Poison ivy does not disappear in hot weather. It may have gone dormant early last year in the drought however.

A lot of birds eat the seeds, so I get new seedlings in my garden every year.

When possible I prefer to put on long sleeves, washable gloves and sometimes slip on one of the long narrow bags from the newspaper ... and just pull it. Since even dead poison ivy is toxic, that way I won't have to worry about "running into it" later. I get one of those tall yard waste bags (the paper ones) and put it all in there.

But if you have vines up a tree, then I'd cut and spray it.

Definitely get new seedlings every year (especially under the large holly tree where apparently the birds sit and poop). Those are easy to pull up, just be careful about disposing of them.

One February I planted 50 pine seedlings in an area near my neighbor's fence for future screening. I was horrified to find the area covered in poison ivy come spring - obviously I had been working all in it at the time! I had not noticed the PI there before.

I think some of ours went dormant early in the drought last year so that could easily be why you didn't notice it. It can and will give you a rash even while dormant if you brush bare skin on the stems or clothes that touched the stems. It's hard to avoid in winter & fall because you just don't notice those straggly stem poking up. Fortunately, since long sleeves, socks and pants are the norm, it's easy enough to change after you've worked where you know it's grown, wash your hands & arms and clothes thoroughly and not end up getting it. I keep a pair of muck boots for when i want to do the ivy walk, as they're easy to wash afterwards and it mostly doesn't even get to my pants that way.

We pulled a lot of ours when we first moved in, but i am quite allergic and got a bad case despite my precautions and since i was pregnant at the time, i had to suffer sans pretty much anything. Since that first round of pulling, we've killed most of the rest with persistent applications of the brush strength roundup applied a couple times a season. Each year we move through a little more territory, and it's nearly gone on our prop now. We still get plenty of seedlings from the birds and some of the easement trees that set fruit, so our next task is to cut those vines carefully at the bottom and treat them with roundup. I know it'll be an ongoing battle as long as we're here since there's so much wild area around, but at least we can keep it to a very dull roar on our own prop. Since DH doesn't get it hardly at all, if some needs pulled he now does it, and i make him wash carefully afterwards so he doesn't give it to me or the kids accidentally. If you do decide to pull rather than spray be aware the roots hold as much or more of the oil as the leaves, and they can give you a really bad case of it. The sap will also cause a bad reaction, so be careful when you're cutting those stems on the trees.

There was another PI thread recently- you may want to read through it.

Another thought - ABSOLUTELY DO NOT BURN IT!!!! The smoke is as allegenic as the sap/leaves/stems, but you get it in your lungs, as well as on your face and exposed skin. This usually means a trip to the hospital, and maybe a stay.

Put it in a plastic bag, well tied up, and put it in the trash. Unless all your trash goes to an incinerator, in which case, bury it. The sap breaks down in 2-4 years, so if you have pets, making a pile they may rummage through is a bad idea - it no pets, make a pile in an out-of-the-way corner if you have such.

Don't fear the Roundup. When it comes to PO/PI, it's your best friend. You can adjust the trigger so you're spraying only the targeted plants (working on a hot, nonwindy day also helps). Get out there every few days and spray the new shoots while the previously sprayed stuff dies. PO/PI root systems are amazingly extensive and tenacious, so killing it from the leaf down is your best long-term bet over pulling out the plants. The spray will kill all the way down to the roots, leaving them to decay. Pulling plants will leave pieces of root in the ground that will quickly spread and resprout elsewhere, causing an endless battle with the stuff. I've got piece of woodlands that was covered with PO, including thigh-size vines up the pines, and can say from experience that Roundup or Ortho is the way to go. Godspeed!

I don the old glove...and hand in a plastic bag thing. Pluck them all out along with that crappy crab grass after a good rain...and everyone is happy!

gbirds - I've got some of those pines with the huge vines going up the side. The pine trees actually look like they have leaves on them ... but that's PI climbing on up.

What was you best solution you had to kill those vines? I want to cut them and apply RU every so many days to insure a good kill, but will those vines squirt the poison oil when you cut them? I didn't want to have to put on one of those hazmat suits if I didn't have to. :)

You can just cut the vines, it's not hazardous.

They don't squirt sap or anything, but it does make a sticky mess that's hard to get off your tools, and be careful because the sap will give you a dilly of a rash. Once you sever the vine, the top portion will die, no need to pull it off - they aren't taking any nutrients from the tree, only support. Eventually it will fall off. I've read in our humid climate it takes about 2 years for the oil to break down, and i know from experience it takes about that long for vines to loosen enough to come down on their own, at least for english ivy. Not sure that those thick ropes from PI ever come down if you don't assist them, but as long as they're dead it doesn't matter much. You can spray or paint roundup in the bottom cut surface to get it down into the roots and kill the main portion.

