Re: Hi I'm A Newbie with a ??

Sometimes it takes years of exposure to an allergen to develop sensitivity. DH, the allergist, gives me regular reports on the growth of our local ragweed populations. (It was one of his major disappointments when I tested negative to every allergen he threw at me. Not that he wanted me to suffer, he just was hoping for another subject for his research!
Cathy
On Tuesday, August 31, 2004, at 11:26 PM, Richard T. Apking wrote:

Hi Jesse and all,

I do hope you keep your immunity to poison ivy; as I have gotten older I
seem to be more and more susceptible to all this crap. The first time I
reacted to PI, I thought i'd die from the itching and the rash. Now I'm
reacting to the pollen in the air now, itchy eyes, etc. Never had that
problem until the past 3 years.

My Colchicum is just peeking out, just a couple of them. Seems very early
doesn't it?
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jesse Bell" <silverhawk@flash.net>
To: <gardenchat@hort.net>
Sent: Tuesday, August 31, 2004 7:11 AM
Subject: Re: [CHAT] Hi I'm A Newbie with a ??


Or...just get somebody like me...who isn't allergic to it (I have no
freaking idea why...I'm allergic to every stinking thing else in this
world) to go and yank it out for you. My family doctor, when I was
little said that I had a strong immune system...and one of the lucky few
who just don't get it. So...tell me why I'm allergic to all this other
stuff. Probably stress.



Marge Talt <mtalt@hort.net> wrote:
Welcome to the list, Holli!

Well, I pull poison ivy VERY CAREFULLY! Wearing long pants, rubber
boots, long sleeves and gloves with my hand and arm covered in a
plastic bag (our newspapers come in perfect long, narrow bags for
this job)...with a black plastic trash bag in one hand, I pull with
the other and stuff it into the trash bag...being very careful that
it doesn't whip around and grab me somewhere - PI vines are like
hoses...sneaky...they will whip out when least expected. You want to
avoid getting it on your clothing as it can spread from there to you.
When you're done or the plastic bag starts to wear out, just remove
it into the trash bag.

I find heavy duty rubber gloves very good for this task as well,
since they cover a good portion of arm and if you get them in contact
with the PI, you can wash them off easily or trash them as well.

If you have a lot of this stuff, you need to get a bottle of Tecnu
Outdoor Skin Cleanser (used to be called Poison Oak and Ivy Cleaner).
This stuff is the best thing since sliced bread. If you wash with
it - following directions - up to several hours after contact, it
will remove the urushiol....sooner is better...and you won't come
down with an itchy rash. See the manufacturer's web site for more
information plus places to buy it online and off.

http://www.teclabsinc.com/pro_tecnu.html

If you pull while the ground is moist, you will get most of the vine.
The vines can travel a good distance. You can also dig it up -
again, VERY CAREFULLY. If you just pull, and the vine is mature, you
will probably not get all of it, since a good deal will be
underground and it will try to come back so you have to watch it and
go after any new sprouts when you see them. If you have mature vines
growing up trees, just saw out a 2" section and the top part will die
- takes a few years for it to fall off the trees, but it will. You
then need to dispose of the bits using the same caution as in pulling
live material. All parts of PI can cause a rash.

Birds love PI berries and I find seedlings all the time, especially
under large tree branches. I've been battling it for nearly 30 years
here....it's not a plant that you can eradicate once and have done
with it...it is an ongoing task.

My concern in using the heavy duty herbicides needed to kill PI is
that, in my woodland garden, its roots are entwined with those of
trees and shrubs I don't want to kill and I am always worried that
the herbicide might transfer, plus, I'm just not a fan of most of the
'cides' out there. Too much is unknown about how they affect the
rest of the web of life.

Marge Talt, zone 7 Maryland
mtalt@hort.net
Editor: Gardening in Shade
-----------------------------------------------
Current Article: Corydalis
http://www.suite101.com/welcome.cfm/shade_gardening
------------------------------------------------
Complete Index of Articles by Category and Date
http://mtalt.hort.net/article-index.html
------------------------------------------------
All Suite101.com garden topics :
http://www.suite101.com/topics.cfm/635

---------- 
From: Hollikft@aol.com
HI I'm Holli, a really good friend Donna, had told me about this
great
gardening group, so I decided to join up! Havent had the greatest
garden this
year, but it was passable. I was disappointed this year, but the
bees seem to 
enjoy it! LOL
Anyway I have a question.. I am loaded with POISON IVY, in the
back yard
and so is the family in the house behind me. She did have someone
do removal
tonight and then they were going to spray something in the grown
so it wont 
come back next year.
Is there a safe way to remove it ... it really is in a bad
area..it's by the
pond and continues across the back of the yard and entwined in all
my pine
trees. And of course I have a dog.

Any suggestions?
Thank You
Holli LI,NY


---------------------------------------------------------------------
Support hort.net -- join the hort.net fund drive!
http://www.hort.net/funds/

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Support hort.net -- join the hort.net fund drive!
http://www.hort.net/funds/


---------------------------------------------------------------------
Support hort.net -- join the hort.net fund drive!
http://www.hort.net/funds/


---------------------------------------------------------------------
Support hort.net -- join the hort.net fund drive!
http://www.hort.net/funds/

Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index