Fall Is The Best Time To Identify & Control One Common Itchy Weed

You might be most aware of poison ivy in the spring when you're clearing overgrown brush or just cleaning out your flower beds. Suddenly, you discover you have an itchy rash and wonder where it came from. This pesky plant can be difficult to identify when it's green since there are many vining weeds that are easy to mistake for poison ivy. It also blends in well with its surroundings early in the year, but there's a trick to identifying this plant and fall is the perfect time to do so.

As a master gardener who has worked on all kinds of volunteer projects, including safely removing invasive plant species, I discovered quickly that poison ivy is among the first plants to change colors in the fall — it would even be pretty if I didn't know how much suffering it can cause! As the days grow shorter and the first leaves change their hue, look for bright red vines around your lawn and in your landscape. This is the perfect time to identify and remove poison ivy.

Identifying poison ivy is the easy part: Now it's time to remove it. Perhaps the other nice thing about discovering this pestilence in the fall is that the days are a bit cooler because you are going to need to cover yourself from head to toe to keep your skin from coming into contact with the volatile oils in the plant. The CDC recommends shirts with long sleeves tucked into thick, disposable gloves. You'll also need to wear long pants tucked into your socks and sturdy shoes. Luckily, this is not a fashion contest. You may also want to wear goggles, and you will definitely want to avoid touching your face while you're removing poison ivy.

Once you have cut the vines, paint the exposed portion of any remaining stems with brush killer to kill the plant all the way to the roots. Fortunately, fall is also the perfect time to safely remove invasive and nuisance plant species from your lawn and garden because they are preparing for winter by retracting moisture from their leaves to keep the roots alive.

Before you change out of your stylish weed-removal garb, place the vines in a garbage bag, tightly secure it, and put it in the trash. Never burn poison ivy because this can cause severe allergic reactions to anyone in the vicinity. Also, leave this plant out of your compost bin. Clean your tools and all your clothes thoroughly before using or wearing them again.