I should point out that destruction of poison ivy in many states and provinces need not be anonymous and in fact is often mandated by the government body in charge of Noxious Plants and Weeds. Here in Ontario (CANADA) poison ivy is listed as a "Noxious Weed" and here is what the Ontario Government says about it and any other designated noxious weed: "Poison-ivy is designated as a noxious weed by the Province of Ontario, and it is the duty of every person in possession of infested land to destroy noxious weeds thereon." Duty... no need for anonymity but at the same time, why? We should have a duty to destroy a natural, native plant species just because it is harmful to our skin? Quite likely poison ivy would/could never be erradicated but why "blank slate" destroy something that is of benefit and possibly even necessity to the wildlife that our provinces and states are also "supposedly" protecting? I have the same feeling about Milkweed. Milkweed is also on the Ontario Noxious Weed list with the same instruction. The rationalle is that it is poisonous to livestock who might accidentally eat it and it crowds out crops if it gets into farm fields. Ironically, the very animal that the government ALSO protects "the Monarch Butterfly" requires milkweed species to lay it's eggs and feed it's larvae. The simple solution then is to replace existing Noxious milkweed with a variety that has less potential to be harmful to livestock or crop fields but sadly this does not appear to be done to the detriment of the Monarch Butterfly populations in decades past. Just sharing my frustrations... Barb

I would leave the Poison Ivy except in areas where you are going to go. You're right, it is a great wildlife plant, especially the berries for birds, and you're also right in thinking that there is probably a lot of it all around you and the berries from your vines aren't going to add much to the supply of seeds that birds bring in. Even if you eradicate it completely from your land, which would be a tough task, you'd still have birds planting new ones. I'm not sure vinegar is any more environmentally friendly than Roundup. Both are chemicals, and at least Roundup is supposed to break down to relatively harmless chemicals upon contact with soil. I am not sure the same could be said of vinegar. ROundup is probably a lot more effective than vinegar at killing the plants you want to kill and not killing nearby plants. If i was trying to eliminate Poison Ivy (and, in fact, I am at my place) I would use ROundup. It will kill Poison Ivy, although it takes several applications before you stop seeing new shoots from the roots. Cutting or digging are likely to result in you getting a rash. For me, poison ivy has become a really serious rash anytime I toush it even a little, so I don't allow any to grow on my two acres, although I wish I could allow a nice berry-bearing vine or two to remain for the birds.

I just want to give an update on my poison ivy. After due deliberation and much consideration I decided I could carefully target just the poison ivy leaves with an Ortho poison ivy killer without it getting into the ground. I began with a small area first and waited to see what would happen. At first I thought perhaps it had no effect at all, but then a few weeks later I noticed that tiny patch I'd sprayed was brown and dead. So I sprayed the rest. It took a lot of patience and a couple of rounds to get it all and is a slow process just as daninthedirt said, but it looks as though it has finally succeeded! So my next step will be removing that patch of dirt and hopefully removing any roots with it and then bring in some fresh dirt. I figure that's the best way to assure I'm removing as much poison residue in the soil as possible. I'll wait awhile before doing this step to give the poison a chance to complete its job on that root system. I, of course did these courses of poison during long stretches of dry weather so it didn't wash off the leaves. Next time this problem arises I'm going to try the vinegar recipe method for comparison. Thanks for all the help and good advice!

nywoodsman's worldview is such because he has never experienced poison ivy like the rest of us! My wife and I are very allergic to p.I. But she is more allergic than I. We went to Disney World one year and they wouldn't let us in to a tour group because they thought she had a highly contagious skin disease (like eczema) on her face!! We had an abundance of it growing in a shrub we wanted to keep. I trimmed the shrub but avoided p.I. like the plague!! But it got so bad growing out of control each year that this year I had to do something. I obtained SYRVET's OB Veterinary Gloves which go all the way up to the shoulders (you can get them on Amazon). I had my wife tape them to my shoulders--however, you have to tape them across the back of the shirt, from top of glove to top of glove because the sweat will cause the tape to come loose and the glove will descend down to near the wrists. Not good!! After I finished working, I had my wife carefully pull the long gloves inside-out and we placed them in a plastic bag for disposal. She had to wash right away but did not get any rash. Once the gloves were off and disposed of, I immediately used Technu on my hands and wrists by rubbing them for several minutes. Then I used a liquid soap on that and washed my hands and wrists off. I followed that with a shower. Don't think that wearing an old pair of pants will protect you completely! Some of the urushiol oil penetrated the cloth and I got a rash on my thigh. I treated it with Technu soap regularly for several days. That did not get rid of the rash but it did lessen the severity of the itch. Some may be interested In knowing that Technu also makes something called "Tecnu Corticool" which is a hydrocortisone that gives you relief from the itch. But you will have to apply it again after awhile. This cream comes in a 1.5 oz tube and can also be gotten on Amazon. Hope this helps