How to Treat Poison Ivy and Reduce Discomfort What If You Have a Lot of Poison Ivy to Clear?įor people who need to clear a large area of poison ivy - such as a public park, school campus, or entire field - digging it out by hand may be impractical and using an herbicide undesirable. It’s also risky to put poison ivy into your compost bin, says Cook, because you may end up tossing it back into your garden later. Don’t burn it, as that will release urushiol into the air, potentially causing severe irritation to your eyes and lungs. Put all the poison ivy leaves and branches in heavy-duty plastic bags to dispose of it. Always follow the directions on the label for safest use. Remember to use extreme care when handling these herbicides, as the spray will kill all other garden plants it touches. It's also not advisable to remove the poison ivy by hand and then use herbicides on top of that to make sure you got the roots, because that introduces chemicals into healthy soil and can potentially impact other plants in the area. You should not use an herbicide and then attempt to remove the poison ivy by hand, because then you'll be at risk of skin contact with the poison ivy itself, as well as chemicals in the herbicide. It’s less labor-intensive than pulling the plants out by hand, but it can also leave healthy roots behind in the soil, and there's potential that your poison ivy will return.
“You may have to use a higher concentration than usual.”Ĭook explains that herbicides are typically sprayed on the leaves, which kills the plants from the top down. “Glyphosate will penetrate the ivy and kill it from the inside out,” says Gena Lorainne, a horticulturist and planting expert at Fantastic Services, in London. If you are comfortable using an herbicide, use one containing glyphosate. “To make sure the roots are dead, you can douse them with boiling water, suffocate them with mulch, or spray them with a commercial herbicide,” says Cook.
(Do not tear or rip the vines, as this may disperse the urushiol into the air.) Then dig out the roots about eight inches below the plant.
Use shears or pruners to remove the stems. Poison ivy has a complex root system, so if you remove the plants above ground but don’t get rid of the roots, it will continue to grow.
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