UGH! (shudder) PI is the bane of my existence!
Sandi, I've tried cutting, pulling, salt-water and vinegar solutions, smothering with multi-layers of newspaper/cardboard - you name it - and this year it seems to have come back with a vengeance! (Well, I admit, last summer's drought nearly did me in and I didn't stay on top of it as usual.) I refuse to use Roundup (I know, everyone thinks I'm nuts), since I garden organically, so I guess I will be donning the long sleeves, plastic gloves, etc. for another battle with the beast. If you can get the roots, and keep up with it on a regular basis, there may be hope. I keep telling myself this anyway. LOL

BTW, I use Dawn dishwashing liquid to wash my hands after working in PI, just in case. There seems to be something in it that gets rid of the oils. I'm also VERY careful with the clothes I've worn, etc. since anything that touched the stuff is potentially hazardous to my skin. . .
A friend gave me some lye soap and said it's supposed to be good for it, but I have not tried it yet.
Good luck! :)

The oils break down very quickly in sunlight, however. I'm sensitive to poison ivy but if I put my shoes in the sun for a few hours I can lace them back up with no ill effects.

I've never heard that before Alicia- i will have to try that with some of the things that are a pain to clean!

Rosebush, it's going to be hard to get rid of it without using roundup, but i do wish you luck! Is there anyone in your family or friends who's not as sensitive that you could bribe to do the dirty work?

If you have any touch me not, aka jewelweed, (impatiens pallida or biflora) growing, you can crush some stems in your hand and rub the juice over where you've touched it and that's supposed to help. Burt's bees even sells jewelweed soap for that purpose. I've read that anything that really messed with the skin's acidity, either way - either mild acids or alkali (like baking powder or vinegar) help to keep the urishiol oil from binding with your skin. I like the technu soap and have had great results using it through the years. When i do get the rash, Zanafel soap helps a lot- it has granules and supposedly can break the urishiol/skin bond after the rash is there. It certainly cuts down on the duration for me. It's very pricey, though, so i use it judiciously. It's not well known, but if you do get a bad rash, the docs can prescribe a couple creams that help clear it up fairly fast, too. Both fluocinonide (lidex) and triamoinolone work wonders. Lidex is stronger (a friend lent me some after a bad case) but when i asked the doc for my daughter who got a wicked case a few yrs back they said it was too strong and prescribed the triam stuff instead.

Tammy, do try it -- I just lay my loppers out in the sun too.

Our lot was covered with poison ivy when we moved to our house. I am very allergic, so I sprayed Roundup on it with no regrets. Roundup was very effective at getting rid of it. Birds will continue to spread the seeds, so you may have to keep after it for a while. Although I avoid using pesticides whenever possible, sometimes they are the best option. I've had bad cases of poison ivy in the past, and I had no desire to go through that again.

I battle the PI in my woods, or stay clear of where it likes to live. I discovered one sprout in the veggie garden - did a double take on that one. It got Roundup'd even though I am an organic gardener - judicious use of that stuff is OK by me.

For PI rash on your body - get some stuff made by Tecnu available at most drug stores. They sell a lotion to protect you if you have to go battle it, a wash to rid your skin of the urushiol (say ooh-roo-she-all), and a lotion to dry up the bumps should you goof and forget to protect yourself. The highway departments give it out to roadway workers, and forest rangers swear by it. Trust me - all these products work - I've been there, done that. I don't own any part of this company but I sure keep them in business.

Nancy the nancedar

Here is a link that might be useful: TecNu for Poison Ivy Q&A

I cut the vines and paint them with full-strength Roundup or Ortho. Paint the end the goes into the ground so you kill down to the roots. I go back and make a fresh cut a week or so later and paint it again for good measure. The top part dies on it's own as long as you cut all the vines (there are often several vines on one tree).

I have dedicated cutting tools and rubber boots for fighting the PO war. Changing clothes right after and washing up with Tecnu, then applying Calagel to the inevitable bits of rash that appear, are effective parts of my battle routine. Tecnu is THE BEST product for PO/PI, and really inexpensive.

While it's admirable to attempt to eradicate this stuff organically, I don't think it's possible given the pernicious root system. You will never pull up all the roots. The only nonorganic product I use on our property is Roundup or the Ortho equivalent. It's worth it to keep my friends and family from suffering from this rash, which can be surprisingly serious for some folks.

Thanks for the input guys. I've got to do this battle this weekend and hope to do it the smart way for a change. I get the rash just looking at it. I suppose long sleeved shirt is in order, along with dedicated jeans, plastic covered gloves and shoes...then let them set it the sun for a few hours for the oils break down after cutting. Do I about have it?

gbirds - you said you have dedicated cutting tools. What might that be comprised of? Knife, axe, some kind of grasping tool, paint brush, etc?

I certainly learned a lot about how much more of a problem poison ivy is here in the south. Yes, it's a pain to deal with in the north but at least it never gets a chance to become a vine that takes over nearby trees! You almost always see it growing near Jewelweed in the north, too, which is such a blessing as it does help neutralize the nasty oil.
Thanks to all of you who posted on this thread. While I can see I'd better not ignore it, I now know that while I'm out there slaving over it, most of you will be, too.

Not so sure about that transplanted- in eastern PA where i grew up it was as bad as here. Shorter season to deal with it, but all the same, it did climb trees and make lotsa seed for the birds to spread. Maybe in your neck of the woods it wasn't so common or humongous.