reuben
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Post by reuben on May 6, 2024 6:11:25 GMT -8
reuben, I'm all for what you're doing there and I'm glad that people like you do that. My nephew is middle of doing something very similar on part of his property. He has gotten rid of a lot invasive plant species (sp?) and is going to plant native things in the hopes of attracting wildlife, especially birds. I've been battling non-native and invasive English Ivy, some as thick as my wrist. Overall I'm winning, but twice I've managed to get some of the sap on me and had to get prednisone from my doctor. The first time I had enough swelling to really disfigure my face (who knew I could get even uglier), and they advised me to go to the ER if it moved down toward my throat before the prednisone started to knock it out. Wouldn't want to suffocate to death, I syppose. Here's a useful site. xerces.org/
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Post by Coolkat on May 6, 2024 6:26:34 GMT -8
How does mowing more grass than you need help with infected deer ticks? Well my answer to this mostly anecdotal, however, its been my experience that when walking through grass that is jus left to itself that is higher than ankle height I'm much more likely to have to pull a tick or two off my pant legs. However, I can without fear even lay down in a mown lawn without getting a tick. This is the same experience as my friend. He purchased a house 2 years ago where the previous owner just let the lawn go in the name of being good to nature and attracting wildlife. Well, they discovered they couldn't walk 5 feet without having to pull off 5 ticks (without exaggeration). I experienced the same thing when I walked his property. After mowing a couple of acres around the house they never see a tick anymore. Where they use to see them in house before.
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ErnieW
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Post by ErnieW on May 6, 2024 6:36:32 GMT -8
Ticks are not very mobile. They rely on hosts to get dispersed. If they were seeing ticks in their house either their dog brought them in or they had a mouse problem. I agree you generally won't find ticks on mowed grass but I don't know if you need 6 hours of riding mower sized buffer.
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Post by Coolkat on May 6, 2024 6:55:10 GMT -8
It very well could have been mice as un-mowed fields will attract them also. However, they themselves might have been unknowingly brought them in. We live in a county that has a really good tick population. reuben, I apologize for the thread drift. I can refrain from talking about ticks now. ![:)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png)
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reuben
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Post by reuben on May 6, 2024 7:46:31 GMT -8
Drift away. It's a related subject. With all of the woods around and near daily deer passing through my property, I'm sure that I'll have ticks later in the year as they migrate to larger species like deer.
Hopefully the hawks, owls, ospreys, and eagles are keeping the field mice under control here in the early season.
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swiftdream
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Post by swiftdream on May 6, 2024 14:13:49 GMT -8
Down in town the city fines everyone who lets the grass and weeds grow more than a couple inches. We all have gravel yards up here by the mountains in the county and the weeds are taken care of by the HOA. I detest yard work anyway and save all my energy for hiking the steep, rocky terrain. Now we do have little mice and the neighbors next door had pest control come out several times. A couple days ago girlfriend and I were collaborating with a recipe and baking it in the Outback oven in the backyard for practice and a snack. This rat snake appeared and balled up in a defensive thing by the hose. The next morning no more mouse activity anymore so the natural pest control is better than poison. We have an owl and a resident hawk too. Just gotta remember to grab the right hose. ![](https://i.ibb.co/fvkrW2R/IMG-4992.jpg)
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sarbar
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Post by sarbar on May 6, 2024 14:38:30 GMT -8
If yu have say a rocky outcropping area with bushes, and overgrown grasses, if you mow you'll often see a little highway in the grass that mice and rats have created. They really hate it when you mow, now they have no cover.
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reuben
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Post by reuben on May 7, 2024 10:37:28 GMT -8
Mildly hijacking my own thread, this is the invasive English Ivy. After my first bout which qualified my face for a horror movie, I identified it and contacted the county office. I spoke with a lady who was fighting it on her own property. To my surprise, they recommended glyphosate, but this is echoed elsewhere IF you're careful. The basic procedure is: 1) Cut out a section 2) Dab some glyphosate (preferably concentrate) on the lower portion 3) Pour some glyphosate in a heavy duty freezer bag and tie it to the upper portion. I used two bags for safety and tied it up with twist ties. Leave the bag on for a few hours, preferably in the late winter or early spring when the plant is waking up from its hibernation and sucking up nutrients from the ground. Instead, it sucks up the glyphosate. I did this and noticed no difference after a couple of weeks, so I made another round to most of the affected trees. This did the trick. Maybe it needed two doses, maybe the first application was too early, I dunno. In any case, the basic idea is to selectively kill the ivy without killing anything else, and not get either the sap or the glyphosate on yourself. Apparently the leaves are rarely a problem if contacted, but the sap can be rather dangerous, as I can attest.
I don't know what you'd do if the infestation is on the ground, rather than in trees, but from what I gathered you just have to keep ripping it out year after year until it's gone, like kudzu, bamboo, or phragmite.
swiftdream may want to make sure that he's cutting English Ivy, and not a rat snake.
![](https://i.ibb.co/Sw3LHzq/2024-05-07-DSC2650.png)
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swiftdream
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Post by swiftdream on May 7, 2024 13:59:51 GMT -8
est. swiftdream may want to make sure that he's cutting English Ivy, and not a rat snake. ha ha Probably not so much what I’m trying to cut but more what I’m trying not to step on. This most recent example of English ivy we came across late April of this year. ![](https://i.ibb.co/JBt1LMq/IMG-4919.jpg)
this one was hard to see ![](https://i.ibb.co/qkK723w/IMG-4925.jpg)
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ErnieW
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Post by ErnieW on May 7, 2024 14:02:52 GMT -8
So ivy can still live if severed from its root system? I would think you would have to use herbicide on the bottom to stop it from regrowing but the top would die of thirst on its own.
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reuben
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Post by reuben on May 7, 2024 14:16:25 GMT -8
So ivy can still live if severed from its root system? I would think you would have to use herbicide on the bottom to stop it from regrowing but the top would die of thirst on its own. Some folks say it can survive even after being cut, as the little hairy suckers/roots are said to be able to suck nutrients from the bark or trunk. I don't know whether it's true or not. Yes, herbicide on the bottom as well 2) Dab some glyphosate (preferably concentrate) on the [cut end of the] lower portion This should kill the plant without nuking everything within a few feet.
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ErnieW
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Post by ErnieW on May 7, 2024 15:35:39 GMT -8
Some folks say it can survive even after being cut, as the little hairy suckers/roots are said to be able to suck nutrients from the bark or trunk. I don't know whether it's true or not. I don't know if my research is authoritative but from what I found is the little "roots" are just for climbing. There may be some confusion since it is widely acknowledged that when ivy reaches the tree canopy it deprives the tree of nutrients but by shading. Another fact: an ivy on a tree can weigh up to 2000 lbs. Its roots also can weaken the host trees root system so not a good combination.
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reuben
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Post by reuben on May 8, 2024 0:48:22 GMT -8
Yeah, the ivy also catches wind, which can bring the tree down, especially if it has a weak root system.
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Post by va3pinner on May 8, 2024 1:42:54 GMT -8
Ruben I'll help you with your thread drift... Can you post a photograph of green healthy leaves of that ivy.
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reuben
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Post by reuben on May 8, 2024 3:49:47 GMT -8
Dead. Live. Resurgent. Wildflowers. ![](https://i.ibb.co/71pYznx/2024-05-08-DSC2653.png)
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