I have some old beds in the front of the house that we pulled out the old bushes and most of the poison ivy. I want to cover the beds with newspaper and black plastic to kill everything over the summer so we can plant in the fall.

I plan on putting down dried molasses and compost down first, then multiple layers of newspapers with black plastic on top.

Will this work?
do I need to work the molasses and compost into the soil first?
How many layers of newspaper and does it need to be wet?

thanks

A small nuclear warhead might kill poison ivy. It seems the best way is mechanical removal, but you're going a long way toward weakening it with your layered approach after your initial removal.

I suspect that you'll still be digging out a few runners in the future, so don't let them get re-established. Give the layers of stuff a try, and when you get ready to plant, don't for a while. Let any remaining hidden poison ivy show itself, and go in and physically dig it out if you see any. Then plant the bed how you want. If you can get those underground spreader roots out, you'll be fine.

Good luck. I've slowly pushed it out of the back of my yard, but it isn't gone, it's just waiting till I stop watching for it.

Don't use black plastic,use clear,it kills faster and about the poison ivy goats love this stuff,find some local FFA group at your local highschool and ask them to rent you some goats.