I got the following "organic" recipe for poison ivy control from one of my favorite websites: 1 cup salt, 8 drops liquid detergent, 1 gallon vinegar. It does warn not to spray the mixture on anything else. But will anything else ever grow there? I have poison-ivy groundcover here in the woods, all in my flower beds, everywhere. Anyone tried this or something like it?
Yes, if you spray it on anything else other than the ivy, it'll probably kill it. But, if there's no other way...then you gotta do what you gotta do. As for leaving any residuals in the soil to prevent future growth of anything else...absolutely not. That mixture is contact killer. Will only attack living, above-ground growth. That's why you'll probably have to come back to pull out the runners of the ivy, which should start dying back once the leaves can no longer photosynthesize due to the application of the mixture. But they won't die completely! X-( So, they'll need a bit of human persuasion to be removed completely. You leave even one runner in there, and it'll continue to produce another colony.
Once you've removed all runners of the ivy, I'd turn that area over - GOOD - to double check for any pieces of ivy you might have missed. Then ammended the soil with some good compost or whatever organic matter you can get your hands on. Just make sure to use protective clothing and gloves! :O
gardenz
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "The tools of conquest do not necessarily come with bombs and explosions and fallout. There are weapons that are simply thoughts, attitudes, prejudices. To be found only in the minds of men. For the record, prejudices can kill, and suspicion can destroy, and the frightened, thoughtless search for a scapegoat has a fallout all of its own: for the children, and the children yet unborn." Blogs: OurGardenEarth GardenzOwn
Posts: 2509 | Location: Linda in N.J./Zones 7 & "Twilight" | Registered: February 11, 2002
