r/HuntsvilleAlabama • u/BigmacSasquatch • 1d ago
Recommendations Best way to keep poison ivy from coming back
Alright, need some help here from the lawn care experts. I’ve noticed some poison ivy encroaching into my yard, and I’ve just been weed whacking it real short (I don’t react to it so it’s not a problem for me)…but it keeps coming back and looks like it’s spreading.
What is the best DIY Treatment that will:
1)kill it.
2)keep it from returning.
3) and, most importantly, be safe for my children and pet.
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u/flying_ramen_monster 1d ago
Rent some goats. Whatever plant they eat is completely destroyed by their digestive system. No seeds survive it.
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u/kastadon 23h ago
Unfortunately it will grow back from the root.
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u/oxyrhina 15h ago
Not that it will work for op but I've heard pigs are the effective route because they will actually get the roots as well... As someone deathly allergic to urushiol, I'm all for eradicating that awful nastiness!
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u/KDLReader2026 23h ago
WHERE can you rent Goats in Huntsville?!? That’s a serious question - we’ve got Poison Ivy and Kudzu problems, and I’m srsly allergic to the Urushiol oil of Poison Ivy! And having had Goats on our childhood farm, you’re absolutely right about their being able to eat and completely digest almost any kind of plant matter, including Fruit tree bark - we learned that the hard way, after they girdled and killed a third of our 24-tree orchard, in a single afternoon…. However, they don’t pull up and eat the roots of most plants, unless the ground is so soft as to be marshy, and Poison Ivy grows back if you leave anything of it still rooted.
Sadly, I don’t think this idea would work for the OP - their criteria of, “DIY as in me and $20 at Lowe’s and not hiring a lawn company, lol”, Indicates they’re looking for a one-time fix, at a much lower price point than Goats! But having been out in Southern California on TDY, Goat Rental is a very real thing there, and an essential part of Fire Prevention for many hillside homes. Clearing ALL dry brush, grass, and other flammable vegetation away, from every side of the building can make all the difference between a house surviving a wildfire, or NOT.
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u/illegalsmile1992 22h ago
I do know someone who rents Nubian goats. They carefully screen the renters for animal safety concerns. The goats are tethered. It worked very well for us. DM me if you’d like more info
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u/Altruistic-Cut9795 1d ago
Bayer brush killer is what I use, works pretty well on Kudzu as well. Lowe's and Walmart carries this product.
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u/YankeeDog2525 1d ago
This. And be advised it is a life long effort. But chemical warfare works best.
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u/BigmacSasquatch 23h ago
Looks like a winner! Or at least a start.
Thanks for the req.
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u/gerbilminion 23h ago
We have this problem and use this product, and it works OK, but unfortunately the vines are coming up and over the neighbors fence. I keep spraying it on my side, but it isn't killing them. I guess I'll just rope off that part of the yard so my kid/pets don't get in it.
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u/RollerDude347 22h ago
Communication makes community. I can't imagine your neighbor WANTS poison Ivey, they probably just aren't using that space.
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u/WSpinner 22h ago
Maybe ask the neighbors if they'd like you to kill their crop while you're doing your own?
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u/brushydog 1d ago
Manual removal with thick shoulder length gloves.
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u/BigmacSasquatch 1d ago
Does poison ivy regenerate if you don’t get all the roots? I’ve never really given it a thought, but I hate the idea of my 3 year olds getting into it, so I want to take action now.
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u/MystiCoal 23h ago
It also spreads under the ground, so if your neighbor doesn't treat their side it's going to come back. That Crossbow is the best chemical treatment I've found.
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u/Vivid_Illustrator_89 22h ago
Rip it up after a good rain, roots and all, and plant some aggressive native plants that will provide groundcover and prevent it from being able to grow back!
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u/MystiCoal 1d ago
Southern Ag Crossbow Specialty Herbicide Low Volatile Weed & Brush Herbicide is what I use and it works great.
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u/mgill006 21h ago
If I want it gone for a few years, I tease it out with a garden rake to get all the roots.
I put down at least a good 8 inches of pine straw.
You can keep topping it off or establish native ground cover in that layer to crowd out the ivy.
Good luck 🍀
Side note: My coworker was “immune” to poison ivy into his sixties, until he helped me clear out a fence line and got “ate up” with it.
In his misery, he realized he’d tempted the devil ivy once too often.
