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We recently moved into a house that has a lot of old landscaping that's been let go that we are trying to get under control now. There is a rather large pine tree in my backyard (right up against the chain link fence) and it has poison ivy vines all over it. Surrounding this tree is a ginormous rododendrum plant. Then there is a flower garden area that extends along the rest of the fence line, filled with a variety of plants, weeds, and according to a visitor more in the know than us, a lot of poison ivy.
A couple weeks ago it was finally a nice day, the plants are just starting to bloom, but we figured it's been so cold the ivy would be dead. We covered up and went to town uprooting anything we didn't recognize as a flower.
Now I have some questions...
1. There were some things I pulled out & thought to myself "That looks like it is poison ivy....", I trashed it and moved on. When I got inside I wiped off my arms with alcohol (just in case, though I tried to keep my sleeves down) and took a shower. My husband didn't use the alcohol. But we took all our clothes and gloves and put them in the wash. Are the clothes OK now?? Other clothes have been washed as well and everything has been put away. Are all our clothes potentially 'contaminated'??? What about the leather gloves???
2. My husband said shortly after this work he had a bump on his arm that was itchy. But it didn't spread so we/I forgot about it. Now almost 2 weeks later, he said he has a few more bumps and it's all itchy. Could have have gotten infected? Wouldn't he have gotten a big rash immediately??? Or maybe it's just a "light" case?? What do we do now?
3. HOW DO I GET RID OF IT?!?? I am not against chemicals in this case, but I would rather not kill the tree or the rododendrum. Also, can it spread to other areas not connected to that garden bed area? I have a flower bed unconnected about 15 ft from the tree and I saw some little plants popping up that looked like they could be poison ivy. I yanked them all out, but how do I get this stuff under control????
Location: Scott County, Tennessee/by way of Detroit
3,352 posts, read 2,822,388 times
Reputation: 10348
My husband was cutting trees down last fall...he broke out in a horrible upper torso itchy rash..there is another thread here that has a picture of someone's vines and ours looks like that...of course he didn't know it at the time...wasn't wearing gloves and neither was I..I got nothing and he was really bad...bought some poison ivy wash and cream and WAITED for it to go away...we washed our clothes together and had no repercussions but I don;t think that is a good idea and I would never do it again...BUT I never knew till later he was all covered in it...this week he broke out again..just a few random itchy spots....so who knows what he got into... Now he washes with that before.....AND after he works to get any oils off him..I always worry about our dog stepping in it too but so far so good...I guess animals can transmit the oils around on their fur, I believe... We also have the sumac here and poison oak....
We have it all over and there is no way we can eradicate all of it...we are just so careful now...good luck...
I ingest both, plus apply Coconut oil to skin for stings & nerve inflammation underneath.
(They're both good for sprains, too, for which I also use Epsom salt soaks.)
I took Coconut oil a few months back to treat my inflamed eyes, which a bit of sap from a Euphorbia had gotten in. They were BURNING! The pain supposedly doesn't go away for at least a few days, even with rinsing the eyes thoroughly. However, in one hour after eating & external application of Coconut oil . . . the pain went away. It began to lessen right after, so I'm sure that's what turned off my inflammatory response.
Apparently poison ivy can rebound...so it is possible your husbands first itchy spot was poison ivy, then two weeks later, he had a second reaction to it. Sounds like he got lucky.
I have heard that washing doesn't really remove it from your clothes. I think if I were to go after it, I would buy a cheap jumpsuit to wear only when I was working on it, plus rubber boots.
I struggled with poison ivy last summer. It made me quite sick and the rash came and went for about 6 weeks. I had to get an Rx for steriod cream to have any relief from it at all. I will be MUCH more careful outside this year.
Location: Scott County, Tennessee/by way of Detroit
3,352 posts, read 2,822,388 times
Reputation: 10348
Being more careful ourselves..but sometimes my husband starts things without thinking of the consequences...my friend told me about her father during the summer yeas ago burned trees with those vines and the stuff got into his lungs..had a hard time getting better...nothing to play round with for sure!!!
