Although there are some ways to kill poison ivy without killing grass, all commercial herbicides that are harmful to poison ivy are also deadly to many types of desirable plants. Any chemical that kills poison ivy will also damage any tree, shrub, flower, or garden plant it is sprayed on. One way to control poison ivy is to spray foliage with a systemic herbicide. This is only possible when the spray does not reach the foliage of desirable plants (these herbicides will harm any plant).
The most effective method to kill poison ivy without killing other plants is to get rid of the plant by hand. You should be sure to remove the roots to prevent it from growing back. Other, less effective solutions include boiling water, stifling the plant, vinegar, homemade solutions or herbicides. If you stay away from commercial herbicides because of the chemicals they contain, experiment with an organic approach.
You don't need to look any further than your kitchen pantry to find an active ingredient. It turns out that salt, in sufficiently high concentrations, kills most unwanted plants, including poison ivy. But you can't just spray it out there. If you are looking for another solution to remove the nasty poison ivy plant in your backyard, you can use household products to do the trick.
Ivy Shield, Ivy Block Lotion and Ivy X Poison Oak Lotion are protective agents for sensitive people to reduce the risk of rash when spending time in areas with these plants. In general, manually removing poison ivy is the most effective solution to removing poison ivy and preventing your other plants from dying. Try any of these methods for successful eradication, but always wear long-sleeved shirts, long pants, and gloves when working near poison ivy. And they tell me that I have to “go through the courts to set foot on their property and kill the plant that almost killed me last year.
Natural treatments to remove poison ivy are preferable, but herbicides are effective in eliminating poison ivy. There are two general types of poison ivy, eastern and western poison ivy, which look strikingly similar, but have somewhat different geographical ranges. However, it would be better to be careful when spraying poison ivy, be sure not to spray on windy days, as vinegar can blow on the leaves of other plants and damage them as well. Poison ivy and poison oak are more sensitive to treatments with 2,4-D amine and dicamba in late spring or early summer, when plants are actively growing rapidly.
Glyphosate (Roundup, Eraser, Killzall and other brands) or triclopyr (Brush-B-Gon, Brush Killer and other brands) are commonly recommended for poison ivy control. However, I suppose that the well-being of your other plants is just as important as eliminating poison ivy. Each poison ivy leaflet has a small stem at its base, which attaches the leaf to the stem or branch that secures it to the main vine. Before we go crazy and frantically pull poison ivy by hand, let's first take a look at how to identify poison ivy, the necessary safety precautions and the most popular methods of removing poison ivy.
