Hi Bonnie,
Dr. White, who teaches the basic turf classes, is fond of saying,
when discussing herbicides, "it's the dose that makes the poison".
We need to look at herbicides as tools to use wisely and carefully.
"Harmful chemicals"? Sure. Any "chemical" when misused/over
applied can be harmful. Take water. That's a chemical, dihydrogen
oxide, and it kills plants when over applied. ;-)
It's admirable that your friend is concerned about damage to
wetlands from herbicide run off. It's a good thing to be concerned.
We should all be careful.
Your friend should contact the DNR as they have jurisdiction on
aquatic/shoreline weed control. I don't know if they have buffer
strip regulations and what they might be in your area. (The closest I
come to a wetland in my yard is a birdbath.) <g> There are
products labeled for aquatic use. I don't know if he/she is subject to
the DNR regulations .
IMHO, poison ivy is one of those cases where hand weeding/manual
removal is probably not the best course of action. A poison ivy rash
is a nasty business. Been there, done that. Don't recommend the
experience.
You're on the right track--spot spray the poison ivy. I wouldn't try
swabbing it on--I wouldn't care to get that close. Remember,
**properly diluted** triclopyr will be absorbed by the PI and kill it.
You need to get *some* on the leaves and let nature translocate it
to the roots. It doesn't need to be sprayed so that the plants are
drenched and careful spot spraying will prevent adjacent desirable
plants from being injured. Thus, a little bit should do the trick--until
the seeds in the soil sprout and a new batch of plants come up.
Then, spot spray again. Just be sure to tell them that proper dilution
is the key. Full strength concentrate doesn't work. It short circuits
in the leaves and the plants survive.
I suggest you friend get a 1 gal. pump sprayer with a reasonably
long hose and a long wand. I saw a trick on an old tv show many
years ago where someone drilled a hole in the cap of a 1 qt. plastic
pop bottle large enuf to fit over the spray wand w/out the tip.
When the tip was screwed on, it held the cap in place. Then the
bottle, with the bottom cut out, was threaded back onto the cap.
This created a spray shield. Looked slick. Haven't tried it, but if I
used the shield on PI, I'd be really careful about removing it as the
oil that causes the rash can be tranferred by physical contact w/the
leaves.
Good luck!!
Beth Jarvis
Yard & Garden Line
> A fellow gardener has poison ivy growing near and at the shore of a lake
> or stream. How can they control or eradicate the poison ivy without using
> harmful chemicals? They don't want chemicals to get into the lake. I
> read the Yard & Garden Brief where it says to use triclopyr and to apply
> it directly to the leaves. Wouldn't there be the possibility that
> spraying with the triclopyr could damage the surrounding environment? Or,
> would it be best to paint the triclopyr directly on the leaves rather than
> spraying?
> Bonnie Smith - Kandiyohi County
>
