We've just bought some land to build on and it is covered with poison ivy. What is the best way to get rid of it since we have three children under the age of four who are sure to find it.
Karen Rangel
Ft. Worth

If the bulldozers will be coming in and if there is no other vegetation worth keeping among the ivy, Round Up will be your best friend Karen! I fought the wicked stuff for years by digging it by hand – even taking out mature plants to get the ivy roots out from under them and then replanting them. It is a nightmare to deal with in established plantings. I never could get the deepest taproots – so the digging treatment was an annual challenge.

Finally gave up the battle and zonked the mother plant with Round Up last year. It’s been such a relief to not have to go through the digging torture again! Round Up is thought to be the least toxic herbicide we can use. The manufacturers have always said it is only effective on the plants’ tissue and becomes neutralized as soon as it dries or hits the soil. Yet, until this year, our local organic advisors had denounced its use as possibly being destructive to the soils micro critters. They now advise using the product if the ground has a healthy stock of natural microorganisms such as organically tended grounds. If your lot is on previously uncultivated ground, even the gurus would probably recommend Round Up. Be sure to read all the label instructions carefully.