Poison ivy is the worst possible enemy for a home gardener.

This plant, which is extremely allergic, can leave the skin with itchy rashes, severe blisters, and excruciating burning.

A once-pleasant shade garden can quickly turn into a garden horror due to poison ivy.

As a result of this, many gardeners are left wondering how to get rid of poison ivy.

Let’s look at ways to eliminate poison ivy and if you can you weed whack poison ivy

What is poison ivy?

Poison ivy is a type of allergenic plant in the genus Toxicodendron.

Toxicodendron radicans, once thought of as a single species, is now more commonly regarded as a complex comprising three distinct species, together with Toxicodendron rydbergii and Toxicodendron orientale.

They are well recognized for giving most people who touch them urushiol-induced contact dermatitis, a rash that is itchy, unpleasant, and occasionally painful.

The substance urushiol, a liquid substance in the sap of the plant, is what causes the rash.

Despite its widespread name, it is not a “real” ivy (Hedera), but rather a member of the cashew and pistachio family, and they are vary in appearance and behavior (Anacardiaceae).

Although many animals and birds regularly eat T. radicans, poison ivy is most frequently thought of as an unwelcome weed.

Can you weed whack poison Ivy?

Using a string trimmer to remove poison ivy is one of the worst methods available.

That spouts oil, possibly getting it in your eyes or nose and smearing it all over your clothes.

Never weed-whack poison ivy plants, whether they are alive or dead.

Learn effective ways to remove poison ivy, and further your training so you can recognize the vine.

How to Remove Poison Ivy Safely

Equipment

1. Long-sleeve shirt and pants
2. Rubber gloves
3. Washable shoes
4. Particle mask
5. Eye protection
6. Long socks
7. Sharp pruning shears or a hand pruner
8. Sharp-edged shovel
9. Chemical sprayer 

Materials needed

1. Thick garbage bags and ties
2. Herbicide suitable for poison ivy
3. Rubbing alcohol

Steps involved

• Step 1:Identify the plant 

Poison ivy comes in many different varieties. It is a perennial climbing or trailing vine that covers the majority of the continent.

It is a shrubby bush that reaches a height of about 3 feet in the western states.

The three sets of glossy, green leaflets that make up each stem’s alternating sides might be pointy, smooth-sided, lobed, or saw-toothed.

Seasonal fluctuations affect the plant’s appearance.

The leaves are crimson in the early spring and can become yellow or a vivid scarlet-orange in the fall.The shrub produces tiny, dull-yellow fruits.

• Step 2: Dress for the Removal 

A poisonous, oily substance can be found in the entire plant. Wear rubber gloves, a long sleeved shirt, long pants tucked into high socks, and boots or shoes that can be hosed off afterwards for removing poison ivy.

Additionally advised are particle masks and eye protection.

• Step 3: Cut the Plant Off at the Ground Level

Remove any of the poison ivy stems you see using pruners or shears, and put them in rubbish bags.

As soon as the bags are full, knot them off. Avoid tearing or ripping the vines because doing so could release the deadly resin into the atmosphere.

Step 4: Remove the Roots

Use a shovel to dig out the roots if there are only a few plants that need to be removed. You should put these in a bag right away.

Step 5: Destroy What Remains

Cut off as much of the top growth as you can if your plants are dispersed across a big region.

Then, use a poison ivy-specific chemical weed killer to treat the remaining roots, stems, and stumps.

Spray immediately onto the cuts you have made for thick, shrubby stems.

When using herbicide, keep in mind that the spray will harm any other garden plants it comes into contact with.

Never contact or breathe the product, and always adhere to the label’s instructions.

Step 6: Get rid of the trash

Avoid composting poison ivy. Instead, place the plant parts in sturdy plastic bags, tie the bags up, and dispose of them in the trash or transport them to a place that is authorized to dispose of yard waste.

It’s best to throw away your rubber gloves as well.

Step 7: Clean Your Clothes and Tools Thoroughly

Poison ivy removal equipment needs to be properly cleaned. Use rubbing alcohol to thoroughly clean the handles of your pruners and shovel.

After letting them dry, oil the necessary components to stop rusting.

Likewise, wash your clothes separately from the rest of your laundry and use a garden hose and cold, soapy water to clean your shoes.

