I’m waiting on my new weed wacker to arrive in the mail this week, and it occurs to me that I’m really bad at plant identification. I do okay with flowers, but trees and non-flowering plants…no bueno.
So, in hopes of avoiding weed wacking poison ivy, I’ve taken pictures of things in my yard and down by the mailbox for savvier plant identifiers to look at.
If you’re good at IDing poison ivy, can you take a peek at these five pictures? Sorry the first one’s a bit fuzzy. I’ve numbered them 1-5 and I think the last couple near the mailboxes are poison ivy, though perhaps the first three are as well (or poison something else).
Agreed that #2 and #5 are poison ivy or reasonable enough facsimiles to avoid them at all costs. The rest probably aren’t but close enough that they might be, and some of the most evil weed could easily hide among them. I don’t take my chances with the satan’s salad greens though, if it looks close I’ll avoid it or kill it.
Yeah, I had the misfortune to weedwhack and aerosolize some poison ivy this past week, and I don’t recommend it.
If you’re in doubt, I suggest the following:
a. Use a herbicide on the suspected poison ivy. I’m not a huge fan of the Roundup type stuff for general gardening but when it comes to poison ivy, taking no prisoners is a good idea.
b. While weedwhacking, don some expendable jeans and long sleeved garments. Wear eye protection and (if really playing it safe, a faceshield). Also, gloves. Use old sneakers, because if you step in poison ivy, you’ll probably re-expose yourself every time you tie your laces. After you’re finished, put the clothes in a pile and wash separately with lots of soap.
c. Buy some Tecnu, or similar scrubbing stuff, and use liberally on any exposed skin that happened to get splattered with plant debris.
I just visited my lady friends cottage in wisconsin last week and made this same mistake, with a John Deere mower. As if the DEET immune mosquitoes weren’t enough along with sunburn, I ran over poison ivy and nettles hidden in the tall grass… No amount of special lotion can fix that irritation.
Make sure to get a brush killer, not just simple weed killer. Poison Ivy is tough stuff, regular weed killer will only make it a little sick. After the leaves die, put on more to get to the roots. And don’t think it can’t just come back next year either. It’s like trying to kill Jason.
Typically, herbicides have to be applied to viable greenery to work. Once the leaves die, there’s nothing left to transport the active agent down to the roots.