Yikes!! Great, so between what was said here and the fact that he's still bumpy and itchy, he definately got some ivy poisoning. He must be very sensitive to it. We covered up, but he did roll up his sleeves for a bit. Apparently even though it's not summer and in "full bloom" it must still be catchy
And I will definately not ever wash the clothes with other stuff again just to be safe!!
I wonder if we should even attempt tackling it ourselves or if we should just call someone. Who do you even call for such a thing though? I just really don't want to kill the tree or the plants, but this ivy is getting everywhere!
I am not that sensitive to poison ivy. So anybody, that is sensitive, should not follow my lead. I simply mow or use the weed whacker to get rid of my poison ivy. Of course both technics will put some particles in the air - that is why sensitive people should not try this. With the weed whackers I get flying debris all over my clothing. I do take care removing my clothes and I blow myself off with a leaf blower before I go into the house.
Yes it will try to regrow in the areas that I cut. But constant mowing will finish it off. The same is true of the vines that will try to go back up the trees. I just keep them from growing back with the weed whackers.
Of course it is important for, even the non-sensitive people, to still wash thoroughly. I have also heard of cases where, people that were not sensitive, developed sensitivity to poison ivy over the years - so be careful.
We recently moved into a house that has a lot of old landscaping that's been let go that we are trying to get under control now. There is a rather large pine tree in my backyard (right up against the chain link fence) and it has poison ivy vines all over it. Surrounding this tree is a ginormous rododendrum plant. Then there is a flower garden area that extends along the rest of the fence line, filled with a variety of plants, weeds, and according to a visitor more in the know than us, a lot of poison ivy.
A couple weeks ago it was finally a nice day, the plants are just starting to bloom, but we figured it's been so cold the ivy would be dead. We covered up and went to town uprooting anything we didn't recognize as a flower.
Now I have some questions...
1. There were some things I pulled out & thought to myself "That looks like it is poison ivy....", I trashed it and moved on. When I got inside I wiped off my arms with alcohol (just in case, though I tried to keep my sleeves down) and took a shower. My husband didn't use the alcohol. But we took all our clothes and gloves and put them in the wash. Are the clothes OK now?? Other clothes have been washed as well and everything has been put away. Are all our clothes potentially 'contaminated'??? What about the leather gloves???
2. My husband said shortly after this work he had a bump on his arm that was itchy. But it didn't spread so we/I forgot about it. Now almost 2 weeks later, he said he has a few more bumps and it's all itchy. Could have have gotten infected? Wouldn't he have gotten a big rash immediately??? Or maybe it's just a "light" case?? What do we do now?
3. HOW DO I GET RID OF IT?!?? I am not against chemicals in this case, but I would rather not kill the tree or the rododendrum. Also, can it spread to other areas not connected to that garden bed area? I have a flower bed unconnected about 15 ft from the tree and I saw some little plants popping up that looked like they could be poison ivy. I yanked them all out, but how do I get this stuff under control????
Every spring I go to the pharmacy and get poison ivy drops. They really work well.
I have used round-up on ivy even if it is growing on a tree as the tree is too big to kill, but don't get it on anything else.
I never wash my leather gloves, but my clothes I put in the wash with Epson salt, only now that I have taken the poison ivy drops I don't worry about my clothes and just wash them as usual. it is too late in the year to get the poison ivy drops.
Once you get the rash you can put your arm or leg under hot water and pull it away when the hot water hurts, which in in seconds. then put it under the water again, doing this a few times will take the pain away for a long time.
You will never get it totally under control since birds poop out the seeds that sprout. I just pull them up every year.
As for now I would leave the poison ivy on the tree alone and get it next year after you have taken the drops for 3 weeks. Then wear long sleeves, long pants, and gloves. Wash them in the Epson salt, 1 c. per washer load. I say this because you can't spray if you have a plant nearby.
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