Happy to! Hostas are tough, gardeners move them around regularly. I've not had Epimediums before, so somebody jump in if I say something that doesn't jive with those. A bit of reading about them says gardeners often divide them, so assuming they're like most perennials that gardeners move at will with good results. Does your yard have other 'flower bed' areas? If so, is the light exposure similar to this one? Is there space for plants to take up temporary residence there? If yes to the above questions, I would dig up as many of the Hostas and Epis as you feel like saving, move them to the other bed area. Shake off the roots when you get them up, to make sure you're only moving Hosta/Epi material, and not any of the goutweed roots. I would replant each one as it was dug, to reduce the time each one spends out of the ground (and working this way would allow you to take a break, for a minute or a night, or a week, whatever your schedule requires.) It would be best not to do this in the middle of a really hot day. Then rake the area where plants were removed as flat as possible, use weed trimmer to help get the weed foliage down/help flatten the area. Cover the shredded weeds and the ground with cardboard, overlapping the edges well, cover that with enough mulch to hide it. By spring, the bed should be ready for the good plants to be re-planted. After uncovering a small test area (if necessary, the cardboard may be decomposed by then,) where the goutweed was known to be thick to make sure it's dead, you can move the Hostas/Epis back, or start fresh with something else. If there is nowhere to move them, you could put the plants you want to save in pots for winter. Or possibly dig out half of the bed, move the good plants to that side and try smothering the other half. Furniture and appliance stores are great sources for soliciting large pieces of cardboard, just remove any tape or stapes before using them for gardening. Whatever is growing on a spot where I want to have a 'flower bed,' whether weeds or grasses, smothering is how I start all new beds. I'd rather wait than dig, and removing the top soil is counter-productive to having 'good dirt.' Smothering the weeds (and often grass) returns the organic material of the weeds/grass to the soil. I can elaborate more, if needed, in whichever direction you'd want/need to go.

Thanks guys for the information. oldtimer I'm not quitting with the composting, it just won't be a pretty compost pile like some of the photos I see in this site. If I decide to house a small goat, I have a larger dog kennel that I intend to keep it when it is not outside "working" eradicating the poison oak, poison ivy and, yes, we have poison sumac too, the goat will have to stay in the dog kennel. I will be outside to make sure the goat is safe for we have seen coyatoes walk through the yard. The goat will be borrowed just for the purpose of a safe way to get rid of the poison mess. Kimmsr, I went to fire ant control site and realized that we need to fight the ants in the fall, probably all year in North Ga area. The fire ants were here when we brought the property, which surprised me for it was a vacant hill top property, but the previous owners had a tomato garden up here. I suppose the ants could have been brought in to the area in tomato plants? Anyway, thanks guys, and I will be careful when fighting the poisons out there. I have to suit up to work in the yard, complete with long sleeves, long pants with my socks over the top of the pant legs. Plus, of course gloves. Reason: Ants love me, they seem to track me down, plus I'm sensitive to poison sumac and hubby is very sensitive to the other two. The socks pulled over the top of the pant legs is to ensure no ants crawl into my clothing. We have mean fire ants in GA.

JAYK said (without documentation): "However, long term studies have shown that Roundup use has not presented groundwater contamination issues. It binds to soil so tightly that it does not move downward appreciably in the soil profile. Your use of Roundup to target poison ivy in your garden will not adversely affect your frogs, future plants, or your water." -------------------------------------------- Title: Reconnaissance Data for Glyphosate, Other Selected Herbicides, Their Degradation Products, and Antibiotics in 51 Streams in Nine Midwestern States, 2002 By Elisabeth A. Scribner, William A. Battaglin, Julie E. Dietze, and E.M. Thurman Abstract: "Since 1989, the U.S. Geological Survey has conducted periodic reconnaissance studies of streams in the Midwestern United States to determine the geographic and seasonal distribution of herbicide compounds. These studies have documented that large amounts of acetochlor, alachlor, atrazine, cyanazine, metolachlor, and their degradation products are flushed into streams during post-application runoff. Additional studies show that peak herbicide concentrations tend to occur during the first runoff after herbicide application and that herbicide flushes can occur during runoff for several weeks to months following application. Since the first stream study conducted in 1989, several significant changes in herbicide use have occurred. The most substantial change is the tripling in the use of glyphosate during the past 5 years. Over this same time period (1997Â2001), usage of acetochlor and atrazine increased slightly, whereas alachlor, cyanazine, and metolachlor usage decreased. During 2002, 154 samples were collected from 51 streams in nine Midwestern States during three periods of runoff. This report provides a compilation of the analytical results of five laboratory methods. Results show that glyphosate was detected in 55 (36 percent) of the samples, and aminomethylphosphonic acid (a degradation product of glyphosate) was detected in 107 (69 percent) of the samples. Atrazine, the most frequently detected herbicide, was found in 93 percent of the samples, followed by metolachlor, found in 73 percent of the samples; metolachlor ethanesulfonic acid (ESA) and oxanilic acid (OXA) were the most frequently detected herbicide degradation products, both being found in more than 95 percent of the samples. The data presented here are valuable for comparison with results from the earlier reconnaissance studies." Please note the following: "Results show that glyphosate was detected in 55 (36 percent) of the samples, and aminomethylphosphonic acid (a degradation product of glyphosate) was detected in 107 (69 percent) of the samples."

So yesterday I did a combination of methods. I pulled out the ivy immediately surrounding my son's playhouse. I wore two sets of rubber gloves, long sleeves, long pants, sneakers and a rain jacket (luckily it wasn't too hot). Also the second pair of rubber gloves was black so I could actually see the oil from the poison ivy. It creeped me out! I am also trying to smother it in one area with black heavy duty trash bags, but I haven't checked under the bags to see what's happening. I think I'll give it at least another week. And even though I really didn't want to I sprayed the area in the back near the shrubs that I haven't cleaned out with Glyphosate because after seeing the oil and how much there was I guess I just got too scared and I also got worried about unknowingly bringing it into the house. Then I threw out the gloves and threw all the clothes and my shoes into the wash. I washed them twice. And I washed my hands in cold water for a looooong time and then I took a shower. And then I cleaned the door handles and floor with clorox wipes. Just in case. So far so good, but please keep your fingers crossed that no one in my family gets it. Thank you all for the great advice!