Poison ivy

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Jetterbug

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20150122_104404.jpg Morning all .. Say, I have quite a few Locust trees that I'm CSS ing through out a few acres. Some of them dead already from poison ivy infestation. ? Any you all have it this bad and what do you do with it? Thanks men
 

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I know people claim poison ivy and other vines kill full size trees but I've never been a believer. But back on topic. How bad do you get poison ivy? I get it something fierce - meaning I always have to go to the doctor and get put on prednisone. I have dealt with poison ivy infested trees and I choose to do so in the winter when my body is usually covered completely although you can still get it. I pry it off while I'm cutting it up and even though the oil stays active for up to 2 years, I have never gotten it from handling those pieces in the following fall/winter.
 
Looks like you already chopped through the vine in the first picture which is the first place to start. Be sure to clean your tools with alcohol or gasoline to get rid of the residual oil. Never cut that crap with a chainsaw as it slings bits of it everwhere. Don't burn any part of PI either as fumes are dangerous.
 
I have never heard of poison ivy killing trees. I have cut many with it on them as well as poison oak but I am not allergic to it.
 
i have a vine of it big as my thigh choking out a tree at home goes all the way to top and was pulling top of tree downward, thats the biggest but have many others i cut also
 
Thanks for all the quick responses! I just figured as large as some of these PI leaders are, I have some 5" to 6" dia., they suffocated the tree. I guess you learn something new everyday! I NEVER burn PI as I know it can harm livestock,even kill. I am highly allergic to the crap and usually on a diet of Prednisone to boot. Have to get a shot in my backside on occasion. I've always wanted to get some goats and let them go to town but haven't got the fencing figured out yet
 
I have lots of 6" vines like that - they can do physical damage to a tree just from the weight, and they do compete for light but I've never seen one kill a tree. I cut them with an axe in the winter if possible, sometimes a pole saw.

I'm not very sensitive to it, but have cut and burned enough of it to get it pretty bad a few times. The worst was after two days of fairly wanton stupidity - I had a lot of junk to clear up.
 
I don't know that it hurts a tree but it sure provides berries that birds eat and poop and thus start a new crop. I get it, don't like it, so I spend a fair amount of time killing it. I cut it off at an easy location with a hand saw or machete and paint the stump with Cross Bow or other herbicide with Triclopyr. I mix 1 and 1/2 ounce of Cross Bow with a quart of diesel fuel to make the deadly cocktail. Only paint the cut as this stuff can sometimes soak through the bark or roots of a desirable plant and harm it.
 
Cut the vines off about 4 ft high with an axe. Spray any sprouts that come out with roundup, make take 3 or more doses and a few months in the spring/summer. Let the vines rot a couple of years before touching the trees but still be careful.

I survey the property every couple of years and nuke any ivy I see while it is still small and before it can produce seeds that the birds will scatter all over.

Good luck.


View attachment 397049 Morning all .. Say, I have quite a few Locust trees that I'm CSS ing through out a few acres. Some of them dead already from poison ivy infestation. ? Any you all have it this bad and what do you do with it? Thanks men
 
I've dealt with it on trees, I try to be as careful as possible, as I've heard the more your around it the less immunity you have, it doesn't bother me a bit, I've been in the middle of a patch weed eating for 20 mins before I noticed
 
I don't think it will end up killing a tree unless it girdles it like bittersweet or other invasive vines. It sort of has a happy relationship with the trees, sort of grows along side it and doesn't harm the tree. Everyone is different in their tolerance to PI, like others have said, if you can cut it low now, wait for it to sprout in the spring and summer and hammer it with round up/glyphosate till it is toast.
 
My experience with it here is that it indeed has killed many of my trees, I have vines 4-8 inches also. Here it grows into the canopy and slowly kills the limbs by choking them, and destroying the canopy. It is not the PI juices killing the tree. Not stating a fact, just my observation.
 
I've dealt with it on trees, I try to be as careful as possible, as I've heard the more your around it the less immunity you have, it doesn't bother me a bit, I've been in the middle of a patch weed eating for 20 mins before I noticed

I had a friend who did the same thing. Next time he weed wacked, he got one of the worst ivy cases I've EVER seen
 
:chainsaw: Another question I have is when you pull this "Leader" off, there are still many roots still suckered into said tree. OK to burn??
 
:chainsaw: Another question I have is when you pull this "Leader" off, there are still many roots still suckered into said tree. OK to burn??

I chop out sections of the vine at least a year in advance before felling. What is on the tree dies out well then. Once the vine is real dry the tendrils lose their grip pretty well and you can strip them out, use gloves. The left over tiny threads don't seem to matter. Now they might, don't know for a fact, but haven't gotten any PI from wood I have handled like that, and I can get it.

Once on the ground, continue stripping or axe out what is still there, get the tree as clean as possible, then you can buck it up.

This is the main reason I never went into arborist work/climbing, too much home owner trees they let get wild with PI when they could have killed it off. with some spray and chopping.
 
:chainsaw: Another question I have is when you pull this "Leader" off, there are still many roots still suckered into said tree. OK to burn??

Some folks have an extreme, almost deadly allergic reaction to the smallest exposure to PI, not me but you will have a hard time finding a volunteer for that experiment. LOL
 
Yeah I have six 100+ year old Burr Oaks in the yard and under the canopy on all them are PI shoots mixed in the grass and start slithering up the trunk if I don't keep them at bay.
 

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I generally carry a hatchet or clippers with me and try to cut off the many small vines we now have (most of which are invasive unlike PI). It's a lot easier to get them when they are small.
 
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