Execution orders successful

[altivo]

I hate poison ivy. I know very well that everything has a place in the ecology, and birds apparently eat the berries without ill effect (and spread the seeds around, yuck.) However.

We lost a (not too bright) sheep years ago after she ate poison ivy. Though I'm not usually very sensitive to it, I can react strongly if it gets on skin normally covered by clothing. I got it under my arm once on a camping trip, which I certainly don't recommend and still don't know how it happened. Gary is a lot more sensitive to it than I am.

We have a lot of it here, though I've systematically exterminated large amounts as well. Two years ago I succeeded in killing very ancient and huge vines that were growing up the black cherry trees near the pasture gate. This week I applied the same technique to another huge vine on an oak tree near the barn. Little seedlings growing at ground level are easily killed by a spray of Roundup or something similar. But those massive plants with inch thick stems and huge crowns of leaves thirty feet up in a tree pose a different problem.

My method is to take a hacksaw and cut through the stem in several places near the ground. It's preferable to make two cuts an inch apart and remove a chunk of the plant so there's no chance of any remaining connection between roots and leaves. This is best done after some dry weather to avoid being sprayed by sap while using the saw. Then I wipe down the saw blade and my hands with alcohol, followed by a good scrubbing with soap for myself.

Thursday I cut the two stems on the condemned plant. It's been growing on an oak tree with a trunk nearly two feet in diameter, and leaning considerably so the ivy leaves have a grand exposed surface with lots of sun staring about ten feet up. Hopefully I got to it before the thousands of immature berries were far enough along to fall to the ground and germinate.

Just checked this morning, and the culprit is wilting nicely. Score one for Tivo, zero for Toxicodendron radicans.

Comments

[shep-shepherd.livejournal.com]

I'm glad that we don't have that here!

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Yeah, you aren't missing anything. It's actually quite a handsome plant, but not worth the problems it causes.

Of course, I'm sure there are nasty things you have around that we don't deal with as well. ;p

[shep-shepherd.livejournal.com]

We have a similar plant in this country, the triffid-like Giant Hogweed, which looks nice (indeed, it was introduced into the UK from Russia as an ornamental plant) but is capable of lots of hurt and is very difficult to get rid of:



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_Hogweed

As stated in the article, it's an offence under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 to grow the plant or allow it to grow in the wild, such are the problems it causes. I had a run in with it in 1990 and my right hand still bears the scars...

Luckliy, although it's as insidious, Russian Vine isn't poisonous, so it is easier to deal with. The example that was threatening to grow all over The Volvo is now dying off nicely :)

[altivo.livejournal.com]

That does have a menacing look about it, especially if it's as tall as I'm guessing it might be. I take it that thorns are the real nasty element in this plant. We have some ugly thorns, of course, on greenbriar, wild rose of various kinds, and blackberry brambles. They can do a lot of physical damage to both skin and clothing. But I've seen much worse on plants from Europe and Asia.

[shep-shepherd.livejournal.com]

Poisonous hairs on the stems are the main danger, especially when the sun's out, as the poison they carry is photo-sensitive.

[shadow-stallion.livejournal.com]

*nods* Sounds like a decent plan for dealing with the poison ivy.

I grew up doing landscaping and cutting grass, it provided me a nice little income during high school and college. You can imagine that I encountered my fair share of the stuff too. In my case I never really reacted to it. About the only way for it to bother me would be to rub the sap on exposed skin, jut touching the plant never bothered me at all...even pulling down huge chunks of the vines when it was still green and growing.

Feel sorry for my neighbor though, she has been dealing with the recovery from exposure to poison ivy for a few weeks.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Ugh. Yeah, if you get a good case of it, then it takes forever to heal up.

I've always wondered why the plant evolved that way. Since the effect of exposure usually takes an hour or two to develop, and it doesn't seem to bother grazing animals fast enough to keep them from eating it, the protective advantage must be small. Compared for instance to nettles, which sting on contact, the poison ivy has little going for it in terms of self-protection.

[flamekist.livejournal.com]

After touching the stuff, I have to scrub with soap like I'm prepping for surgery. Michael usually had a delayed reaction that takes a few days to show up. Justin never had a reaction to it at all. It was just another plant to him.

Fortunately, it's been completely eradicated from our property, so on the rare occasion it sprouts up again it's just a matter of spritzing it with a bit of Roundup.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

I need to get a new bottle of Roundup for the little starter plants.

I'm pleased to see that Virginia creeper has colonized the cherry trees now that the poison ivy on them is dead. Fortunately we don't have kudzu up here. Just looking at trees covered with that stuff gives me bad feelings.

[flamekist.livejournal.com]

I had to look up Virginia Creeper. It's beautiful! I wish we had that instead of the Kudzu that seems to be in every greenspace available.

Our current weed battle is with Pokeweed. We've been fighting it since we moved here 14 years ago. Back then the back yard was so overrun with it that Michael got lost while spraying it with Roundup. While I like the look of the plant and it's beautiful purple berries (which I'm surprised aren't used to dye fabric since they seem to permanently stain everything else), it's vigorous ability to spread over large areas and choke everything else out is a big turn off.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

I assume you mean what we call "pokeberry" (Phytolacea decandra). It does dye wool and silk very nicely in reds, purples and browns. Unfortunately, the color isn't permanent and fades when exposed to sunlight or repeated washings. Elderberry will also give rich colors that aren't particularly permanent. Native Americans used both to add bright colors to basketwork and porcupine quill decorations.

[chakawolf.livejournal.com]

It'll probably green out again at the cut. When it does, hit that new growth with the RoundUp.

I am allergic as well, and I have a standing contract on all poison ivy / oak plants.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I have run out of Roundup and need to get some to take care of the seedlings showing up from last year.

[cabcat.livejournal.com]

Would you like some oleanda instead? *shakes a bushel at you*
I found out I was allergic to it after hiding in a bush of it.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Fortunately, oleander will not grow in the climate here. Our winters kill it dead. It's a problem down south though, particularly in Florida and along the Gulf coast I think.