I have a field of poison ivy. I'd like to kill it without killing the soil or othe plants. It must love the area because it's growing in the woods, lawn, along the road sun or shade. I also have wild grapes and raspberries growing so I'd like to minimise the chemicals but I'm not going to pull it out by hand. It's a 2 acre field I'm working with. Any suggests?

We have had several recent threads on ways to remove poison ivy, so you might want to scroll down and read them.

If you want to kill poison ivy and you don't want to do it manually, then your only recourse is chemically.

Keeping in mind that products like Round-Up and Brush-B-Gon work by application to the plants' leaves, you need to determine whether it is possible for you to spray one plant but avoid getting the spray on adjacent plants.

One thing that worked for me was use of a large piece of cardboard to place behind the poison ivy when spraying so that I didn't overspray onto desirable plants.

Spray nossles on bottles of Round-Up and on pump sprayers can be adjusted for a more pinpoint spray, and with a little practice, I became very good at only hitting the plant that I wanted to kill.

Also, while you want to avoid overspray, a few droplets of Round-Up on a nearly plant probably won't kill it. Similarly, you need to spray all the leaves on a poison ivy plant if you want to kill it.

Have you ever used or heard of anyone using a vinegar and soap mixture that worked. Buying enough Round up or like can be expensive to use on large areas.

NHB - Jeannie3 I'm sure will be along shortly to preach of you the wonderful advantages of using such a mixture of her beloved heavenly brew !

I on the other hand wouldn't entertain the use of vinegar for anything other than coloring easter eggs.

If you feel the need to spray this area with a chemical you will of only killed it and not removed the harmful affects of the oils contained in the plant whether it is dead or alive. Perhaps over time simply spaying will help you to ride the area of this unwanted weed .

You feel that the exspence is to great to even use the chemical . I know of no other way other than pulling it .

With poison ivy or woody brush of any kind, don't try to cheap it. You'll end up doing it twice and still having to use Chems.

First tip, locate your nearest commercial supply house. In my area we have several, LESCO is probably going to have an outlet in your area. You will be able to buy a 1 or 2 gallon size super concentrate of round up for about 120.00.

For the average home user, a pint bottle of Round-Up concentrate will last a long time and costs under $20. Add in $10 for a Sears hand pump sprayer, and you are good to go.

2 acres would call for just a little more .
I'd consider one of those back-pack sprayers .
They allow you to pump with one hand while sraying with the other .

quote:

Have you ever used or heard of anyone using a vinegar and soap mixture that worked.

Try it on a spot & see if it works.

I worked on an area covering about an acre, and did sections of it over time, and for that, a one-gallon hand pump was sufficient. A backpack sprayer would be preferable if you are going to try to cover a large area all at once.

Hi

If you use a chemical now it will only kill the leaves of the Poison Ivy. You will need to do it again in the fall to kill the roots when the plant is sending down to the roots and not up to the leaves.

Good Luck
Diane