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How do you approach poison ivy?

5 years ago

Poison ivy is actually a valuable part of the native landscape, at least in the Midwest. But, I am highly allergic. I was wandering through my newly purchased 2.3 acres and discovered thick vines climbing up many of my trees. I am highly suspicious that these are poison ivy, having identified it thousands of times in the past. My initial response was to eradicate it ASAP. But, I could just stay away from it or wear long sleeves. I can’t tolerate much sun, anyway, so wear protective gear most of the time, anyway. Thoughts?

Martha

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Comments (9)

Iris S (SC, Zone 7b)
5 years ago
I am on 5 acres. I leave it alone in my brush pile and some trees that are far out in the back. I take out the ones popping up in the flower beds or around my fish pond. Last time I did that, I got the double whammy of poison ivy rash and chiggers. The chiggers were worse. If you are highly allergic, is there a chance your dog is wandering around and brushing against it? Never had a problem with my dogs, but I have heard of people getting a rash by just petting their pets.
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docmom_gw
Original Author
5 years ago
We’ve only owned this property for 6 weeks or so, and everything is dormant, currently. So, I haven’t confirmed the identity of the vines climbing up the trees, and I certainly haven’t come in contact with anything to cause a rash. We do have a dog, who would certainly go exploring and bring back oils on her fir. I guess I will wait until spring to see the extent of the poison ivy, and treat as seems prudent. I am highly trained in the identification of PI, having been highly allergic all my life.

Martha
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Just be aware that the hot water is only palative, and temporary, and this water is simply spreading the oil around from a more concentrated area to a larger, but less concentrated. So you could be in fact prolonging the process if all you do is hot water, you NEED to remove the oils. I'm kinda a super geek and did a bunch of ersearch on this and I have found that what is REALLY happening is this... Heat releases histamine, the substance in the cells of the skin which causes the intense itching. A hot shower or bath will cause intense itching as the histamine is released. Increasing the heat to the maximum tolerable and continued until the itching has subsided (usually while screaming and writhing in pain form the heat) This process will deplete the cells of histamine and you can obtain (up to) eight hours of relief from the itching, until the histamine is re-generated by your body. But again, if you can't break down or remove the oils themselves you are only prolonging the pain/itching. BTW, a histamine blocker such as Benadryl works too and is not as dangerous ;-)
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This is a little off the question, but there is a good way to stop itching for a few hours without medication. Put the affected area under hot water, not so hot as to burn you, but as hot as you can tolerate it. Gradually increase the water temperature until you have reached your tolerance limit. The itching is caused by release of histamine from your body's cells. If you put hot water on, that will cause the histamine to be released from the cells very fast. In fact, when you do this, it will cause an intense itching in the area. And if you can rub the area while the hot water is running on it, it will give off an even more intense itching. But you won't mind, in fact, you will actually enjoy the intense itching. That is because you know that after you do it, as soon as you take the area out from the heat, it will immediately stop the itching, and it will remain that way for up to 8 hours. This is because you have released most of the histamine from the cells, and it takes time for that to build up again. I know it sounds like an old wive's tale, but this was included in a medical self-help book authored by two M.D.s, and distributed to all the employees of the Fortune 50 company I worked for.
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beesneeds
5 years ago
You might not have poison ivy... you could luck out and have virginia creeper instead. Just as invasive PITA, but at least it doesn't give one a rash.
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Skip1909
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
I have some thick poison ivy vines. I removed the ones that produce branches near paths I walk by regularly. I still have a few big ones that I leave alone where the leaves are out of the way. I did get a poison ivy rash on my hand while digging out japanese honeysuckle last week, so residual roots and ground level vines are something to consider. Lesson learned, glove up.
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docmom_gw
Original Author
5 years ago
Beesneeds,

I would be thrilled if these vines were Virginia Creeper. That’s one of my favorite plants. But, I’ve never seen VC get this big. I will go take some pictures and see what you think.
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dbarron
5 years ago
Here, VC gets to the tops of medium sizes trees and the vines get several inches across near base of tree. You can always tell, because of the bright red fall color after the trees own leaves drop.
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beesneeds
5 years ago
Oh docmom, gonna keep my fingers crossed for you. VC are a bane in the area, swallow everything up as bad as wild grape and poison ivy. The area is a wee bit too friendly sometimes, lol.

I've allowed VC to get a couple good years on, and they will run up the electric poles and goodly ways up the cedars and pines too if I let them.
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docmom_gw
Original Author
5 years ago
Here are some of the vines. Now that some of the snow has melted, I can see that some of the vines have been cut near the ground, so someone has tried to eliminate the plants. I will see what comes to life this spring. Here are a few shots:

My internet is really slow, so it takes forever to load photos. I hope these are decent representatives.

Martha
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beesneeds
5 years ago
To be weird.. mark that spot now while winter is on. And note if that gets 3 or 5 leaves as soon as the vines bud.
I've been fooled a time or few by early vine of VC, PI, and wild grape, lol. And been wise a time or few too.
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