Not all vines are created equal

[Black_Thumb]

I was cleaning along one of our property fence lines about a week ago and cleaned all the brush and vines along maybe 50 feet or so. It was a very tedious process as the vines were so intertwined with the fence. Much of it was dead, but the warmer temperatures of spring have caused a lot of new growth already. We just moved into our new home on November 30th, so we want to do some improvements. I am pleased with how it's cleaning up.

Lo and behold, the vines didn't have any leaves on them, but they looked exactly like our Morning Glory vines at our last house. Turns out I was working on a large patch of Poison Ivy. I got covered with it. Arms, legs, chest, scalp, back, naughty bits......no fun. So, my best friend has been hydrocortisone and Calamine lotion. LOL

Needless to say, I'll be wearing long sleeves, gloves, and carrying a flame thrower next time I work that fence line. I didn't realize that Poison Ivy vines got so long and so large. They were never that big in Minnesota where I grew up. Lessons learned. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go get a wire brush and do some scratching. LOL

Have an excellent weekend!!

Mike

 

[Meadowlark]

Be very cautious about burning poison ivy. Very hazardous if you happen to inhale any of the smoke. What infection you see on the outside can be what one can get on the inside if inhaled.

 

[Black_Thumb]

Be very cautious about burning poison ivy. Very hazardous if you happen to inhale any of the smoke. What infection you see on the outside can be what one can get on the inside if inhaled.

Indeed. I have no plans on burning it. I cut it back and will just try to keep it under control with trimming, but I might look into a homemade concoction to kill it. After closer inspection of my fence line, it appears to be pretty dominant along maybe 200 feet of the fence line. I want to cut it all back and put in something more pleasant.