I've done a lot of not-so-smart things in my life, but one of the biggest was buying a house in the middle of winter, in Maine. Besides not being able to see the roof or most of the foundation, I couldn't see the yard. No big deal, right? I loved the house. My first spring here I was out weeding IN THE FRONT GARDEN BED and I see these red shiny weeds, so I pull them up. There's an awful lot of them. Two days later I come down with a horrific rash, all over my hands and arms and FACE. A few more weeks go by and the red leaves turn to green and I recognize it: poison ivy. I see it EVERYWHERE. I mean, everywhere. I bought 4.5 acres. Roughly 4.3 of them were dense poison ivy patches. It's trying to take over what's left of my front lawn. I tried spraying it with all kinds of horrible noxious chemicals. It wilted for a few days after I did that, then came back with a vengeance. Now I've taken to pulling it up, covered in full body armor. I've managed to thin it out in a few places but knowing how much of it is out there is so daunting. Most people come home from work to relax and do hobbies. I come home to wage the war on ivy. Sorry I just had to rant. I hate it, I hate it, I hate it.
Quote:Get a couple of goats. They will eat it into oblivian without any reaction. they love the stuff.
I've mulled over getting a goat many times (not only do I have poison ivy but I have blackberries too, everywhere). However, everything I've read about goats seems like they're hard to keep, and I don't currently have a place to put a goat. Once I get the chicken coop finished though I'll look into goats more.
I'm sorry. I have a large patch that is gradually taking over my backyard and I hate it, too. Wretched stuff!
My chickens eat ever single leaf that makes it through the fence. Maybe you just need a really big flock or a mobile tractor. Actually the mobile tractor, moved every week would probably do a great job on the poison ivy. I hate it too. I rake but don't bag the leaves in the backyard. Every time I do bag, I seem to end up with poison ivy in the areas my bra covers...not fun!!!!!!!!!!
Goats are easy to keep, as long as you have a good fence to keep them in. They will clear your ivy out in no time and love doing it!
You could always see if someone will rent-a-goat to you. Many places have mobile fences and everything!
One of the best "cures" for poison Ivy is a soap I found at Rural King, called "Grandma's Poison Ivy Soap" which is essentially lye with some herbs in it. Really dries it up and does help the itch. I was never allergic to it until I turned 35 and now I am just scared to death of the stuff. It is a miserable weed, and again I ask WHY God, WHY???
I don't really know what to tell you about getting rid of the poison ivy. We had some here in the back by our basement door when we moved in 2 years ago, and the kids found that pretty fast once it started growing in. Sure enough, they were in the house with rashes. So I went to the store and bought a product called Calagel. It comes with another product called Technu. Oh my gosh! I put it on the kids and voila, no more rash! It's designed to get rid of the oils that cause the rash. It never got a chance to spread on my kids, which it LOVES to do if you can't get the oil off. They had it across the backs of their legs, and across their hands from where they tried to pull it off their legs. We managed to pull the ivy out that Fall as it went dormant and we got rid of it. If I were you, if you aren't ready to get a goat, I would wait until Fall, then hit the second hand store closest to you and get yourself a thick flannel shirt. Put it on with some thicker gardening gloves, and work on digging it up. It would be easier to do when it's dormant than when it's in full swing and can make you super sick. If you do wait til Fall, make sure you toss that shirt and gloves. Don't try to reuse them or wash them, cause you could spread that oil to everything in your washer. Eek, don't need THAT in your underpants!!! Good luck getting rid of it though!
Oh, I also wanted to add a bit of information a friend told me. When you do pull the ivy up, don't burn it! I was told that the smoke can cause the rash to explode inside your bronchial tubes and lungs, and that can be very dangerous. I was told not to ever burn any of the poisonous ones. Poison ivy, poison sumac, or poison oak. Thought I would share that with you too.
