Removing/Controlling Poison Ivy

[Tororider]

While making our foodplot, we have come across a ton of poison ivy. Both ground growth and vine up trees so that it looks like it is the tree. I know it is nearly impossible to remove it, but I was wondering if anyone has had success in at least controlling it.

Such as roundup, I have heard that it is useless to put it on the large vines.

I guess, on the whole just looking for as many suggestions as possible since when we move out there we will have little kids. They obviously will grow up knowing what it looks like since I didn't. Hopefully they get my lack of allergic reaction to it as well.

Thanks

 

[6sunset6]

We had a situation like that. We cut the vines and painted the root end of the vine with round up. A forestry guy told me it works on wood surface better if you mix it with kerosene. Never tried that.
It comes back because the birds eat the berries and then redistribute the seeds. But after killing all the vines it's easier to control with a back pack sprayer once in a while. One thing we noticed was that a whole mid canopy of leaf structure was gone. Really let a lot more sunlight down.

 

[SnowRidge]

I killed a good size vine by spraying as many of its leaves as I could reach from the ground with RoundUp. I waited a couple of days, then severed the thing just above the ground. It didn't come back.

I did spray at the point I severed it, but don't know if that made any difference.

 

[Soundguy]

In areas that I could patrol, I had luck with a swing fling or sickle and cut the longer vines and then spot treated with herbacide.. stuff on the ground around the trees just swing fling'ed it down a few times and it never came back.. right there.. good luck!

Soundguy

 

[Western]

I used a machete to cut the vines around the tree trunks, didn't spray a thing. I also disc'ed about 3 inches deep between the trees where my tractor would fit. the root runners (at least here) are very shallow. In some spots I shredded during the summer and that worked somewhat, I cleaned about 3 very wooded acres this way, most of it gone for now. Deer will eat it too.

 

[Skyco]

The bad part is even after you kill Poison Ivy the dead parts still contain the urushiol and can get you for years to come....

 

[SnowRidge]

My understanding is that the staying power of urushiol on killed poison ivy is quite variable. Supposedly, it can last for years in dry, low humidity climates, while it deteriorates rapidly in hot, humid climates.

No desert here, so I sure hope there's some truth to what I have heard.

 

[Skyco]

From this USDA site- Outsmarting Poison Ivy and Its Cousins

"Urushiol that's rubbed off the plants onto other things can remain potent for years, depending on the environment. If the contaminated object is in a dry environment, the potency of the urushiol can last for decades, says Epstein. Even if the environment is warm and moist, the urushiol could still cause a reaction a year later."

So it looks bad in WNC this year, sure hasn't been moist

 

[zeuspaul]

**Archaeologists discovered some poison ivy in a 2000 year old tomb, and it still caused a rash on one of the scientists.**

Poison ivy rash - Wikipedia

 

[2manyrocks]

My experience has been that triclopyr kills poison ivy more effectively than the active ingredient in roundup. Until I read the link posted above, I didn't know that Ortho makes a specific poison ivy killer and have used Ortho Brush Killer with good results. Just wet the leaves of the ivy hanging on the trees. You don't need to soak the tree bark and kill the trees. There are some long handled pruning shears you can buy to cut the thick vines without getting your hands near the ivy.

I think your main obstacle is that you evidently want to use the same area as a foodplot which means you'll be digging in ivy roots. That exposes you to the ivy, and the ivy control chemicals can affect what you can grow. So this is not so easy a situation to deal with. Maybe you could plow it up and rake it out really well to try to speed up the elmination of the ivy.