Poison ivy grows aggressively during warm weather, and one wrong move while removing it can leave you with an itchy rash that lasts for weeks. Here’s what gardening experts recommend before you touch a single vine.
Native to North America, poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans) is found across the country, everywhere from deciduous forests and wooded areas to roadsides, pastures, and your own backyard.
“It can grow just about anywhere and is very tolerant of a variety of conditions including both sun or shade,” says Pamela Bennett, associate professor and state master gardener program director at Ohio State University. “It is typically brought into a new area by birds dropping the seeds, which then germinate.”
If you’ve ever suffered the misery of a rash caused by poison ivy, you know you don’t want to be anywhere near it. This poisonous plant releases an oil called urushiol, which causes the itchy, blistering rash within a few hours to a few days after contact, says Bennett. Exposure to an amount less than a grain of salt causes a rash in 80 to 90 percent of adults!
Learn to Identify Poison Ivy
The old saying, “Leaves of three, let it be,” applies. Poison ivy has compound leaves, each made up of three shiny leaflets with a petiole (the tender stem that attaches the leaves to the main stalk), with two leaflets opposite each other on the bottom and one on top (almost like a triangle shape). The compound leaves are arranged alternately on the stem, says Bennett.
New growth is reddish, and in the fall, the foliage turns a brilliant red color.
The plant may appear as a shrub or as a vine with tendrils that can climb trees high into the canopy. Mature plants may have small yellowish flowers that become grayish-white berries that many birds love.
Get Rid of Poison Ivy: 6 Essentials to Know
Your best bet for eradicating this weed is to catch it when it’s young and much easier to eliminate, says Bennett. This is why it’s helpful to learn to identify this weed correctly. Then follow these steps to get rid of poison ivy:
- Wear protective clothing, including long pants, long sleeves, and gloves. Machine wash clothing afterward.
- For young plants, pull up the entire seedling, or dig out small plants. But be aware that it has an extensive, fibrous root system. Any piece left behind will regrow.
- For large plants, cut the plant at the base, which will kill all the foliage above it. Then spray the stem with herbicide containing glyphosate, triclopyr, or 2,4-D. These herbicides are not selective, so be careful when applying because they will kill everything they contact (don’t spray the tree trunk, for example).
- Repeat herbicide treatment of the stem as long as you see new growth occurring. “It typically will take multiple applications, and you may need to re-treat next spring,” says Bennett.
- Discard the plant in the trash, not in the compost pile because you don’t want it to regrow.
- If you have severe reactions to this plant, consider hiring a professional landscape company for removal.
When to Get Rid of Poison Ivy
Keep in mind that the best time to treat a poison ivy plant is in the fall, when the plants are taking up sugars and pulling them into the roots to store for the winter. “You want the plant to still be actively growing so it that translocates the herbicide to the roots to kill the plant,” says Bennett. However, you can treat this plant at any time during the growing season if necessary.
Things to Avoid When Removing Poison Ivy
All parts of the poison ivy plant are poisonous, including stems, leaves, and roots. You also can develop symptoms if you have indirect contact with poison ivy, such as touching tools, clothing, or pets that have urushiol on them, too. The toxin also can be inhaled if carried on soot particles in smoke when the plant is burned—which is why you should never, ever burn this plant, says Bennett.
Five mistakes you don’t want to make when removing poison ivy:
- Burning poison ivy
- Composting it
- Pulling it bare-handed
- Pressure-washing contaminated surfaces
- Forgetting to wash tools afterward
Poison Ivy Look-alikes
The leaves of boxelder (Acer negundo) seedlings are often confused with poison ivy. Both plants have compound leaves and similar-looking leaflets. Boxelder’s compound leaves can have three, five, or seven leaflets, and it’s the ones with three leaflets that are easy to misidentify—but there is a key difference: Boxelder tree seedlings have opposite leaves (pairs of compound leaves that grow directly across each other on the main stem), rather than alternate compound leaves like poison ivy.
Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) has a similar appearance, but the leaves of this plant has five leaflets, not three.
