I have noticed a lot more poison ivy seedlings this year. I probably have 1/2 acre of garden area and usually i will see one or two poison ivy seedings per year. This year I have seen dozens. Anyone else notice an increase? I am in SE michigan zone 6.

No more ivy than usual here, meaning it gets everywhere.

Your problem is very simple: birds. They spread ivy (and sumac; and nightshade; and Bay laurel; and every plant I hate) everywhere. Either your garden is attracting far more birds than it used to or the birds who frequent your garden have found a steady source of yummy Poison ivy seeds in the neighborhood.

Even when poison ivy doesn't rear its leaves above ground, it is busy crawling underground and covering all the space it can grab. Yes, I am clearing brush that had been neglected and we are perched in sandy loam that it loves, it is in new places, but never stops really...
EPD you hate Bay laurel? Really? Surely it isn't as bad as sweetgum, chinese tallow trees, elms, mulberry, and chinese privet that choke the pines, holly, and yaupon here?

frankrichards16 ..I agree it's the birds and other critters eat the seeds and spread them everywhere.
Sorry you have more poison ivy than usual. It's a real pain to contend with . Hope you can get rid of it for good . Usually this time of year before winter is easier to spray them effectively because the leafs are not strongly layered with oils yet. Good luck.

I went to check out you pics on the flicker from the address on the left bottom of your page. It wasn't working.
I was so disappointed I know you have documented lots of great garden pics.

kittriana said:Even when poison ivy doesn't rear its leaves above ground, it is busy crawling underground and covering all the space it can grab. Yes, I am clearing brush that had been neglected and we are perched in sandy loam that it loves, it is in new places, but never stops really...
EPD you hate Bay laurel? Really? Surely it isn't as bad as sweetgum, chinese tallow trees, elms, mulberry, and chinese privet that choke the pines, holly, and yaupon here?

I have a Nixon-esque Enemies List of the vegetable kingdom, and Bay laurel ranks third in it, right behind ivy (both English and Poison; I know they aren't related but they are equally awful) and Clematis. This means exterminate with extreme prejudice. Privet is on the list as well but while invasive is nowhere near as bad as Bay laurel.
White mulberry used to be very common here as a leftover of sericulture, but since silkworm farming has died out there's no more interest in planting it and as trees die out they aren't re-planted. I don't mind eating the berries though.

Our exterminate with extreme prejudice list had thorns on it...firebush, locusts, briars and Smilax,

I sprayed and killed this plant a few years ago. It was climbing up the tree. I stopped garden management out by the road. So, it's back:)

I will show you a pic tomorrow that will make you cringe, chuckl, after I visit the Dr ofc...

I have noticed quite a bit of pokeweed over the last few years. I'm assuming the birds are spreading that too.

Anything with a berry down here becomes a passalong plant from birds, wildlife, just folks also that let them grow not knowing what they are. This is the reason there is always Ivarest in this house- but if you know you can pull a Covid handwashing with Blue Dawn except for sudsing for at least 2 minutes, (as if removing old bearing grease) it helps cut the breakouts. The Sawzall gave us p. ivy after we used it. Blade has been changed now too.





and they wonder why Texas is okay with poison and chainsaws

Well that type of exposure can certainly be a real pain. I get a inch or two popping up and freak out. I can't imagine the huge nuisance poison ivy is in your neck of the woods. Yikes..

Sorry you had experience the rash from the blade of the saws-all. One of my first nasty lessons was running into poison ivy in the woods at a horse camp.. something ya never forget..

I spend a few times a summer walking thru the property with a poison ivy bottle and a paint brush , then paint the liquid on the cut end of the plant. Here in Oregon the best time to do that is in late summer before the oils cover the leaves.

I don't know if they are sold in the US (not even knapsack brushcutters are sold anymore apparently), but you can use a carbide-tipped circular saw on a brushcutter. Makes short work of pretty much anything and can be simply cleaned with gasoline, diesel fuel, brake cleaner etc. I have one and it can but pretty much everything.
Typical procedure to get rid of ivy (especially English) in New Zealand is to have one operator with a carbide saw clearing a path in the ivy, followed by another operator about 20 yards behind with a power sprayer loaded with glyphosate or another post-emergence herbicide. As long as wounds in the ivy are open, the herbicide will get in the vascular system and kill it. It does work well to get rid of very serious infestations, but it's expensive and/or time consuming.

Another invasive plant that gets everywehere here courtesy of birds (and rabbits) is Deadly nightshade (belladonna). Technically it's not invasive because it's native, but it really gets everywhere. Like Kat says people don't know what it is and let it grow, not exactly responsible behavior if there are children running around since the berries are incredibly toxic (unless you are a bird, a conny or a cow ) and very attractive. Luckily it's easily pulled from the ground and killed but them birds really spread it everywhere.

Hey Devil Chicken, what's a conny? And where are they living? NZ!

Nightshade is another issue for clearing out toxic plants and they collect in pastures ,fields and crops so incredibly prolific. The black berries on them are very toxic, constantly pulling them up they have very shallow roots.

Also tansey grows in the pastures is another extremely toxic plant for live stalk. The plant has had serious effects on the live stalk in Oregon . A few years ago the flea beetle was imported to the state and used as a predator to eliminate tansey from fields. The larvae will strip the young tansey plant and leave it to die. The larvae have almost eliminated the tansey ragwort from my pastures.

Flea beetles aren't on my love list either, not that they care, but too hot for tansy here

kittriana said:Hey Devil Chicken, what's a conny? And where are they living? NZ!

Conny -> old countryside English word for rabbit, apparently of the same Latin origin as the Italian coniglio and Spanish conejo (cuniculus, meaning burrow).
I studied Latin at the lycée (high school) and I spent three semesters studying in the UK so something definetely stuck. As usual the useless "something".

I have acquaintances who moved to Aotearoa (New Zealand, the Maori name for it just sounds cooler) a few years ago. From what they told me there's not enough money in the world to pay me to live there. They like it. Apart from the earthquakes. And naturally thin ozone layer ("Skin cancer capital of the world", even dogs have to wear sunscreen on their noses). And potholed roads. And impossibly priced food.

Hmmm, not my kind of climate either, I love the words-always wanted to study latin-once upon a time I understood more of it than I do now, but none of that latin was real words...been out before the sun grew hotter...clearing some more berry producing problems (yaupon) from the living areas of my world.

the Coasters, 1956

frankrichards16 said:the Coasters, 1956

Poison Ivy-y-y
Oh dear, I'm showing my age.

Chuckl, was more into areas with no radios back then, think I was living in NM...