What is the best way to get rid of poison ivy from your garden?

Carefully!

I didn't have poison ivy but in my California yard, I had poison oak. Gloves (a pair I kept for just this purpose), long pants, long sleeves. Then, when I came in from the yard, everything went into the wash machine and I took a COLD shower with lots of soap.

I don't know how poison ivy works but from what I have read, its an oil. Poison oak is also an oil. Cold water and soap get rid of it. Hot water spreads it.

Put it into trash bags for disposal. Don't burn it! My brother ended up in the hospital because he put poison oak in a burn pile and breathed the smoke.

Daisy

At my house, poison ivy is the easiest vine in the world to remove.
I cleared a new section of garden... after I cleared out the brush n saplings, came up in poison ivy almost as thick as turf!
Went out with a mattock, and after rooting it out 1 time... It was gone!
Try getting rid of Chinese wisteria that easily!

stone said:At my house, poison ivy is the easiest vine in the world to remove.
I cleared a new section of garden... after I cleared out the brush n saplings, came up in poison ivy almost as thick as turf!
Went out with a mattock, and after rooting it out 1 time... It was gone!
Try getting rid of Chinese wisteria that easily!

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.. what is a mattock?
We have Poison Ivy [ husband is almost done with itching, etc ] but the vines are still under a Dogwood tree and our Fir. Any help would be appreciated [ we don't have enough to hire a goat to eat it ]

Peggy
Central North Carolina

[ we have a difference of opinion -- he wants to roundup it in the Fall -- I would prefer something not as harmful ]

Have you received the Dr. bill yet? RoundUp is safe if directions are followed, and only works on "actively growing "plants. Now would be the time to use it on the PI. I'm talking about the regular RoundUp...not the Extended Control stuff they've come up with since their patent ran out. I don't know what' in that. I had a pesticide applicators license for 15 years, and had to go to periodic classes to maintain it. I still use it when necessary.

As Stone says, it is easy to pull out, but you'd obviously want to wear gloves. Perhaps disposable gloves...

If you have lots of it, an herbicide might be a better option, but if it's just a few plants, you could pull it up, and not mess with the RU.

Good luck,
Virginia

Under a dogwood, you may not wish to use a digging implement like a mattock... Which resembles a pick with a wide flat digging blade on one end and an axe blade or pointed end on the other side.

Digging around dogwoods tends to kill them. Shallow brittle roots.