Oh Poison Ivy You Are My Nemesis!!!
It seems like it goes without saying that you don't want poison ivy in your backyard (or any part of your yard for that matter) yet I have been surprised by the number of other parents I've met who don't know how to identify it. Shame on them! Kidding! Actually it took accidentally coming in contact with it myself to motivate me to learn to spot this devil vine and take steps towards eradicating it from our yard. Here's a fun picture from my mom hall of shame:
*Turns out I am highly allergic to poison ivy - ouch!
Let's have a quick lesson on identifying poison ivy because if you are hoping to increase your backyard time it would be awesome to not get a souvenir like mine. ;)
Poison ivy is pretty much EVERYWHERE in TN so if you are a local reader and have even one tree in your yard I suggest that you take a closer look at it. Most of us have heard that old saying, "Leaves of three, leave it be!" but oddly enough it is the vine itself that gives the plant away for those of us who are not skilled in plant identification. It is covered in little gripper tentacles (giving it a hairy appearance) which the plant uses to grip the tree or fence for climbing. So the first thing I did was scout out my yard for hairy vines. We have a big yard, with lots of trees, that even includes a creek and small wooded area. It was no surprise really that we found it all over the place. The most common places it turns up is along fence lines so be sure to walk the perimiter of your property and check out all the trees and wooden fences you share with your neighbor. Here are some of our photos to help you in your scavenger hunt:
Hairy roots and waxy leaves of three, these are the tell-tale identification markers of this plant.
Here is the grand prize winner we found in our own yard, reaching a whopping 50ft up into a giant tree right where my children could access it. Not only did it have the usual vine up the tree but it also had large branches comming out from the vine! I didn't even know it could do that!
Notice in the picture on the right that the base root was almost as big around as my husband's wrist:
There is nothing to do in this situation except to remove the plant. You must remove it by hand-pulling it out of the tree because all parts of the plant are poisonous (even in the winter when it is dormant!) So if you put chemicals on it and killed it before trying to take it down you would not only poison the tree (and yard) but also you'd be left with brittle crumbly poisonous leaves that might get all over the place when you pulled the vine down, what a mess! The best approach is to pull it out either in the dead of winter before the new leaves come in or in mid-summer when it is green. IN this way you can minimize the number of leaves that spread around your yard in the process. Be sure to wear clothing that covers you and avoid touching your face. Bag it up and put it in the trash can. I have heard reports of people trying to burn it, then getting a poison ivy reaction in their lungs because they accidentally inhaled the ashes! This sucker is no joke! Once you have removed all the vines try to pull out as much of the root at the base as possible. In the situation pictured here my husband had to use a hand saw to cut the root and getting underneath the concrete was not an option. So we carefully sprayed the center of the exposed root with a chemical made for poison ivy. Normally we are very anti-lawn chemicals but in this case we made an exception. Here are some fun photos of my dear husband doing the dirty work:
Bless him!!!
If you do happen to get a rash from handling the plant you can go to your local drug store and purchase something called "tech-nu" which is especially designed to remove the oil from your skin. In fact, you should have this onhand anyway because you will want to use it to clean off any cutting tools you might employ.
Also, I wanted to take a moment to point out another plant that thrives here in TN which is often mistaken for poison ivy. The common name for this plant is Virginia Creeper. It climbs in a similar manner (though upon close examination you would see that it does not have a hairy root vine) and imitates poison ivy by creating very waxy leaves. Unlike poison ivy, whose leaves grow in clusters of three, Virginia Creeper's leaves grow in clusters of five. While it is nowhere as vicious as poison ivy you would do well to leave it be as it can also cause a rash in some people. Here's a photo of the one that overtakes our retaining wall every year.
Well, that's it! Now it is up to you to seek and destroy this plant for the good of all those who might enter the amazing space you are creating in your yard! Happy hunting!
