Central New York- attempting to restore a very old cemetery, but we have a big ground and vine poison ivy problem around these 4 trees and a couple other places. I am not allergic (although I know I still shouldn’t contact it), so I’ve taken it upon myself to research removal so that the other volunteers don’t have to get near it. Any advice appreciated
by internallyskating
4 Comments
Use tools dedicated to that task. Wear gloves, even if you are not affected. Others might be and don’t let anyone else use the tools for that task.
The trick with these, even if they’re alive in the summer, is to clip the vines super low on the tree. They die off and you can yank them down after time passes without getting poison ivy.
I use a dedicated set of loppers to remove about 2″ of the vine and apply undiluted weed killer (41% glyphosate) directly to the bottom cut. The upper part eventually dies and the lateral growth off the main vine can be trimmed off above head height (again, using loppers for distance). Don’t burn the debris as the smoke is dangerous.
What I’ve done in the past is cut the vines and let the top dry out. No irritant oils. Wait til the vines flush with tender new growth and spray with round up. May take another application or two, but it does the job.