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Another
thing that will be exposed while raking a trail is poison ivy. Here you can see the classic “J shoots”.
This is in November, and during the dormant season I have had excellent
luck pulling it. (I have had my share of poison ivy, but some people are far more sensitive.) There is a little of the oil
on the dormant stems, but nothing compared to the leaves in summer.
Afterwards I shower with soap. I wear gloves (ideally cotton ones that
I can wash later) and just rip the stuff out.
One way to help recognize poison ivy is how easily it comes out. If
you get a tree root by mistake you’ll quickly feel the difference. With a gentle pull you can usually get long pieces
of the vine, which will clear well away from the trail.
I toss the vines off the trail, kinda out in the dry (like draped over
a small bush) rather than in a pile where they would be more likely to re-root. So far winter pulling is my best method of
getting rid of poison ivy.
The next shot is a closeup of poison ivy J-shoots. You can almost
see the lack of roots.
Here is a quick shot of a poison ivy vine once it finds a tree
to climb. These I tend to just clip ‘n drip. I cut an inch or so out of the vine and drip some Roundup on the part of
the vine that goes back down to the roots. Where the vine is actually rooted it is a regular plant and it is usually hard
to pull up completely. So for serious tree vines (some of these are huge) I figure the best thing is getting some Roundup
down to those roots. And it is way easier than pulling some giant vine down on my head, and leaving it on the ground where
it might re-root. (I’ve never paid much attention to the tops I leave on the trees, but I think they fade away.)
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