Step 8: Examine the Area

Although poison ivy is a very stubborn plant, carefully following this technique should effectively remove your property of the weed.

Therefore, check the region periodically, and if you still need to treat the issue, don’t be startled.

After about a year, your yard should be completely free of poison ivy with prompt attention to any lingering plants. 

Four often-misunderstood facts about poison ivy

• The rash can develop without touching the plants that cause poison ivy.

The culprit in poison ivy is urushiol, a powerful substance that can cause rashes.
In addition to tools, clothing, shoe bottoms, dogs, and even stray soccer balls found in a weedy region, that oil is easily transferred from plants to things to people.

Without ever touching or even seeing a poison ivy plant, many people develop rashes.

Keeping the yard as weed-free as possible is one preventive measure.

Others consist of:
1. washing your clothing right away after being outside at work
2. bathing animals and cleaning up debris from unkempt places
3. using sunscreen lotions when working outside, such as Ivy Block, Tecnu, Multi-Shield, or buji Block

If you believe you have come into touch with poison ivy plants or something that has the oil, wash any exposed skin as soon as possible with soap and water.

Washing within 15 minutes of contact can typically stop rashes.

• Even during the winter or when poison ivy plants are dormant, you can develop a rash.

Not just the leaves, but every component of the poison ivy plant contains urusiol oil, which can survive the death of the plant.

Therefore, handling vines that have been killed by weed killer or pulling leafless vines in the winter might still cause a rash.

Winter is when some people’s rashes have been the worst.

Even after poison ivy plants have died, the rash-causing Urushiol oil can persist for up to five years.

• Immunity is not always a guaranteed.
  The majority of people—about 85%—get poison ivy rashes.

Ages 5 to 20 are the most sensitive years, with some people being more sensitive than others. Beginning in their 30s, people’s sensitivity tends to decrease.

But just because you contact poison ivy one day and don’t develop a rash doesn’t imply you won’t the next.

The following contact might result in a rash, especially if you obtain more oil on your skin.

To put it another way, it is possible for those who have never had a rash to develop one at a later age.

Additionally, consuming poison ivy leaves won’t help you develop immunity. That’s a falsehood that should not be believed 

• The rash itself is not spreadable.

You won’t get a rash by touching someone else’s blisters or rash, which normally appear two to three days after oil exposure, despite how easily poison ivy can cause a rash.

However, if they haven’t removed the oil from their skin, you run the risk of developing a rash.

The same is true if the rash spreads all over your body. The reaction won’t spread from the fluid in the rash, but any remaining oil might.

Facts about poison ivy

1. Mangoes, cashews, and pistachios are members of the same family as poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac.

As a result, they all create the same poison, urushiol, which can trigger allergic reactions with just a small amount of exposure.

2. You don’t need much to cause a lot of damage.

Only one nanogram (ONE BILLIONTH OF A GRAM) of urushiol is needed in the majority of exposures to produce a rash! To make matters worse, each exposure exposes a person to 100 nanograms of urushiol on average!

3. Different  animals respond to poison ivy in different ways.

In actuality, only hamsters and primates experience an allergic reaction!

Poison ivy and related plants provide as a source of food and refuge for several animals.

The fruit is consumed by a variety of birds, but the stem and leaves are also tasty to deer, black bears, muskrats, rabbits, and insects.

Poison ivy, poison sumac, and poison sumac are frequently commodities to many animals even though the plants are harmful to people!

4. Poison ivy is very flexible.

The plant tends to extend itself upward in dark areas to catch more sunshine. The shorter and greener poison ivy plants, however, are those that receive more sunshine.

5. To avoid the wind, poison ivy even responds by growing shorter in windy locations!

Conclusion

In conclusion, Using a string trimmer to remove poison ivy is one of the worst methods available.

That spouts oil, possibly getting it in your eyes or nose and smearing it all over your clothes.

Burning poison ivy plants that have been pulled or died is the worst. If urusel oil from the smoke is inhaled, your lung lining may experience a highly severe and possibly fatal rash.

Never cut down or burn poison ivy plants, whether they are alive or dead.

Learn effective ways to remove poison ivy, and further your training so you can recognize the vine.