I'm planning on cutting down some dead ash trees this winter and the few that I had my eye on have poison ivy growing on them. Is it still something to avoid in the winter, or have all the oils dried up that give you the rash?
I'm planning on cutting down some dead ash trees this winter and the few that I had my eye on have poison ivy growing on them. Is it still something to avoid in the winter, or have all the oils dried up that give you the rash?
Are the vines still alive? That's the first thing to tell us.
Urushiol (the toxin that your body reacts to) is most strong in the woody parts of the plant and takes quite a while to dry out of there. If you lop off the vine at the base and let it die, the leaves will dry up, fall off and with a couple of rains probably not cause any harm. The woody parts however, like I said, take a while...so proceed with common sense and caution.
Yes, during the winter they're not nearly as nasty as in the spring and summer, but if you start chainsawing and have chips hitting your face, you better plan to take a shower no more than a couple of hours of work, or you'll be in for an uncomfortable time!
When I bought my place and cleared out the poison Ivy from the property I cut the vine at the base and let it die. Then I went back to the tree the next winter and pulled the vine off and tossed it in the woods. Came back inside, placed all my clothes in the washer and took a shower. Never had a problem.
Since the trees you're asking about are already dead, the bark may be loose and you may be able to pull it off now. Just wear stuff you can easily wash while taking it down...then change your clothes and any areas of skin you think may have be exposed and then go back to firewood duty. That's what I recommend.
Hope this helps
You have to be careful, just because you did not get a reaction it does not mean that someone else won't!
If you mean by surfaces that have had exposure to the oil like clothes and stuff, I wouldn't argue with that. Not sure if its quite that long, but I know its years.I think that the poison could last on a surface for up to 5 years!
2) Cut vines with loppers. Don't touch nothing. Step away from the tree. Clean the loppers without hands on technique.
I was going to pull as much off before cutting the tree up as I could. Maybe I'll just get a pair of cheap cotton gloves and use those to pull the vines off then throw them away when I'm done.
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