I wasn't allergic to it either, until about 2 years ago.....and then it
brushed against my arm as I pulled it out with gloved hands. I had it
over my entire upper body by the time it was done with me. It took two
courses of steroids and lost time working in a neonatal ICU because it
was just a mess...so I have a healthy respect for it. It might not
bother you this year...but it might be havoc for a visitor. Now I get
the brush killer stuff right up close to it, with a paper plate cut, so
it forms a collar and I just spray that plant. Then after it is dead,
I use a plastic bag, grab it from the inside out and tie it up. Works
like a charm. It comes up right by my pond also. I'd get rid of
it....like I said, never was allergic, even walked through it....but
then one fine day, years later........"Leaves of three...let it be"
Maureen

Galen Hekhuis wrote:
I'm showing off some of the plants I put in at the edge of one of my ponds
and the person I was showing them off to pointed to another plant and said:
"Uh, isn't that poison ivy?" Now I'm not allergic to poison ivy or any
other stuff like that (I would have known, I planted some stuff right in
the middle of a poison ivy patch, there's no way I could have avoided it.)
so I've never really tried to watch out for it or even learn to identify it
too well. I Googled up a bunch of stuff on it and the pictures look like
it so I'm pretty sure that's what it is and even though it doesn't do
anything to me it still creeps me out. The past few weeks I've been
looking around for it and have found it only in three places.
Unfortunately they are at the edges of ponds and places that I have bush
hogged recently. I've bush hogged lots of other places where poison ivy
has not sprung up so I don't think the bush hog is infected or anything. I
do wonder if I am creating especially inviting places for poison ivy (and
if so, how to avoid doing it) by creating tree/pond/grassy interfaces.
What is the best way to get rid of what I have growing? I took a squirt
bottle of Round-up (tm) to it and then thought that Round-up might not be
the best thing. I'm not really opposed to the "Kill them all, let God sort
it out" theory of scorched earth weed killing, but there are a bunch of
neat little critters that live in those ponds and I'd really hate to screw
up their home. Short of digging out individual plants by the roots (I may
resort to that) is there any kind, gentle way to kill the evil weed?

Galen Hekhuis NpD, JFR, GWA
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