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Is This Poison Ivy?

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Submitted by:  Bill Egeln
Date Submitted: 5/14/2003
Location: Charlotte, NC

Question Asked: I recently moved into a new house outside Charlotte, NC. The yard has been unkept for years, so I have been doing a lot of cleaning up. This weekend I caught a bad case of poison ivy. I haven't had it for probaly 25 years and i forgot how miserable it can be. Anyway, now I am paranoid. I am submitting several pics for your review. I just want to be sure before I start weeding some more. Also, if it is one of the poison cousins, do you have any tips as to how to get rid of it without killing the other plants? Thanks.

Answer: Hi Bill,

What a surprise for you at your new home. These 3 pictures are of poison ivy. The one in the grasses (I'm assuming that's some sort of ornamental grass in the top 2 pics) will be very difficult to get rid of. You could try using Roundup but you'll need to be careful about overspray. This would take several applications. You could try pulling vines and digging up roots as you move into the garden area. You have to make sure you get up the entire root though otherwise it'll be back. This looks like the PI is very well established. If you're not partial to the plants in that garden bed, I'd just spray the entire area with Roundup or Bush-B-Gone and remove after the plants have died off.

The third picture is a bit off in the distance for me. I'm pretty sure though that this is poison ivy.