Getting Rid of Poison Ivy

  Poison ivy is one of those plants that is the bane of most hikers.  I have yet to come across anyone that joyfully proclaims "I just love poison ivy!"  I cannot imagine why anyone would love it. Aside from the most obvious reason of it being a rash producing plant, it is one vine that is difficult to extract from the garden.  Once the ivy gets hold to some plot of ground, most efforts to eradicate it are futile.  Other than literally digging out the entire root ball by hand, there is just not much you can do.  Mother Nature, on the other hand, can do just about as she pleases with poison ivy or any other plant, for that matter.  Mother Nature is good!

  That said, I have found the one surefire method of ridding the place of poison ivy although it usually involves killing an innocent tree as well. Here, we fall back on the tactics of Mother Nature and her propensity of tossing lightning bolts around wherever she pleases.  Lately, we have been bombarded with lovely thunderstorms complete with the most devastating lightning that I have seen in a long while.  Just this summer alone, we have lost nigh on a dozen pine trees to strikes.  The most recent was a tall pine right on the marsh edge that was entwined with not only grapevines but also poison ivy.   When Mother Nature zapped the tree during one of her temper tantrums, the tree died.  The jolt also killed both the grapevine and the poison ivy.  So, although I hated losing another tree, I was just as happy to see the poison ivy meet its demise! Gone!  Kaput!  Dead!  Yay!

  Now there is just one problem that remains.  Since the pine tree is dead and sits not too far from the shed, we probably should remove it.  While I do not mind using a piece of pine in the fireplace occasionally, it is not the ideal firewood.  Add to that, the ivy vine that wraps the tree from top to bottom and the wood is just not worth the effort or possibility of getting a bad rash.  Smoke from a burning vine can cause the rash to be quite nasty!  Hopefully, the grapevines will hold the tree in place until the top rots and falls. This should protect the shed from the towering tree and me from a nasty, itchy rash.