Wildflower dreams/Poison Ivy nightmares

We're going to build a house on 13 acres that has lots of trees and an open field with lovely wildflowers ... and lots of poison ivy, multi-flora rose, Russian olive, grape vine, wild raspberries, etc. I'd really like to turn this open area into a lovely wildflower 'prairie'. Does anyone know how I can get rid of the poison ivy without having to kill the coneflowers, new england asters, goldenrod, blazing stars, coreopsis, etc.? I'm assuming that I will have to 'paint' each plant individually (and there are hundreds) but was hoping there might be an easier way. I don't mind cutting and digging up the multi-flora rose, Russian olive, etc., but the poison ivy is such a pain. Any ideas about getting rid of any of these 'pests' would be really appreciated.

Thanks, Audrey

What would you like to know specifically?

Do you own a weed wrench?

Have you ever solarized any plants?

Would you be open to using chemicals?

Specifically, I would like to know the most efficient and effective way to eradicate a tremendous amount of poison ivy from several acres without having to kill everything else on the property.

I don't know what a weed wrench is.
I don't know what solarizing plants is.
Chemicals are fine ... I would just like to avoid killing as much other stuff as possible.

Audrey

You might not be able to eradicate the PI, but you can start to control it. It's going to be a lot of work.

First, I've never seen poison ivy growing in an open meadow. It tends to like wooded areas on our land, and fairly moist soil conditions. So first identify your main problem spots.

PI is stoloniferous -- it spreads with underground or above-ground shoots. Often when I rip up a plant I get a long chain of 5-6 of them. This link is helpful when you are applying a systemic herbicide because it will get more than the one plant you contact.

I would develop a plan and spot-spray with a broad-leaf herbicide (with dishwashing liquid in the solution for adhesion) when the plants are in vigorous growth in the spring/early summer. This would be May/June in my Zone 4-5 area. Then, if you have the nerve and good protective clothing, pull up any plants still growing in mid-fall (October here) when the oils are not too strong.

This should give you a start. Good luck.

Hey Audrey,
Can you post a photo of your Poison Ivy? I'm with andycdn in that I've never seen Poison Ivy growing in an open area but I have definitely seen it growing here there and everywhere over a few acres.

Poison Ivy is a native plant and it does serve a purpose so I removed all of them from any areas that the kids might come in contact with them and left the rest. They did tend to be more concentrated in the areas that were moist however I found them in upland woodland areas also.

I'm going to have to agree with everything that andycdn said above. Sounds like he's had to deal with Poison Ivy before too. I'm just going to add a few comments. The chemical you might want to consider using is Ortho Brush-B-Gon poison ivy killer. It's readily available here in the US. I'd pick up a few cheap $3-$4 tarps and place them around the base of the plant and then spray it. Pick up your tarps and move on to the next plant. I take a black permanent marker and put an X on the up side of the tarp so that I can remember which side of the tarp will have overspray on it. Also too, best to spray late morning when the plants are photosynthesizing their brains out. Air temps should be consistently above 60F but below 80F when you use the Brush-B-Gon.

The reason why I mentioned a weed wrench is because I am hyper allergic to the urushiol. I would be a mess if I came in contact with Poison Ivy so I wear long sleeved shirts and use my weed wrench to get it out of the ground after it has been treated. I too, find that I get a chain of them when ripping up the plant. Digging them up with a shovel and pulling up the roots by hand will work just as well however fo us ladies out there who may not be stong like bulls, the Weed Wrench has attained "most favorite tool" status for me. We women just aren't built like the men and getting a good grip on these monsters is often tough enough without worrying about falling face forward into the thing.

Here's a link to the Weed Wrench-
http://www.weedwrench.com/

I generally use the light version of the Weed Wrench but this tool worked so well we bought the medium version. I know it is expensive but it is worth its weight in gold to me because it can literally rip plants out of the ground like butter and there will be little or no risk of coming in contact with any part of the plant. For the Poison Ivy, if you go slow and easy... those runners will all come right up. It's the wildest thing in the world to watch them all come up in a string.

Solarization isn't going to work well for you because you have too many but I have smothered a few of these vines with old carpet and I have cooked them under dark plastic.

