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Poison Ivy Advisory
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By Don Lubin Poison ivy is a native plant. Contact with it causes itchy rashes in most people. It grows very well in disturbed woodland, covering the ground and climbing rocks and trees as high as 40 feet. It is perennial and can live for decades.
It grows abundantly in many open spaces, including parks in Allston and Brighton. It grows over and through fences to protrude into walkways, bicycle paths, and parking lots. Most people don't recognize it. The rash, caused by urushiol, an oily toxin, takes from several days to over a week to erupt. Often people don't know why they have such a severe itch; they don't associate it with a plant they didn't know that they touched last week.
Dogs like to run in it. The oil gets on their fur. Then they run home and rub it on the hands and faces of owners and children. Ringer Park in Allston has a severe infestation, mostly at the southern end. It has been allowed to grow and spread in large parts of the wooded areas, growing right along one of the major paths, and over the wall onto the sidewalk at Allston Street. I suppose poison ivy has some redeeming value in wild woods, feeding birds with its berries. It is not appropriate in a park, which is an open space to which people are explicitly invited. I don't think we should put up with it. I know of three approaches to exterminating it. One is to spray the living leaves with a systemic poison like Roundup®. Any chemical will have some deleterious effect on other vegetation, animal life, and ground water quality, but some sprays are fairly benign. A thorough way to kill it is to pull the entire plant out of the ground. Besides the leaves on woody vines that are visible, there may be a considerable network of underground rhizomes, which will put up new growth if left in place. I use a dull branch pruner to cut off the visible vines, then grab the rhizomes and pull them up, while avoiding physical contact with my skin. If one is persistent, one can kill the plant simply by cutting all the visible growth, repeatedly and often, over the course of a year or two, starving it. In the summer of 2004, several Friends of Ringer Park volunteers pulled much of it out by the roots, and cut many of the vines climbing rock surfaces and trees. Some vines could be cut only with a saw. At the end of the summer, about 60% of the park was free of any visible sign of the plant. Yes, we started at the easier end. After it leafed out again in May 2005, Don patrolled the northern areas for residual growth from roots and underground runners we had missed, eradicated a few other confined colonies, and helped to make a serious dent in the areas of profuse growth. The Boston Parks Department did a significant spraying along the wide southern path in July. In 2006, Don and sometimes Kate continued the eradication and spraying. Boston Parks sprayed again mostly along the main southern path, killing the adjoining areas they had missed last year. As this growing season draws to a close, there are only three patches left, and none is near a significant path. One of these abuts the West End House Boys and Girls Club, and we consider it to be their responsibility. We will deal with the other two by the end of September. In 2007, Don conducted five more eradication sessions, spraying cutting and pulling. A number of the previous patches had some remaining life, and those were dealt with. A few spots that had been missed were treated and some plants were killed that had sprung up in new areas, probably seeded by the one remaining patch near the Boys & Girls Club. Despite urging from Friends of Ringer Park, neither they nor Boston Parks & Recreation made any effort to control the problem during the year. So far in 2008, Don has made two sweeps through the Park, finding a few scattered sprouts each time, and either pulling them up or spraying them. The West End House has finally participated by asking groundsperson Dave to kill the plants on their property (though not in the adjoining park, and much of this has now been completed. Boston Parks & Recreation has issued a work order, but in July has still not acted on similar tasks anywhere in the city. Don has finally begun to eradicate the last large patch, just south of the West End House. Like all invasive plants, poison ivy will continue to be re-introduced to our park, mostly via birds who eat the berries here or elsewhere, and we will need to remain vigilant. Areas of Poison Ivy We would welcome help with this project. If you see poison ivy anywhere in Ringer Park, please let us know where it is. If you are exposed to poison ivy, wash the area well with strong soap and cold water, and put the clothes out of reach for a few days to give the oil time to decompose. Ridding our park of poison ivy is one of the many goals of the Friends of Ringer Park. Physical improvements to the park are organized by the Stewardship Committee, so to coordinate with us, please contact Don Lubin at (617) 254-8464 or email. Related Links Poison Ivy, Oak, and Sumac Information Center The Poison Ivy Site HealthWorld Online - First Aid for Poison Ivy |
