Tony and Moira Ryan wrote:
I am extremely allergic and we have PI around some trees in our city
yard. It has turned into a large patch on one side of the house, I
imagine from mowing it into pieces:O. My husband wants to hire someone
to get rid of it that would use his little Bobcat dozer thing to scrape
it out and I am so afraid he would damage the roots to my beloved trees.
I am very attached to my trees, my spiritual ladies. How deep if any
could they dig and not hurt my trees? Two years ago I paid some people
to pull it out but of course, it came back with a vengence, why should
they care how good a job they did:).
I would recommend you get someone to pull/dig it out again. The roots can go
deep if the general terrain has changed; it takes several attempts to get it
all, so don't assume the previous people did a bad job. You just need to
keep after it till you get it all: the smallest piece will continue growing.
Behalf Of Debbie
Sent: Monday, May 12, 2003 5:55 PM
To: OGL@LSV.UKY.EDU
Subject: **poison ivy/my trees
Tony and Moira Ryan wrote:
I am extremely allergic and we have PI around some trees in our city
yard. It has turned into a large patch on one side of the house, I
imagine from mowing it into pieces:O. My husband wants to hire someone
to get rid of it that would use his little Bobcat dozer thing to scrape
it out and I am so afraid he would damage the roots to my beloved trees.
I am very attached to my trees, my spiritual ladies. How deep if any
could they dig and not hurt my trees? Two years ago I paid some people
to pull it out but of course, it came back with a vengence, why should
they care how good a job they did:).
I'm very grateful for the discussion on poison ivy folks. I have a patch
that has been resistent to my pulling AND vinegar for quite some time so I
think I'll have the boys experiement with me and use vinegar AND clear
plastic on the spot. We'll see if this helps. I've had to try to expand my
garden beds since the fence disaster and I'm eyeing this spot as a
possibility but first I have to figure out how to get rid of the ivy!
The same spot has a great deal of field bermuda. This is not the lawn
type bermuda but something much more wicked. I need MORE MULCH!
Laura
Debbie wrote:
Debbie
You don't say what sort they are and trees do vary a lot in whether they
have roots close to the surface or not. Perhaps you could scrape up an
area of soil in the root zone of each different kind (while avoiding
the Poison Ivy of course) and see at what depth you begin to find roots.
Very possibly this will not be more than few inches below the surface,
in which case the Bobcat could cause a good deal of damage.
Some trees, on the other hand, do have their roots deeper and those
could possibly stand a certain amount of excavation in the area without
harm.
One other thing you have to bother about with some species of tree is
that damged roots tend to sucker and once they start this is likely to
continue indefinitely (Some varieties of elm are particularly bad for
this)
I am incrasingly glad we have no poison ivy in NZ and do wish you wele
in your attempt to rid yourself of it.
--
Tony & Moira Ryan,
Wainuiomata, North Island, NZ. Pictures of our garden at:-
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/cherie1/Garden/TonyandMoira/index.htm
> How on earth do folks manage to make it into wreaths without themselves
> getting zapped I wonder.
I think people may do it once, sell the wreaths, then go to the doctor to
find out why they're broken out and itchy. Some people are slow to make
the connection.
I do have an Aloe vera, but have never myself used it for healing
> purposes, as here we have the NZ flax which produces a similar gel,
> which is certainly as good at soothing and has never, to my knowledge,
> proved allergenic to anybody.
I've been reading Thomas Leo Ogren's new book, "Safe Sex in the Garden," in
which he says the sap from the leaves and roots of Phormium tenax is
caustic and can cause a serious rash. He's an expert on plant allergies,
also author of "Allergy-Free Gardening." He also says aloe vera-caused
skin rash is very common. Hah!
I saw that propagation tip (on HGA?) and am curious about whether it
works. Please let me (and/or the list know). Margaret L
Some people aren't allergic to poison ivy at all. Others take a long time to
acquire the allergy, i.e. many times contact, and others almost the first time
they touch it. I am one of those in the middle, my husband one of the first and
I have a friend that can almost look at it and break out seriously enough to go
to a Dr. for cortisone treatments.
susan
Margaret Lauterbach wrote:
No, Aloe vera is an allergen, according to Thomas Leo Ogren, author of
"Allergy-Free Gardening" and "Safe Sex in the Garden." He said "Rash from
aloe use is now very well documented." Margaret L
My arms have
I am certain that it was something else in the sunblock that you are allergic to.
I found out this weekend in Sweden that aloe vera takes the itch out of mosquito bites (wonderful, since I am allergic to such bites!) Nice to have a huge plant myself, though mosquitos aren't so bad in Denmark.
Carol
I was always in the woods as a child, looking for strawberries and rattlesnakes and the like. The woods were absolutely full of poison ivy, people said, but I didn't know what it looked like, and all I ever saw was virginia creeper.
I may very well have touched it now and then, but never broke out, and yet now that I am much older, I get loads of allergies.
Carol
My arms have
> hive bumps that are itching like crazy. Why? I used a
> "dermatologist-tested anti-allergenic sunblock" that contains Aloe
> Vera. People couldn't be allergic to that, No. Just not
> possible. Hah! Margaret L
If only I had read this a few days sooner. I told my daughter to use aloe
vera on an infecting wound on her hand and she ended up with horribly
swollen hands and itching hive bumps that kept her awake for days.
john
Moira wrote :
Aloe vera workes very well against orf (viral disease) in sheep and we have
been using it for that purpose for some years. Orf produces pustules and
thick crusts around the mouth mostly. A crushed aloe leaf rubbed over the
crusts make everything heal within a few days. And I have drank the gel when
a cold was coming on and stopped that in it's tracks.
But it can cause bad reactions as we just found out.
I used it on polymnia cuttings. I did 30 with and 30 without aloe and can
not see a difference in the shoots they are now making.
John
Obviously there are some people that are allergic to it. I am happy that so far I am not. Here people buy the gel and use a lot of it (excema, insect bites, etc.)
Carol
