[Community_garden] how to deal with poison ivy

[yarrow at sfo.com]

Here's a column I wrote a couple years ago about avoiding it if you 
have to work in areas that have poison oak or ivy. Even the bare 
twigs can cause a reaction, so it may be safer to work on it after it 
starts leafing out.



Living with Poison Oak
By Tanya Kucak

One of California's most beautiful wildlife plants is also one of the 
most hated natives: poison oak.

Few native plants can match the vibrant fall color, adaptability, and 
wildlife value of this shrub, groundcover, and thicket-former. It's 
one of the most effective barrier plants, but best used away from 
paths and well-used parts of the garden. Its signature "leaves of 
three" come in a delightful range of shapes.

But if you haven't heeded the rest of the childhood rhyme -- "let it 
be" -- your skin may bear reminders of the encounter for days or 
weeks. And, of course, the bare branches, the white berries, and 
smoke from burning branches are toxic to humans as well.

Knowing how to deal with poison oak is one of the most useful skills 
for a native gardener.

I've encountered poison oak mostly in wilder gardens and along hiking 
trails. A few years ago, wearing gloves and a long-sleeve shirt, I 
got a mild case of poison oak on my upper arm. That's how I learned 
urushiol, the allergenic oil, can wick through sweaty clothing.

I didn't get any poison oak on my wrists, which were exposed between 
gloves and sleeve, because I routinely swab them with rubbing alcohol 
after I finish working near poison oak. If you haven't used one of 
the products that claims to create a barrier, this is the best way to 
avoid a poison oak reaction: wipe the skin gently with an 
alcohol-drenched cloth at the end of a work day.

That's because urushiol begins to bond with the skin within 5 to 10 
minutes after contact, but gently wiping the skin with a cloth 
drenched in rubbing alcohol can leach the urushiol out of the skin 
for up to 4 to 6 hours after contact, according to Susan Carol Hauser 
in a wonderful little book, _Nature's Revenge: The secrets of poison 
ivy, poison oak, poison sumac, and their remedies_.

It's a delicate balancing act: the urushiol is soluble in alcohol, 
but alcohol is easily absorbed into the skin. So you have to make 
sure to use enough alcohol to wash away the dissolved urushiol while 
being careful not to rub it back into the skin.

According to Hauser, copious amounts of water can also dilute the 
oil, but normal amounts of water, packaged alcohol wipes, or soap (if 
used without lots of water) can spread the oil. Avoid hot water, 
which opens the pores and makes the skin more vulnerable.

Once a rash appears, the urushiol is gone. It has been chemically 
changed and therefore cannot be removed (or spread). The rash is your 
immune system's reaction. The oil can, however, remain on your 
clothes and shoes, so wash them to avoid spreading it.

For severe cases, doctors prescribe corticosteroids, which interrupt 
the allergic process.

In milder cases, gentle home remedies for itching include cool or 
tepid compresses of plain water or a paste of baking soda or oatmeal. 
My cousin Barbara, who battles poison ivy in her Virginia backyard, 
uses a paste of epsom salts (3 teaspoons per teaspoon of water) to 
relieve the itching for hours.

copyright 2006 Tanya Kucak


At 4:15 PM -0500 1/2/08, Kuberek, Morgen wrote:
....>We hope to have several solid volunteers by the spring time, but before
>I can get anyone out at the site, I have a major poison ivy problem to
>manage.  We have one electrical pole with so much poison ivy on it that
>you could mistake it for a tree ( I am calling the power company about
>that one), but we also have poison ivy just generally throughout the
>site and the neighboring yard.
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