I recently got the right gear to be able to fully dive into poison ivy and start pulling it in mass. I quickly learned that almost all of my poison ivy is coming from a row of decaying pine tree stumps along my back yard. I’ve also observed large quantities of poison ivy in a friend’s garden, in the spot where her pine wood fence is decaying. So it seems poison ivy might be attracted not just to disturbed soil, but specifically to disturbed areas where pine has been cut down.
So a least locally I found a correlation, but is there a root cause? Does the fungus in decaying pine work symbiotically with poison ivy? Are there compounds in the wood that deter most other plants?
Then the most important question - who else can fill this niche and reduce the chance of getting rashes in the garden? Poison ivy does tremendous work for the soil, making balls of fuzzy roots and weaving its vines crisscross across eroding hills. I feel a little bit guilty pulling it up, but I know that ultimately I’ll be introducing more life and fertility in places where I can reasonably walk without having all my skin melted off. So what do I plant around these pine stumps to keep the poison ivy at bay? Virginia creeper is the first I think of, but it often mimics poison ivy, and the two seem more than happy to cohabitate.
Poison ivy just likes that edge zone, pines offer filtered light and fallen trees allow more light and decay/moisture. It is just as happy under oaks and most other trees. Even climbing through cedar trees.
Virginia creeper is what I try to promote. They will grow together but at least it is competition.
I always thought it would be an interesting breeding project to try to select for less oil and create a “poisonless” poison ivy. Any volunteers?
I have epic level poison ivy problem ( also associated with huge vines growing up standing dead pines.) So much of it was coming up in my previous garden area this year that I had to plant elsewhere.
Last week I suited up in tyvek and gloves and tried to do a round of manual removal pulling up the roof mats. I feel like I hardly made a dent and got a horrible break out in-spite of my protective measures and showering immediately after.
As for replacements there are so many other great vines that grow in the same habitats but they all seem to get along fine and poison ivy is often mixed right in with Virginia creeper, crossbones, smilax, muscadine, etc. I’ll keep in mind walking around my property to see if I notice any healthy vine areas that don’t have poison ivy in the mix but my guess is it would take invasive tendencies to keep it out. for instance the parts of my property infested with English ivy don’t seem to have poison Ivy but that’s not a good trade off. Where kudzu is thick it kills off poison ivy but not on the edges where it’s trying to establish, those areas I see both.
Just yesterday I planted some Macuna beans at the base of some dead privet that have poison ivy & mixed vines climbing them to see if they can outcompete.
As for poisonless poison ivy I’m all for it but that’s gonna need some test for urushiol levels other than rubbing it on one’s arm for reaction lol.
I have poison ivy growing in parts of my garden. My order of preference is:
Leave it be. Place plants that can coexist, next to it, to block access
Train the poison ivy away from areas where i might contact it. A stick works well
Prune away excessive growth
It’s a difficult plant to eradicate, and efforts to eradicate it are very likely to result in the contact dermatitis for which it is famous. I don’t experience problems with it because i don’t directly touch it, and i treat it with care and respect when i must interact with it. Even when i prune it, I’m as gentle with it as i can be. Crushing the foliage releases the oils that are problematic, so i don’t do that.
I’m doubtful that poison ivy has a preference for pine any more than anything else. I also doubt that it can simply be crowded out by planting something else. I am allergic to poison ivy and do all I can to eliminate it from my property. If you have little plants coming up all over the place it is because somewhere nearby there is a big one dropping seeds, birds also spread the seeds. For little plants I just put on gloves and pull them up. I’m careful about it so as to pull up as much root as possible, instead of breaking it off. If I find a big one going up a tree, I use a long-handled clipper, first gently grabbing it and pulling a section of its trunk off the tree. Then I cut it close t to the ground. I just leave it there with its trunk dangling in the air.
After working on a poison ivy purge, I immediately wash with cold water and lots of oil cutting soap like dish washing liquid. Gloves and any clothes that may have touched it stay outside until next laundry day or washed in a bucket outside with lots of degreaser soap.
I have a hate, hate relationship with poison ivy because my reaction to it is pretty strong. I would much rather suffer a little exposure in eradicating it than brush against it by accident and maybe without noticing until later.
Our property came to us quite overgrown… Hackberry, cedars, green briar, Virginia creeper, poison ivy, etc. but I’ve begun to notice trends. Creeper and briars will grow in drier areas, while ballon vines like marshy areas, and PI likes it closer to the pond, but not marshy. PI wants access to water. Rotting wood holds water well, so that might be what you are seeing. Or the PI was growing up that pine, since it is parasitic somewhat. Yes, wear gloves, long sleeves, long pants etc when you are pulling it, unless you are that rare and blessed person who just doesn’t react. When you are done, wash promptly, hands even before you undress.
Also, PI is just opportunistic, like many plants/ weeds.
Thank you all for chipping in! The poison ivy being promoted by the spongy, water holding dead tree and the edge environment makes a lot of sense. I like the idea of training it away and avoiding it, but there is so much of it and as long as my poison ivy suit continues to work I’m going to keep removing it. I do make sure to thank it when I’m pulling it, and assure it that it’s not my enemy I just need it out of the way so I can garden…
So my poison ivy suit, its a bunch of layers:
first thing, I put on nitrile gloves, so I can take them off at the end when I go inside to shower.
Then my base layer, all washable and stored in their own box away from the other stuff: long socks, underwear, jogging shorts, t shirt, and a head-sock thing. I tie my hair back very tight under the head sock thing. And long socks with holes that I wear like arm warmers, as wrist protection. A neck buff would be nice too but I don’t have one.
Then safety goggles, a big clear plastic face shield, leather gloves, and rubber rain boots (also the cheap ones from tractor supply).
So far I’ve gone into the thicket twice with this gear, and filled up a 55 gallon composter barrel with mostly poison ivy vines. I’m really careful when I take off the outer layers, and I shower with dawn dish soap right away and wash my under layer asap, treating it as contaminated until it’s washed.
