I'm not allergic either (yet!), but I treat poison ivy with respect. There was a huge vine on a fence when I moved in. I used a contractor bag to "collect" the top part, then cut it off at the base as close to the ground as I could.

I try not to use heavy duty herbicides, but there are some plants that are the "undead". For those, the ultimate killer was Bayer Advanced Brush and Stump Remover (or any herbicide with the active ingredient Triclopyr) which I painted on the "trunk" with a disposible brush within 10 minutes of cutting the plant/vine. The 10-minute limit is because the cut end of the plant immediately starts to callous. It only took 1 application.

Glypsophate (like RoundUp) is not nearly as effective. I've used the Triclopyr products when I gardened for other people and in my own garden and have never heard of or seen any translocation to nearby plants.

Technical pesticide info about Triclopyr: http://npic.orst.edu/factsheet...

And, of course, we really all should love Toxicodendron as it's a NATIVE and according to Texas DNR, the fruit is an excellent bird and wildlife food.

Agreed... when it becomes necessary to "use something" you want to use the most effective... Roundup Poison Ivy & Brush Killer is what's working for me out there (I think it has both Triclopyr & glypsophate). I don't spray it willy nilly on anything I could just as well pull, but the poison ivy is really entrenched in that fence row of trees along the back of our yard.

I've heard full strength vinegar (stronger than store brand white vinegar, you want it to be like 80%) is effective on freshly cut stubs of shrubs and on stubborn weeds, so maybe...

I do realize this is a thread to find a "non-chemical" means of control, but that's just tough to do with some plants. I need to have that poison ivy gone. Even when I'm "rid" of it, the urishol oil will persist in the soil, probably at least another 10 years, so I'll always have to be careful in that area.

We have PI growing underneath a clump of very ancient lilacs at our family cottage (they are at least 100 years old). We used a lot of roundup initially, now we can spot treat it. One of my Master Gardener friends said that the round up doesn't work unless it is actively growing. So spring is better than fall to treat it (I am always there in the fall, rarely in the spring or early summer) So if you are using a chemical, use it when it is most beneficial.

I too have used the special soaps for cutting through the PI oil. I wash me, the clothes and since we have a PI vine growing up one of the lilacs, which I saw through every year - even the saw blade. I also use the hottest water I can, because it is an oil which gets on things.

Apparently when I was a young-un, my father burned some PI at the edge of our woods - and yes, the smoke will carry the irritant, as he would tell you if he was still alive. He apparently got pretty sick from it all those decades ago ~Jan

Does anybody know when you can plant desirable plants after spraying with triclopyr to kill poison ivy? I had a ton of poison ivy in a corner of my garden. Somebody sprayed it, trying to help me (I was in the hospital from PI--yikes!) and killed all my newly planted plants. I want to replant, but don't know when I can do so. Anybody know? And yes, I know the dead PI vines can still give me PI.

Here's what Wikipedia has to say:

"Environmental issues

Triclopyr breaks down in soil with a half-life of between 30 and 90 days. One of the byproducts of breakdown, trichloropyridinol, remains in the soil for up to a year. Triclopyr degrades rapidly in water. It remains active in decaying vegetation for about 3 months.

The compound is slightly toxic to ducks (LD50 = 1698 mg/kg) and quail (LD50 = 3000 mg/kg).[2] It has been found non-toxic to bees and very slightly toxic to fish (Rainbow trout LC50 (96 hrs.) = 117 ppm).[3]"

Pea seedlings are extra-sensitive to some kinds of herbicides. Maybe soak 5-10 peas every two weeks or one month, and plant them after a day or two of soaking.

Once the peas start emerging, that hints that enough of it has broken down or washed away that less sensitive things should have few problems.

One trick is that you probably do want to plant your plants before the poison ivy or other weeds start to sprout! So you might sow some cover crop thinly every few weeks and hope that it can out-compete PI or other weeds. Then hoe the cover crop up, or till it under, before planting your flowers.