poison ivy

[john kefauver]

this is my first time on this site, so i hope this ends up in the right place. we just bought 4 acres and about a quarter of an acre is covered with poison ivy. i mowed it off and now it is really growing nicely. any suggestions on a natural remedy to rid us of this?

 

[Ray Morneau]

Mr. Kefauver:

Goats seem to be the most oft recommended "natural" control I have encountered in my literature.

Grubbing it out is next most often mentioned. (Sizable project at 1/4 A!)

My Uncle Jim used to just pull it out. Of course, then everything he touched (doorknobs, chairs, etc) passed a little of the oil on to the rest of us -- doggone it, but it's hard not to scratch.

Realistically, RoundUp(TM) ranks high on my list -- but, like most things, it's had some bad press.

Maybe others can jump in here with better info for you, John.

Seems like "Safer" (as in Safer's Insecticidal Oil Soap(TM)) used to market an herbicide, but I don't find a reference for it now. Of course, though they called those salts & oils "natural", they really are "chemicals", like most things -- maybe they ran into controversy there, too!?!?

Good luck with your project, John. Let us know what works!

((By the way, Administration here might break this out to a new thread of its own since the original topic of this thread was about planting.))

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

Any thing like roundup or finale will do, best control is in fall when the plant will translocate the product to the roots best.

Most broad leaf products will work well too, turflon ester...

regular mowing will help stress it, but I would not want to breath that!