Once you start removing these plants, bag them and toss them out with your regular garbage. Very rarely do I ever get aggressive about dictating anything to anyone but DO NOT toss these on a burn pile and burn them. The urushiol will be vaporized and carried in the smoke. I have wonderful photos some where of my stupid husband's legs from the knees down because he was wearing shorts when he hauled off some of the plants I had uprooted to burn them. I bag my plants always but he's got this thing for burning anything that isn't nailed down. He was a mess and ended up in the ER. They said he was lucky he didn't get any of it in his lungs.

I've never seen it growing out in the open anywhere else but I promise you, it's grows like crazy in the open as well as up the trees. As soon as it's really showing (it's only very tiny right now) I'll take a photo to show you. In fact, I'll go out tomorrow and photograph the small plants so you can see that it is growing in the open. It's really quite pretty in the fall with all the PI leaves turning color among the goldenrod and new england asters.

Thank you for all the advice. I know it's going to be a lot of work but since we're going to be building here and having large yards which I plan to garden, I want to get rid of as much as possible anywhere near the home site.

Even though I was sure there was no easy way to accomplish this, I was hoping someone might have some easier ideas. Do you think I could have a PI killing party and have a bunch of friends over to help 'paint' all the plants with brush killer? Probably wouldn't get many volunteers.:)

It depends on if you have the "right" friends. I think your Poison Ivy killing party is a fun idea. I'd come.

I went to a Buckthorn killing party once. I should have known something was up when I was asked to bring my chainsaw ;)

Equilibrium likes killing parties (don't we all!!) She is the guest of honor at my pansy worm/cutworm party I will be having in August. Equil...you have penciled that in, correct?? lol

Ewwwwwwwwwwwwww, you're gross Tigger! Sure, I'll pencil in a cutworm party. Can we burn them with a lighter and make them pop like a tick?

I have to laugh, sstateham stopped in at my house yesterday because she was in the area. We looked like Mutt and Jeff. She was all dolled up looking like a million bucks because she was "working" and I looked like a sloppy mud ball. I had been be-bopping around using my weed wrench and pulling out sapling Buckthorns and Japanese Honeysuckle and she took off her high heels and started helping me by ripping out juvenile Multiflora Rosa and Buckthorn seedlings. What a gal! I think these types of killing parties appeal to gardeners. Sort of like people who sew... they can't resist plucking lint or a loose thread off of another person who sews. I have a neighbor who walks over when I'm not home and dead heads for me. I always know when Maria has been here because all the flowers in my front have been deadheaded. Cracks me up.

Poison ivy grows anywhere where land has been 'disturbed'. So if the open land was logged or worked in any way by machinery this qualifies as disturbed land. So an open field could contain poison ivy.

To prevent poison ivy from coming into contract with my skin:
One trick I used is to save old bread bags and use on your arms if you are pulling up poison ivy. Wear two bread bags on each arm (double layer) and attach with elastic bands or ties. Wear rubber gloves over them. When done carefully remove bags and put in trash bags immediately. Make sure to not touch any clothes that have come into contact with the plants. You could also use Tecnu (special soap available at most drugstores) to carefully wash your skin that may have come into contact with the poison ivy afterwards. Be careful some people are really sensitive to the effects of poison ivy.

There are companies that specialize in removing poison ivy if you don't want to do it yourself.

Excellent recommendation sedum37. Tecnu has saved my rear end more times than I can count. I buy that stuff and keep it here just in case I need it. I also like your idea of bread bags. Those could be peeled off really easy.

Equilibrium,

I finally got a photo of the poison ivy. I've walked through the field and it's everywhere like this. There's also Virginia Creeper and grapevine which I thought only grew around trees too.

Audrey

Oh Lucky You! That sucks. Have you been getting rain like we have lately? Is there any way you can hand pull the new growth if the ground is nice and loosened up from spring rains? I've found that I can in fact hand pull some of the new growth. Did you ever get a chance to check out the weed wrench? I swear I've gotten my money back on the purchase of mine ten fold by not having to buy chemicals. Just a thought. I feel for you. Poison Ivy is no fun, no fun at all.