Our home backs up to an old golf course. We have poison ivy, sumac or oak, growing rampantly behind our fence and popping up in our yard. I have tried all kinds sprays, chemicals, etc...and now I am HIGHLY allergic to it, which just came on this last time I sprayed. I am miserable with the allergic reaction and it doesn't even look like it is dying.

If ANYONE has any ideas how I can eradicate this, please let me know. I am DESPERATE. We can't even enjoy the backyard anymore.

Thanks.
Laura

Total vegitation killer will kill just about any plant.

Laura,

If the patch of poison foliage popping up in your yard is relatively small, you can try killing it by solarizing it. Wear long pants and a shirt, either latex or vinyl disposable gloves and protection for your face, then lay down large sheets of plastic all over the poison ivy. Anchor the sheets with rocks or something heavy.

Make sure to cover the whole patch. Leave the plastic on long enough for the whole area to be heated (which shouldn't take long in Texas) and periodically check to see if the ivy is dying. You could even leave it on for several weeks or months just to be sure what's in your yard is killed.

White vinegar will also kill small patches of weeds, but it won't take out a large patch.

Even when you've addressed the stuff growing over into your yard, there's still the issue of it reappearing from the neighboring golf course. I think it's wise to contact the owner of the golf course and advise him/her/it of the problem and request that they take action to eradicate it.

If it's the source of the problem, it will just keep invading your yard until it's eliminated from the golf course. So you'll need to focus on that site as well.

You might also check with the Texas State Agriculture Department (or something similar). or the Texas A & M College (including any local extension service) to find out if these poison plants are considered noxious weeds (which I'm sure they are) in Texas, and ask for their recommendations not only on elimination of them but also whether any state or local agency can require the golf course management/ownership to eliminate them.

You mentioned that your allergies developed the last time you sprayed. It might be that you also had a reaction to the spray.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: GardenSprite,

Rent a couple of Billy goats. They will gobble that stuff like a veggie salad...

dress up in disposeables. mix a bucket of Round-Up, say a quart. take a chip brush, dip in there, and paint each plant with it. toss the brush, the can, the disposeable clothes and gloves in a separate bag when done.

it will take close to a month, but that should do.

if not, you need to mix a 2-4,D/2,4,5-T brushy killer like Weed-B-Gon.

there are specialty farmer-only herbicides that need application permits like Tordon that might clear that out once and for all, but that sort of atom-bomb treatment is not for us kiddos.

Time for the "A-Team"...

I have a ranch in TX and have my private applicators license, thus can buy and use Tordon, 2-4-D, Eraser, Grazon and other...the key here is using an agricultural grade surfactant...this helps to keep the product on the plant so it will be systemically aborbed w/ max strength. Here are some other things to do:

1). Spray on the really new foliage [lime-green]
2). Spray when you know it will not rain for 24-48, hrs, or if a sprinkler system will go off - do not spray when there is morning dew on the plant
3). Spray when there is no wind
4). Follow all instructions to the tee

See if you can buy a heavy concentrate of Eraser and use the brush-killer dosage. remember, use the surfactant to spec too.

If you follow this, you will kill it - repeat as necessary, but you will get it.

Good luck,
tstex

tstex, also called an adjutant, right?

the idea is the soap gets the chemical past the wax in the leaves' coating, directly to the stoma and into the leaf.

swsschard, a surfactant could be also called an adjutant, which simply means to assist.

your explanation is somewhat correct, but the stomata do not play into surfactants. Stomata are on the underside of the leaves, thus aiding in transpiration of mainly water and gases...since they are on the underside, most agr sprayers cannot access the underside of leaves.

Surfactants for agricultural foliar use, in the simplest terms, reduce the water tension on the leaves, thus helping the active ingredient to better adhere to the suface and be better systemically absorbed, by the upper part of the leaf/surface.

In general terms, there are surfactants for land plants, water plants and for clothes being washed/etc. Depending on their specific application, this determines their rating of non-ionic, cationic, etc.

NE Colorado Cty Texas just received 7-8" of rain yesterday so we are quite happy...spraying will soon come into major play.

Regards,
Tstex