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First spring in our new home and I noticed some suspicious looking beasties out there. Last year I had a terrible case of poison ivy so now I'm disturbingly aware of things that appear like poison ivy.

There's two areas that have something that looks suspicious to me. One, I think/hope, are raspberry or blackberry etc bushes. They are near the edge of a copse of trees and there are bent runners nearby with similar leave patterns on 2nd year looking woody branches with small prickers.

The second area though is very concerning and I'm staying right away from it for now. It's a viny looking plant attached to my maple tree and has a lot of the characteristics of poison ivy. I'm hoping it's not but I've already told my four year old to stay away.

If they are - what is the best way to have this removed - having recently had such a fierce reaction I'm nervous about getting it all over again in the process of eradicating this unwelcomed invader.

Near some thorny runners that I assume are wild berries Same area as first picture Climbing up a maple tree these ones scream poison ivy to me Same cluster as Same cluster as 3 and 4

J. Musser
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Brian
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2 Answers2

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Oh yes. Top two pics are raspberries. Bottom one I'm not sure. But #3 and #4, the thing trying to climb a tree, sets off all my warning signs. Notice they are glossy and a little red. And you can see why it's called ivy, right?

This is the only thing we use Roundup on. In fact in Ontario that's the only reason you can buy it. DO NOT BURN POISON IVY! Even pulling it up and trying to dispose of it can be bad since now you have the oil on your gloves. Go with the Roundup just for this. And since you've had a reaction to it, get someone else (not the four year old) to spray it for you. Choose a hot day and spray right onto the leaves. I react badly and we kill it when we see it. They come back from time to time and we keep Roundup around for this purpose.

(As a test, I showed your pictures to my husband, who kills our poison ivy for me, with the headline covered and said "what is this?" He read the pictures down as raspberry, raspberry, poison ivy, poison ivy, not sure. Then I showed him the headline and he laughed.)

Kate Gregory
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The bottom picture is also poison ivy. Use Roundup on the low plants, but if you have any tree-high stuff, put on long sleeves/pants, and wear gloves and goggles, and carefully cut it off at ground level. Do not touch the plant with your gloves. When it flushes out, use Roundup. I recently had to do this at a clients house, and the main stem was 7 1/2 " in diameter. I don't get poison ivy, but I have to use the same precautions, so I don't wipe oil on things. My biggest mistake was fight ing poison ivy all day, and not washing my hands before going inside. The result-everyone got poison on their hands, from the door knob.

J. Musser
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