Poison Ivy Herbicides: Chemical Options for Control

Several herbicides kill poison ivy. Triclopyr (Brush-B-Gon) kills kudzu and brambles as well. Non-selective weed killers like Round-Up, Finale, or Next Day also work. With care, spot spraying can remove offending vines among ornamentals.

Master Gardener Carolyn Krueger doesn't use sprays: she puts her arm in a plastic newspaper wrapper, pulls vines by hand, then discards the plastic. Poison ivy seeds spread by birds; vines sprout all summer. Constant vigilance avoids calamine skin makeup.

Steven Stinchcomb, proprietor of Turnipseed Nursery in Fayetteville, admits birds like seeds and fall color is nice, but "for the rest of the year, poison ivy is the sorriest, most misbegotten vine I can think of!"