On Fri, 11 May 2007 11:16:53 -0400 in Philip Semanchuk wrote:
In article .com,
wrote:

On May 11, 7:41 am, Bluebee wrote:
Just discovered that my backyard has plenty of poison Ivy growing. This
in the woods that belong to me. What is the best way to kill them?
Googling it, I found its not easy to kill, but there is hope. Has anyone
tried the salt+detergent+vinegar combination with any good results?

I have had good luck with Roundup or most any non-selective weed
killer. The problem is how to prevent the re-growth/sprouting of new
plants.

I'm an organic gardner and I attack poison ivy on my property with
mechanical means only. But a friend of mine recently alerted me to the
practice of cutting the stem of a plant and painting the cut with
Roundup. That minimizes the amount of Roundup that goes where you don't
want it. I was surprised that it was still effective this way but she
said it was.

Bluebee, it is certainly possible to remove by mechanical means, you
just have to get yourself into a biohazard mindset. Once you start
yanking up the ivy, be careful not to scratch an itch on your bare skin,
rub your eyes, or wipe sweat off your brow. That's the thing I find most
difficult to avoid.

I just limit all removal activities to the hand I don't use to wipe
my brow and limit work time to 45 minutes to an hour to be followed
immediately by a shower and sending all clothing through the washer.

I'm currently engaged in a mixed approach to removing the crap.
24D/Weedbegone to do initial knockdown on a large patch that
was trying to invade the yard, and an infestation snaked up several cedar
trees. Roundup for the other patches.
Lopping shears and muscle to remove it, and trupet creeper, and
virginia creeper, from a few trees.
Mowing a barrier on the edge of a neighbor's field that seems to be
infested with poison ivy.
Just pulling the small sprouts that show up along the flower beds.

The eldest step kid has also been offered a bounty of $2 for each new
infestation she finds. She doesn't seem to care about money tho'
as I've since pulled 3 new infestations on the route from her bus stop
to the door...

Good luck


--
Chris Dukes
elfick willg: you can't use dell to beat people, it wouldn't stand up
to the strain... much like attacking a tank with a wiffle bat