadleaf herbicide. It attacks plants with a round cell structure rather than a parallel structure like is found with grass. It doesn't kill your grass. If you want to kill everything use Glyphosate which kills trees too including stumps. I've been using it for decades and it alone has killed off all my poison oak nuisances and when I bought the place it was rampart.

 

[jyoutz]

No it doesn't kill everything! Read the label!
Its a broadleaf herbicide. It attacks plants with a round cell structure rather than a parallel structure like is found with grass. It doesn't kill your grass. If you want to kill everything use Glyphosate which kills trees too including stumps. I've been using it for decades and it alone has killed off all my poison oak nuisances and when I bought the place it was rampart.

Yep

 

[ericm979]

No it doesn't kill everything! Read the label!
Its a broadleaf herbicide. It attacks plants with a round cell structure rather than a parallel structure like is found with grass. It doesn't kill your grass. If you want to kill everything use Glyphosate which kills trees too including stumps. I've been using it for decades and it alone has killed off all my poison oak nuisances and when I bought the place it was rampart.

I guess you missed my post on Nov 30 where I said that I was mistaken about 2,4d and had been thinking about Roundup.

 

[CliffordK]

Some people are immune to poison oak, and can cut, pull, or dig it without risk.

It is not recommended to burn it.

 

[ultrarunner]

It's the bane of my existence even tractor work when it's dusty will give me a case at the neck.

It's taken years to tame with a shear for the coke bottle size stems and Ortho Brush B'gone... don't know if still around.

It's very tenacious in that some ares have taken several seasons to eradicate.

There is s family if Samoans here that specialize in removal... never seen anything like it the way they rip it out and they get big bucks for the work...

It can be done...

 

[JasperFrank]

Poison Oak, is a vine. Find all the leaders to the upper canopy and cut them.

 

[ultrarunner]

Here its mostly in vine and bush form
The clear sap oxidizes black like a sharpie marker

Had a 50 cent stain on a pant leg...

Didn't know at the time and put all the clothes in for a double wash.

A few weeks later put the same pants on when I pulled an engine and it was then I got poison oak... the wash cycles didn't remove the oils...

 

[Eagle1]

I am one of the lucky ones no reaction to any of that stuff. At least my oldest has the same skin. We can pull that stuff bare handed with no ill effects. However if he touches the pink insulation it's all over, don't bother me a bit.