help me attack this!

[CurlyDave]

My experience with poison oak is that the very best way to remove it is to wait until fall and then spray liberally with Roundup. Despite what the package instructions say, spraying in the spring doesn't do much but stunt its growth. Spraying in the summer appears to kill the plant, but it comes back the next year. Spraying in fall, kills the plant and it does not seem to re-grow in the spring.

 

[riptides]

What others have said. Spray and if you like animals - goats. We just sprayed again this past month. I will wait until fall to remove it. Then in the spring again, another round of spray.

It takes time to kill it off, especially if it is well established.

 

[stumpfield]

Thanks Phil, I tried spray with round up (concentrated grass & weed killer) I bought from Costco. I followed the direction in mixing 2.5oz per gallon. It doesn't seem very effective in killing them. I might have got the wrong stuff. What exactly did you use to spray? Are there more than one type of roundup?

Tom

I've been eradicating poison oak for over 30 years, and still have enough to go another decade I'm sure.

Roundup or Ortho (can't remember which Ortho... it says 'for poison oak' on the bottle) are used to spray every spring. Some years I'll spray 50 gallons (mixed); other years maybe only 16 gallons. I've beat it back well in excess of 400 ft from the house, most places more. Each year I spray as far as the stream will reach, then the next year I can get that much farther into it for that year's spray activity.

On the vines up the trees, I use loppers to sever it, then coat the 'stump' with whatever juice I'm spraying that year. Usually there'll be a bunch of small shoots from the vines root system the next year, but it gets sprayed once and is gone.

On my "spray days" I'll wander all the cleared areas and usually find a few little sprouts to attack.

My biggest recommendation is to get a backpack sprayer, unless you have a powered tractor mounted sprayer and can access it all by tractor. Our manzanita is so thick that no vehicle could get to the places I spray. Sometimes I'm crawling on my hands and knees with the sprayer.

Phil

 

[stumpfield]

What type of fencing do I need if I use goats? I looked up the local paper and there are plenty of goats for sale and advertised them as poison oak eating goats The price per goat is cheaper than a gallon of roundup. This seems the best solution if I don't need to spend a fortune in fencing.

GOATS!

We had a poison ivy and oak infestation on the 5 acre place we had before this farm. All it took to clear the 2 acres around the house completely, any nicely prune the trees up, was 3 goats and about 1 summers worth of grazing.

Just DO NOT let them get into any ornamental plants like rhododendrons. Azaleas too I think. I know a rhododendron will kill one in a matter of hours. Just one leaf is all it takes.

 

[ultrarunner]

I've been eradicating poison oak for over 30 years, and still have enough to go another decade I'm sure.

Roundup or Ortho (can't remember which Ortho... it says 'for poison oak' on the bottle) are used to spray every spring. Some years I'll spray 50 gallons (mixed); other years maybe only 16 gallons. I've beat it back well in excess of 400 ft from the house, most places more. Each year I spray as far as the stream will reach, then the next year I can get that much farther into it for that year's spray activity.

On the vines up the trees, I use loppers to sever it, then coat the 'stump' with whatever juice I'm spraying that year. Usually there'll be a bunch of small shoots from the vines root system the next year, but it gets sprayed once and is gone.

On my "spray days" I'll wander all the cleared areas and usually find a few little sprouts to attack.

My biggest recommendation is to get a backpack sprayer.

Phil

I could have written every word of this...

Typical is between 32 and 48 gallons of mix...

I rotate yearly between, Roundup Quick Pro, Finale and Ortho Brush B' Gone.

I also add a surfactant that helps the mix penetrate the oily leaves...

It truly is a search and destroy mission... Spraying with a good back-back sprayer is like having a magic wand if you're patient...

Even those extreme Green neighbors don't have a problem spraying poison oak...

One year, a neighbor hired a family from Samoa and they were carrying the stuff out in bundles on their backs and throwing it into the back of pick-ups...

Neighbor still sprays... but in one day all the tall bushes were gone.

A word of caution using a Bulldozer... I would get it real bad just from the dust each time a tried blading it.... Learned to wait about 3 days after a couple of inches of rain and no problem with poison oak dust.

 

[RobertN]

Spray it. I mix round-up strong. I use a backpack sprayer...

Remember, even when dead(or dormant), the stalks still have lots of oil in them. Even if it looks dead, if you start cutting it, the oil will get on everything.

Avon and Technu both make pre-exposure creams, Works well. I get the large bottles of Technu to wash with too.

I have gotten it from the dogs; they walk through it and the oil gets on thier fur. Have also gotten it from the tractor; working on it weeks after I know I had the tractor in it. That oil lasts a long time.

 

[cowboy357]

I Must Have a tougher Type Of , Roundup Wont Touch Mine .Once Again its Not a Grass or a Weed . So you Have to use a Brush Killer . This is the Best I,ve found Its Starts working the day You Spray it .

Bayer Advanced Brush Killer Plus Concentrate

 

[demoman357]

Goats are good if you can. Do not forget to check with your local government offices to see if they will help with the cost of the chemicals or even goats. Oregon had a dollar for dollar match for several years. I used it for several years but rarely found any other residents who ever heard of it.

The reply to you about DO NOT BURN is accurate. You can make for some very upset neighbors.

 

[nunyabinis]

I normally use a mixture of Roundup and 2-4-D to spray anything I need to kill. The 2-4-D kills the broadleaf stuff and the Roundup kills everything else. I add a little surfactant to the mix to cut through the oil on the plant leaves to aid the herbicide.



.

 

[psj12]

I like the Bayer stuff also but be careful it will also kill oak trees. I accidently killed two large oaks on my property when a large area of brush at their base was sprayed. I guess it gets into them through the roots or possibly the bark.