Danger! Urushiol (pronounced oo-roo-shee-ohl)

In my garden lurks a silent evil. For years, we've battled with this formidable three pronged enemy, Poison Ivy. She lurks in the hemlocks and in the lawn. Now, brushing up against the ivy doesn't harm a person per se. It's the urushiol oil in the plant that causes distress.

We know this rash well. So, let's talk Poison Ivy today.

Poison Ivy belongs to the plant family Anacardiaceae and is not really an ivy. It's a woody vine and while it will climb up tree trunks, it will also sprout from rock crevises, as a bush or as ground cover.

Recognizing it in the field: "Leaves of Three, Let it be"
It has an alternate pattern of its leaf structure, the plant has no thorns and the roots are "hairy".

If you rub against it, wash everything! Poison Ivy's urushiol that rubs off the plants onto your clothes can remain potent for years. Now to be fair, it depends on the environment, but if you have it on your shirt or seat cushion or jacket, it stays there. Every time your skin comes in contact with the object with the oil on it, you are likely to get a rash again.

Birds love the berries. But our yards are for OUR enjoyment too ..and if our pets run through the ivy, they bring the oil inside on their fur and then its on the furniture, rugs, comforters etc and the whole family is miserable!

Eradicating your yard from poison ivy:

• Wear gloves!
• Wear long pants, sleeves etc.
  
• For vines climbing trees, break the connection with an axe or branck cuttur between the root and vine.
• Your garden center likely stocks Ivy killer and often, it takes repeated applications to destroy it altogether. Apply it in dry, low wind conditions. While I am not a fan of chemical applications, poison ivy is one of the few exception I make. (lily leaf beetle is another but I am eager for more natural approaches to managing them besides "picking" the bugs and larvae from my lily garden)
  
• I've heard that a mixture of acetic acid and oil of cloves can weaken poison ivy plants. But that this does not work on mature growth.
• Recruit other plants to help you fight this enemy: If you plant vinca or some other fast growing ground cover early enough you can "block" the ivy or keep it's incidence low.
• Wash hands, shower and wash clothes immediately after encountering the plant.
  

I've resorted to "weeding" the roots out of my garden. Turning and tilling the soil in search of this silent enemy. Slowing, each year, I get a little rash, and a big reward, clearing more and more of the property of my mortal enemy. Slowly I am reclaiming the property. As the area becomes cleared, I use repeated applications of Poison Ivy killer, lay down landscape fabric. Add topsoil, regrade/replant and mulch, mulch, mulch. I am in the final stretch of the eastern side of my garden. Wish me luck while I apply some more calamine lotion.