Ground cover to combat Poison Ivy

[kbrew]

Has anyone ever tried controlling poison ivy by using an aggressive ground cover that might choke it out? Will this work?

In shady areas I thought I would try some Obedient Plant and in full sun, Evening Primrose. Any other ideas would be appreciated.

Kent

[Dirt Doctor]

Sweet potatoes will work surprisingly well.

PS love your footer!

[saccharum]

Maybe its native colleague, Virginia creeper?

Possible downside: people tend to confuse the two, and I have occasionally been lulled to a false sense of security in a creeper patch, only to discover that there were some P.I. vines mixed in with it.

[kbrew]

Thanks for the suggestions. Sweet potatoes? I wouldn't have thought of that in a million years, but I will try it.
I have some Virginia creeper already among the p.i. but it's outnumbered at the moment and I'm not sure if it will ever catch up.

Kent

[Tricky Grama]

OK, I'm willing to try the sweet potato treatment on poison ivy. I guess you can't just cut regular sweet potatoes up & plant them? That would be too easy. When to plant? How to care for them?
Plano Patty

[moonlady]

The best technique for pi is to cover it with black plastic and bake it out. Pi hates to be hot. You can also try heavy mulch. After a year, remove it and plant what you want. Be careful about the roots, which are also poisonous. They are orange and relatively easy to identify. Be sure to look for the vertical pi stems, which can come up amidst shrubs. For them, cut in the 4th quarter of the lunar cycle and then mulch. Look carefully for the mother plant; she's somewhere close by. Look carefully and see how the pi roots will radiate out from her. Use a sharpshooter or machete and cut the roots into pieces, aka the Garrett method of bamboo control.