I agree with maple. I also agree that Poison Ivy has many disguises. PI in my experience has long suckering roots. Put on gloves and give it a yank. Get some disposable gloves that you can carefully remove and discard. If it's a maple seedling it will come right out and will not have a long or deep root. In any case, if you do have any suspicion that it is PI, don't spray but use a brush to paint the weed killer on the leaves. Don't use ordinary Round Up, use a chemical labeled for poison ivy. This post was edited by ratdogheads on Mon, Oct 6, 14 at 21:07

Several studies have shown that either the glyphosphate in Roundup, or the surfactant in it that allows it to penetrate and kill the plant, is highly lethal to amphibians, and and to earthworms. Other studies have shown that it interfers with hormones and damages human placental cells, and possibly the placental cells of other mammals (you wouldn't want to spray it anywhere near where farm animals graze). It can inhibit mycorrhizal fungi (a bacteria that helps plants take up vital nutrients), and there are reports it can kill beneficial insects like parasitic wasps and lacewings. I have not read anything about using it around septic beds, but given that it is implicated in harming or inhibiting many organisins, including bacteria, I'd not recommend using it there. Ditto for your well area. I would suggest you rethink your desire to get rid of the clover too. Clover has been rebranded a weed only since the developement of broad leaf weed killers. Prior to that it was a very much desired addition to lawns because of it's ability to remain green throughout the heat and drought of summer. It also fixes nitrogen, allowing a healthier grass growth, which in turn discouraged other weeds. I've never read anything about poison ivy and veggies. Even if the veggies can't take up the urushiol, it can't be good to garden in poison ivy :-) Poison ivy is a pain in the a**!!!!! Most people don't have a reaction to it the first time they come into contact with it, so your experience is normal. It takes one or two exposures to become sensitized to it first. Lots of people also report that dogs don't have problems with it, but they can get the oils on their fur which then become a problem for you when you pat the dog. You can keep it to a minimum if you are dilligent about pulling it up as soon as you see it. Since you just moved, you might have a lot right now. You can buy cheap gardening gloves at a dollar store and latex gloves at a drug store. Use both! Put your feet into a couple of trash bags (might want to use two or three layers if they're thin), and tape them shut as high as they'll go and you're fairly well (and cheaply) protected form the oil. Throw out the gloves and trash bags inside another trash bag. You can also pick up some cheap clothing at a local thrift shop - wear it while removing it and them throw it away. By removing what you can see, you'll cause a growth spurt from any remailing stuff, but if you repeat the process every week or two for this summer, you'll have gotten rid of most of it without having had to resort to Roundup. Check nearby trees and undergrowth for old vines - they're hairy. If they're too big or high to remove easily, just hack through them and remove what you can - the rest of the higher up stuff will die and be out of the way so you won't need to worry about it. It sounds like a great place though! You're so lucky to have that much room! A lot of work to bring it into shape, but that's half the fun :-) BP

First of all you want to be sure its poison ivy, there are plenty of look-alikes. I've found that spraying works best in the fall before the leaves have turned yellow. But I sometimes spray in the spring also it all depends on if I have RoundUp on hand or if I feel like going to the store to buy it. The chemicals in RoundUp work by getting inside the plant and killing tissues, so just puting it on the surface of the leaf will transmit it into the plant. But, it would take many applications to really damage a robust plant like poison ivy this way. Some people slit the vines stem and paint on the RoundUp like Tammy said and others swear by cutting the vine completely through and securing the cut tip into a small jar of RoundUp so that the plant takes massive amounts of the poison into its roots. I don't think you have to work THAT hard. Just be warned that RoundUp doesn't always show an effect right away, it may take a few days before the plant collapses and even if the plant looks dead you have to be very careful with the dried vine and leaves. The sad news is that poison ivy thrives in this area and no matter what you do now, you will have this problem again and again in the future. Bird love to spread the berries around and the vines send out runners far and wide. You will never completely get rid of it. RoundUp is the only chemical herbicide I use in my yard and I rarely use it. It is relatively safe to use but does a lot of damage to amphibians (frogs and salamanders) and my yard is full of them so I most often pull the poison ivy and honeysuckle rather than spray for it. I keep a pair of washable garden gloves handy and make an evening of it going around the yard pulling baby vines and putting them into a trash bag to throw away. I slather on an extra thick layer of cheap sunscreen just in case the leaves ever touch me and when I am done yanking them I go inside and scrub my arms and hands. I never get poison ivy rash after I go out pulling the plants (probably because I am extra careful) but I do get it constantly from just working in the garden. And from letting my 60 lbs hound sit in my lap to watch tv - I get it from her feet.

Hello, I live along a creek in No.Cal. that runs into the county reservoir. We are in severe drought conditions. The creek dries as soon as rain stops. I have a long narrow 4 acres that completely parallel the creek 1 side & road the other. I have huge thickets of wild blackberry & massive amts. of poison oak & stinging nettle. 10 yrs. ago I had goats; otherwise I have left it all alone so wildlife has refuse. Now medically unemployable & have become more interested in hurgenkulture. I want to cut the dead oaks, over grown 50'Xmas trees and place them along the creek bed. I will being cutting the willow trees & bringing up to dry. If I spray brush be gone numerous times, when poison oak is dried & dead I lay the logs in piles over where p.o. was, cover with dried willow sticks & other dead sticks, compost, leaves, manure, dirt a few inches of top soil; will the poison oak grow through into my hugelkultur gardens. Ultimately my goal is to plant almost 1/10 mile of creekbed with these beds. They are drought resistant gardens for as the trees stumps hold water & release it they eliminate almost all watering. I plan to plant gardens most distant from the house with blueberry, currants, gooseberry and grapes. Then potatoes, onion, garlic, melons, squash and finally nearest gardens with tomato, peas,beans, and other daily veggies. Would it be best to use product that sterilizes creek bank soil killing poison oak, nettle & blackberry first? My husband is a firefighter & on the big wildland fires has gotten systemic poison oak. I always pray he doesn't get it in his lungs. Many of the firefighters have become highly sensitized. Thank you, Moni