Poison Ivy Blues

If you find poison ivy in your garden, don't despair; I have an easy method for picking and disposing of this noxious weed.

Leaves of three,

Let them be!

Except not. We are going to pull this vine up and properly dispose of it.

Get a plastic bag and turn it inside out, wearing it like a glove. Then, carefully reach in and grab the plant. REMEMBER: all parts of the poison ivy plant contain the toxin that causes the allergic reaction that we want to avoid.

Very carefully turn the bag right side out, while tucking the poison ivy plant in the bag.

I needed to get another bag since this vine was rather long.

Caution: Never burn poison ivy or dispose of the plant in a compost pile. Place the sealed bag in the trash.

Then, as an extra precaution, immediately wash hands and exposed arms with warm soapy water.

This is poison ivy.




This is not.
This is actually Virgin's Bower, or Clematis virginiana.

And this is not poison ivy.

This is Virginia creeper.

The leaves are always palmate, thus making it easy to differentiate from poison ivy.

However, if you are still unsure if a plant is poison ivy or not, then be safe and assume that it is.

This seems to be the caterpillar of a White-Marked Tussock Moth.

We'll just let it be. Often times the hairs on a caterpillar can cause allergic reactions.

It looks like someone needs to get working on cleaning out the landscaping.

That's a little better.

Yikes, what a mess.

Getting better.

Did I mention that this is a mess? See what happens when the gardener gets sick in the spring?

There, I feel better after getting that finished - finally.

Hm... now, who can I convince to go pick up some mulch for me?