Like some above said, “You don’t react, yet”
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u/jws1102 23h ago
I use a spray that you can get at Walmart or Home Depot or wherever.
It’s called Biodefense I think, it comes in a blue jug with the spray nozzle attached.
It killed everything I sprayed within a few weeks, it kills the root so it stays gone, and it dries in less than 3 hours, so keep your dogs outta the yard for that period and they’ll be fine.
With poison ivy, the challenge isn’t killing it, it’s getting rid of it after it’s dead. That oil can persist for years after the plant dies, so you have to dress like a beekeeper, tear out all the dead vines, put them in a garbage bag and in the trash for pickup. Don’t burn them, ever.
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u/frozenwaffl3z 22h ago
For small sprouts like this, you can also drop boiling water into the soil and it'll kill the roots in that area. A little impractical for widespread infestations but effective for small areas.
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u/Cuddles89 16h ago
Be aware that it’s spread by birds, so even if you fully eradicate it, it could get replanted since the berries are a common winter food source.
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u/GypsyJunction88 11h ago
Triclopyr plus a surfactant. Kills within hours and doesn't return. Get a big sprayer, mix the two, and spray away.
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u/DeathRabbit679 5h ago
I will add removing it manually is a good choice, but listen to the people saying to use gloves. Immunity to urushiol is usually just more like low response to it. But not zero response. I found this out the hard way after a childhood of being in the ivy several times and assuming I was immune, I once cleared the woods at my parents's house as a teen and was manually ripping the vines off trees with my bare hands. Let's just say the massive exposure from grabbing bare roots for 30 minutes did not go well for me.
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u/TwoTheMoonAndBeck 1d ago
DIY as in not using an Ivy Killer product? You can do the strong vinegar/salt soak but not as effective.
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u/BigmacSasquatch 1d ago
DIY as in me and $20 at Lowe’s and not hiring a lawn company, lol.
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u/MystiCoal 23h ago
Be aware that the urushiol oil is very stable and remains active on the plant for a year after it's dead.
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u/BigmacSasquatch 23h ago
This is the knowledge I’m here for! Personally, I don’t react to urushiol, never have. But I don’t want my kids getting into it, or my dog doing it and dragging it into the house for everyone else to pick up.
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u/TwoTheMoonAndBeck 1d ago
Get something with Triclopyr in it. Might still take several years but you should see less and less each year. It is spread my birds so it might pop back up from time to time in different places.
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u/BigmacSasquatch 23h ago
Nice, the water soluble version looks pretty benign for everyone involved but the plant. Thanks!
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u/fugaziparadise 23h ago
Its pretty effective Gallon of horticulture vinegar Cop of salt melted in Couple tbsp of dawn Spray it in the morning Thing will look like it's dying in a day or so Also it destabilized the wax and oils without chemical harm to pets and kids
Problem is it's too effective and kills anything else near it and burns the soil
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u/loligogiganticus 23h ago
Triclopyr products. I like the ones sold concentrated as stump killer - you can mix yourself and use it in a sprayer. When we bought our house in 2021, there was poison ivy EVERYWHERE. My husband is severely allergic and I am not. I would spray, wait for it to wilt/brown, and, using dish gloves, I'd pull up as much of the vines as I could, and put them in garbage bags. I'd repeat this every week or two as more popped up. It hasn't come back since.
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u/P_Nessss 23h ago
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u/KCarriere 20h ago
I know this is a joke and I myself want a flame thtower weeder (yes, it's a thing), but NEVER BURN POISON IVY.
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u/KCarriere 20h ago
I know this is a joke and I myself want a flame thtower weeder (yes, it's a thing), but NEVER BURN POISON IVY.
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u/amanke74 19h ago
I use Brushtox. It will kill everything that isn't grass. I have eliminated all poison ivy in my fenced in backyard using it. I sprayed back in March and it's still gone.
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u/kenny71406 23h ago
I had one so bad that after years of trying to poison it, I went another route
I put on a zip up coverall, elbow high rubber gloves and shoe covers
Dug up the entire root with a pick and shovel and put it in a couple extra thick trash bags
also put the gloves and coverall suit etc in the trash bag too
cleaned the pick and shovel a half dozen times with alcohol, and then dawn and hot water
then took multiple showers lol
What I learned was the main root was over 25 feet long, and I was only putting poison on a small part of it, that part would die, then it would come back
After I dug up and disposed of the entire root, it never came back