Any suggestions on how to clear out massive amounts of poison ivy???

Get the Round up for poison ivy and oak spray it.

I've never had to deal with poison ivy but my first thoughts is a defoliant or herbicide, however it would finish off the english ivy, if you get it on it. You can, for a more natural/healthy for people, use one gallon vinegar and add to this 1 cup detergent, laundry soap is a detergent, and spray or sprinkle on the P.I., this will also kill the english ivy if it gets on it. This will have to be used more than once to get it under control. HGTV's website had quite a few ways to kill this pest.

Wild flower seeds are a good way to pretty up large areas on the cheap. The mixture will have both winter and summer flower seeds. Scratch the ground up real good with an iron rake, sprinkle down heavily the seeds and cover them back up with the same rake. Keep it moist on the surface until you see seedlings coming up, continue sprinkling lightly every other day for a bit longer and then leave them to themselves unless you see that they are suffering for water. I live in So. Cal and this form of watering is necessary for good results.

You should be able to get large area seed packages at Walmart for a small amount of $. You can also google wildflower seeds and look up different companies to order the seeds. Be sure they are wildflower seeds natural for your area. You may need 1/2 to 1 pound package for your large area. I like to keep extra around to touch up areas that don't seem to come up for whatever reason.

I have found that gardeners love to talk to other gardeners and like to help out new gardeners by showing how to propagate plants from cuttings they give you. Gardeners are generous sharing the wealth. If I see a plant I would like a few cutting from I wait until I see the gardener out in the yard, introduce myself and explain that I'm new at this and was wondering about this or that plant in their yard. If they don't offer cuttings or plantlets, etc don't be shy to ask about it. If you are in a warm area succulents are wonderful and can be easily started from division, or even just a leaf.

More on the seeds: I too am a renter and live on a large piece of property and have had success doing these things. You will find the seeds sprouting up at different times based on temperature. A lot of mine grew but didn't do anything, flowering wise, until it was its time of year to do so.

Have fun learning. There will be failures but please don't give up, its the best way to learn besides asking questions, learning online and going to a Mom and Pop garden center where the people there will more than likely have answers. The large stores rarely have knowledgeable gardeners working there, They are pretty much there to water and run the cash register

Sorry this is so long, I love talking about gardening :)

Because you have such a large space that contains poison ivy, the easiest would be to "smother" them out. Using either multiple sheets of newspaper (my favorite recycle), leftover carpet, sheets of plywood or tarps, spread them out over the area of plants so they completely cut off the light. Hold the materials down with rocks, gravel, earth, etc., so they don't flap around. You do not want any light reaching these plants! You may have to wait 2-3 weeks to complete the process but it will work. When removing the materials be sure to wear protection and take precautions with clothing and showering.

Once you've cleaned up the area (it might take a month or so depending on how much you have), I'd plan on getting the soil ready for spring planting. As you have a large area, you could hand-sew wildflower seeds that contain both perrenials and annuals. I purchase 1 pound bags of wildflower seeds for $19.99 from a local vendor. This would be a cheap alternative to flats or seed packages. We've had an abundance of beautiful flowers, all sorts of colors. Birds, bees and butterflies have been numerous as a result.

Another idea would be to plant a quick growing green crop (green manure) which would help the soil. You can hand-sew clover, legumes, buckwheat, etc., which you'd turn under to break down naturally. This does great things for seeds, etc., and beneficials love it, too.

If you are out in the country, or have a fenced property, goats are very effective. There are folks who provide this service.

http://www.poison-ivy.org/control

https://www.thespruce.com/tips-for-removing-poison-ivy-safely-2132618

I know your on a tight budget, try a local landscaper, it might be cheaper than you think (depends on the area). We had 1, 70 ft tree taken down for $600, all the shrubs around our house removed, large area, it was $ 300, and they laid tarp and covered it with stone. Put an ad in your towns newspaper to remove ivy. My summer home is where we had poison ivy, borrow a grass sickle and chop it down and get rid of it by putting a large garbage bag in a trash can. Your local dump will except brush. I hope these ideas could help you, good luck.

Check with your municipality , they have to deal with it on public lands.

