Lawns

Poison Ivy Scouting

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Poison Ivy Growing Among Woodsorrel

Whenever I take a walk around our house, I keep my eyes open for poison ivy. In the past couple weeks it seems to have awoke from its seasonal slumber and is ready to take off. The sooner you can control poison ivy the better. In order to control it well, it is important to understand this persistent plant.

The old saying “leaves of three, let it be” has been most helpful for me over the years to keep from getting confused between poison ivy and other look alikes. Poison ivy is a climbing woody vine that loses it’s leaves each winter. Leaves are egg shaped with three leaves per petiole that may be toothed, lobed, or entire. Poison ivy attaches to trees and rocks with aerial roots, which may have a hairy, fibrous appearance. Leaves may take on a reddish hue late in the season. It reproduces by creeping stems, roots, and seed transported by birds. Poison ivy can thrive in many areas that other plants do not.

All parts of the plant contain resins that cause allergic reactions for most of the U.S. population. These resins cause issues if burned, directly touched, or indirectly transferred from one surface to another. Resins are continually present on the leaves, stems, and roots, even in the winter.

Poison ivy is often confused with Virginia creeper, which is a creeping and trailing vine that secures itself to objects with specialized stems call tendrils. Virginia creeper has 5 leaflets, instead of three and is not poisonous. Poison oak is another common mix up. Poison oak has three leaflets, but the leaves look very similar to a classic oak leaf. The lobes have blunt tips and hairs on both the top and bottom of the leaf. Poison oak is not a creeping weed, but rather grows upright from the soil surface. For this plant the “leaves of three, let it be” statement still applies.

Poison ivy and poison oak are responsive to glyphosate, triclopyr, and 2, 4-D herbicides, which are commonly used in poison ivy killers. Always follow the label when using a herbicide and wear adequate protective gear while handling!

     Virginia Creeper

Poison Oak (Photo Credit-School of Forest Resources & Conservation – University of Florida)

Be Cautious if you plan to Roundup your lawn.

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There are currently two products on the market that you will need to pay close attention to if you plan to make a herbicide treatment to your lawn.  The confusion is that Roundup is a product that has been on the market since the early 1970’s and contains glyphosate as the active ingredient.  Roundup is a non-selective herbicide that kills any green plant to which it is applied.  With a lawn application this statement would be accurate, but we do have some weeds in cereal grain fields that are resistant to glyphosate.  There many generic products which contain glyphosate and you need to check the label for the amount of active ingredient when comparing products and prices.

 

Roundup for Lawns is a totally different product which does not contain glyphosate.  To make it even more confusing there is a northern and a southern version of this product for different grass options.  The northern version of Roundup for Lawns contains MCPA, quinclorac, dicamba and sulfentrazone.  These active ingredients can be found in many lawn herbicides in different combinations for various weed control options.  MCPA, 2,4-D and dicamba are products used to control broad leaf weeds such as dandelion, ground ivy or mallow.  Quinclorac is often added to provide post-emergent control of crabgrass.  Sulfentrazone is a product that provides control of sedges such as yellow nut sedge as well as some broadleaf weeds.  All of the active ingredients previously mentioned will not kill your lawn grasses.

 

Selecting the wrong Roundup will result in very different outcomes.  Roundup will leave you with a brown dead lawn, where Roundup for Lawns will control selective weeds and not harm your grass.  However both of these products can be harmful to many of your landscape plants if applied to them.  So it is critical to know what active ingredients are in the product, not the product name itself.  As always READ THE LABEL!  The label is the law and must be followed when using any herbicide due to the active ingredient toxicity levels, application rates, personnel protective equipment, and re-entry intervals.