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Poison Ivy RemovalOrganic · No Chemicals
A dense late-summer hedgerow of many different shrubs and vines grown into one another at the edge of a residential lot

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Know the plant before you go near it

Most of what goes wrong with poison ivy happens before anyone picks up a tool: the plant is misidentified, or its behaviour is misunderstood. These pages fix that. Everything here is free, and none of it requires hiring us.

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How do you identify poison ivy?

How to identify poison ivy

Three leaflets is where people start and where most of them stop. Here are the four features that actually settle it, in every season and at every size.

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What plants look like poison ivy but aren't?

Plants mistaken for poison ivy

Virginia creeper, boxelder, brambles, fragrant sumac. Six common look-alikes and the one feature that separates each from the real thing.

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What is the difference between poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac?

Poison ivy vs. poison oak vs. poison sumac

Same toxin, three plants, three habitats. Which one is on your property, and why sumac is the one people miss.

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Why does poison ivy cause a rash and how does it spread?

Urushiol and the rash

Why the rash shows up days later, why it looks like it's spreading when it isn't, and why the oil on your gloves is still dangerous next spring.

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Can I remove poison ivy myself?

Why DIY poison ivy removal fails

Four ways it goes wrong, and the three situations where you genuinely should not attempt it yourself. Including the one that is a medical emergency.

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The short version

If you only remember four things

  1. 1Three leaflets, and the middle one sits on a noticeably longer stalk than the two beside it.
  2. 2The edges are smooth or gently waved — never saw-toothed like a bramble or a boxelder.
  3. 3There are no thorns anywhere on the plant. If it has thorns, it isn't poison ivy.
  4. 4A mature climbing vine is furred with aerial rootlets and looks wrapped in rusty steel wool.

Identified it, and it's yours?

Then don't touch it. Send a photo and a rough area and we'll tell you what removal involves — identification and the estimate are both free.

Get My Free EstimateCall 888-PIRELIEF