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How to get Rid of Poison Ivy Naturally
Leaves of three, let it be.
Poison ivy is a nightmare when you use agroforestry, so we are on a mission to get rid of the poison ivy on our property, which isn't an easy feat.
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Poison ivy, Toxicodendron radicans, is a plant that can cause people to break out in hives and rashes thanks to urushiol, the oily resin in the plant. In rare cases, people may have a severe allergic reaction to poison ivy and experience anaphylaxis, which causes difficulty breathing and can be life-threatening.
We didn't discover the poison ivy until three of us had a reaction after we cut up a pine tree that had fallen in a storm and then moved the pieces. And it was not a pretty sight, in my case it took 3 weeks before the swelling in my face disappeared, and for a day or two my eyes were so swollen that I couldn't open my eyes. After that, we realized that poison ivy was growing high in the sky at the top of a bunch of dead pine trees and also surrounding a bunch of live pine trees.
Every month I spend a few hours trying to get rid of the poison ivy, but for every battle I win, it seems I lose one too.
Thankfully, the poison ivy seems to be only at the edge and at the front of the food forest, not in the back or in the eastern wetland area.
Sadly, there are lots of poison ivy on the property on the other side of the road, so it will likely keep coming back.
But, if I don't get rid of poison ivy in the front of our property, it will continue to spread to the back.
There's a bit of an urgency to the poison ivy removal, because we had several dead pine trees fall during hurricane Milton and look what these brought with it.
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| Poison Ivy on a fallen dead pine tree |
At first glance, it might look like the poison ivy is dead, but when you look a little closer it is very much alive, and if I don't get rid of the poison ivy it will take over our native blackberry patch.
Of course, there are chemicals you can use, but we grow our foods and plants organically, and we don't want to introduce any poisons into our food forest.
How to Get Rid of Poison Ivy Naturally:
What you need:
- Dress in long pants and sleeves and tuck your pants into your socks.
- Wear boots
- Wear disposable gloves (otherwise you'll be afraid of touching your regular gloves again. One time, I left my gloves outside to let the rain get rid of any poison ivy remnants, but when I went to put the gloves on again, they turned out to be full of fire ants...so now I wear disposable gloves...and I have extra with me in case I need to throw away the first ones)
- Have a sharpened pair of long loppers (to keep distance between you and the poison ivy, so you don't accidentally touch it)
- Have a small chainsaw on hand.
- Have plenty of garbage bags available. We're reusing a bunch of bags from when we collect leaves from neighbors.
- Have a grabber
- Have a shovel for digging out bigger roots.
- Bring rubbing alcohol and some paper towels to wipe yourself with if you accidentally get brushed by poison ivy.
- Use a spray bottle mixed with equal amount of vinegar, dish detergent, and water. Or
- Mix 1 cup of salt with a tablespoon of dish soap and a gallon of water. Or
- Use boiling water on the root of the plant.
How to Get Rid of Poison Ivy:
- First, cut the poison ivy around the bottom of trees. Some of the bigger vines may need a small chainsaw.
- Remove as much of the poison ivy as you can without physically touching it.
- Cut the poison ivy with the long garden lopper
- Use a grabber to pick up any poison ivy.
- Put it in a trash bag.
- Look for new plants growing on the ground, cut them, get rid of them, and try to locate the root.
- Pull on the root with your loppers or small clippers. I also pull using the inside of the garbage bags, while wearing gloves for extra protection. Not all disposable gloves are created equally, and I'm not risking any exposure.
- Spray either of the solutions directly on the leaves of remaining vines and the roots of the plants. Try to avoid other plants.
- Put the garbage bag in a second garbage bag, tie them up and put it with the trash.
- Repeat every week or so, until the poison ivy has been removed, and be vigilant if new poison ivy pops up. The aerial rootlets make it possible for the vines to keep growing on the tree even after you cut it off from its main food source.
- The dangerous oils are present in all parts of the plant. Including on dead plants, so handle with care, and bag it up.
- Do not burn the poison ivy as this can release the urushiol into the air which can cause breathing problems.
- Do not compost poison ivy!
- Use ground cover to choke out new poison ivy seedlings. We use sweet potato vines and recently started growing perennial peanut to help block sunlight in our woodchip piles to prevent weeds and poison ivy.
- Disinfect your tools after use.
Watch the video about How to Get Rid of Poison Ivy at the Dancing Treetops Family Farm YouTube Channel.
What To Do If You Touch Poison Ivy:
- If you accidentally touch poison ivy, use rubbing alcohol to rinse your skin immediately.
- Do not itch, or you will spread the poisonous oil.
- Wash your hands with dish detergent
- Take a shower and use soap asap. The longer the oil stays on your skin, the worse the reaction.
- Wash all of your clothing immediately on the hottest setting. Then run the washing machine on its cleaning setting afterward, so you do not transfer the oil to other clothing.
- Consider whether your boots or shoes touched poison ivy, and, if so, clean these as well.
- Use calamine lotion every day until the rash is gone and over-the-counter cortisol cream (for a week only)
- Take an over-the-counter antihistamine.
- Take Oatmeal or baking soda baths. Wash your sheets daily after exposure.
Dealing with poison ivy is a necessary nightmare if you have poison ivy on your property. It takes patience, care, and consistency to make a difference, but if you keep at it, the results will be worth it.
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