For the poison plants.. I'd 'round' them up (using round up which will kill everything). Getting rid of the poison plants would mean more to me than saving the Ivy. If you wanted to save some of the Ivy, you could dig some up and transplant it or put it in planters temporarily to replant at a later time. Then I'd spray that fence line down and kill it all.

For decorations, there are groups out there (I'm apart of two on facebook) that are "buy nothing in " groups. They are giving things away. I'd check those and see if there is any lawn furniture that you could paint or repurpose very inexpensively. You can also post a ISO (is searching for) in those groups to see if anyone has something to give away! Good luck

Get a few goats.. they'll clear it all out

I thought goats, too. Depending on where you live, you might be able to 'rent' a flock, which will make short order of that poison ivy. Google 'goats weed control' and you'll see if there's anything available. Costs would vary from place to place. As far smothering it, I think you'd be better served by using large pieces of cardboard. You can find those for free at a furniture store, Home Depot type stores, etc. Check around on your local internet 'bulletin boards'. I've got 'NextDoor' in Northern CA ~ it's proved to be a great resource for almost everything. With the cardboard, you'll need to wet it periodically to get it to start decomposing. If you live in an area where it rains year around, you might not need to do that. A more arid climate and you'll have to do some watering. And see if there's a place where you can get free composting materials, to layer on top of the cardboard. Lawn services, bedding from horse stables, etc. Good luck!

i had poisin ivy and i poured a small bottle of ivy killer on the roots waited a few days before i could try and get it gone late fall it the best time to do this the stems and leaves have a juice have a a black trash bag to put it in DO NOT BURN IT it can get in your lungs

Both my husband and I have severe reactions to poiaon ivy so we had a professional come out to get rid of the poison ivy in our yard whwn we moved in. It was a lot less expensive than we thought. He also gave us a year warranty which included having him come back for no charge if the poison ivy reappeared. Fortunately it did not.

I love the goat idea. You have a big yard, you could handle a couple of goats, either rent or own. Plus, you won't have to mow as much either.

I'm not sure if this will work, but maybe a mixture of white vinegar, salt, dish soap could help. It kills weeds almost over night. Maybe the stronger the mixture, the better. A gallon of vinegar, 1/2 gal hot water, cup of salt, 1/2 cup dish soap is the normal formula for killing weeds. I'm thinking less water, more salt. Wouldn't hurt to try a small area. Best of luck.

Really you don't have to turn as much as scratch the surface to the ground. In nature wildflower seeds don't have the benefit of human intervention, they drop their seeds, the air/wind moves them here and there and maybe a few grow to maturity. Wildflower seeds do at times have help from animals, perhaps just running through them would cause a few seeds to then get covered with a bit of soil and then there are other situations where an animal may scratch at the soil for one need or another. By scratching the surface you are giving the seeds a better chance of life than nature gets.

Just for FYI - I have a friend who is a California Forest Ranger (here in So. Cal) he told me that the only time large amounts of California Wildflowers grow is after a fire because the fire kills the European flowers/weeds and this allows our wildflower seeds sunshine and rainwater to grow. I say this because this means, to me, that the seeds are at or just below ground level and are brought to life the next time it rains once there is no shading and crowding from the non-Cal wildflower plants.

I too have the same thoughts of rage after spending too much time in the garden, but I do it anyway, because like childbirth, you forget the pain and want to bring life into the world again :)

Call local churches/scout groups/youth groups and see if they can do a clean up for you.

Any chance you could ''borrow'' some goats? They love this stuff apparently.

Goats Love it.. Low cost and low upkeep. Ask around you might can borrow one for the job. I have known people who loaned so it would be worth a try provided you are allowed to have one where you are. I hope this helps.

try spraying vinegar on it

I just had to stop by and say yeah, I HATE poison ivy too. I know it's years later, but I got itchy just looking at the pics. Any updates on how you handled the rest of the poison ivy? Did you go with the wildflowers?

Destroy What's Left. If you have many plants spread over a large area, cut as much of the top growth as possible. Then, spray the remaining roots, stems, and stubs with a chemical weed killer that's intended for poison ivy. For thick, shrubby stems, spray directly onto the cuts you have made.