How To Stop Poison Oak From Growing Back

Finding poison oak in your yard is bad enough, but it gets worse when you think you killed it, only to find more. Unfortunately, it will return if you don’t follow the proper steps to eradicate it. That’s why we assembled a guide on how to keep poison oak from growing back.

If it’s late in the season, spray poison oak with glyphosate, wait a few days, and cut it at the base. From there, you must dig a hole, remove the roots, and put the fragments in a yard waste bag to ensure they die and don't reseed in the ground. If it’s early in the season, cut the roots and then treat the stumps with triclopyr.

Safety is key when handling poison oak, as you can get a painful, itchy rash, so it's important to wear gloves and safety goggles. Follow along as we explore how to keep poison oak from growing back.

How To Get Rid Of Poison Oak For Good

1. Gather Supplies

Before you get started, collect some supplies to maximize your efforts and protect your skin from coming into contact with the poison oak. Ideally, you should have a shovel, spade, shears, gloves, safety glasses, and herbicides. The best herbicides for poison oak are glyphosate and triclopyr, but they have different applications. For example, glyphosate is most effective when poison oak is thriving with green leaves later in the year.

Triclopyr works best during the spring before the poison oak has fruited. If you want to use glyphosate, now is the time to apply it. That’s because it will weaken and kill the poison oak, so it will be easier to remove. Apply it, wait a few days, and proceed to the next steps. However, you must follow the subsequent steps in this guide before treating poison oak with triclopyr.

2. Expose The Roots

Whether you treated the poison oak with glyphosate or not, you should expose the roots. This gives you several treatment and removal options. Protect yourself with gloves, safety goggles, and even a face mask if you have respiratory issues. If the ground is dry and hard, it helps to wet the area around the poison oak. 

You'll be able to dig more easily. Keep in mind that poison oak roots can extend outward horizontally by several feet. Because of that, you may need to dig a huge hole around the poison oak in your yard. You will likely dig up to 3 feet deep to reach the root’s base. 

3. Cut The Roots

Now that you’ve exposed the roots, cut and bag them. The important thing to remember is that poison oak can regrow from roots and fragments that you leave behind. Carefully cut the roots and put them in a yard waste bag to ensure they don’t regrow. You'll most likely only need to use standard gardening shears to cut the roots. However, you may need to use a lopper or pruning saw if the roots are dense and stubborn.

Wear glasses or goggles when you cut the vines, as fluids may be released. Keep the yard waste bag nearby and put each segment in the bag as you cut it. If possible, try to minimize the number of segments you cut, as that will reduce the risk of accidentally spreading poison oak.

4. Use Triclopyr

You may have treated the poison oak with glyphosate. However, we recommended waiting to apply triclopyr until after you’ve cut the roots. If you did that, now is the time to apply triclopyr to keep poison oak from growing back. The best way to use triclopyr is to mix it with water and spray it on a fresh poison oak stump.

Water helps the chemical spread, soak into the roots, and eventually kill poison oak. Mix it with 4 to 8 ounces of water and spray the mixture onto the roots. Patience is important, as triclopyr rarely works quickly. The best-case scenario is that you must wait 1 to 3 days for it to kill the roots. However, you may need to apply more triclopyr after a few days until the poison oak dies.

5. Smother The Ground

Your best bet to keep poison oak from growing back is to smother the ground. This is most effective after removing the roots and spraying them with triclopyr. Even then, there’s still a chance that poison oak will grow back if any fragments remain in the ground. That’s why you must smother the ground to ensure poison oak is gone for good. Cover the surrounding area with plastic tarps or cardboard.

Ideally, you should weigh the tarp or cardboard down with sandbags to ensure it doesn’t blow away. Thick black tarps are the best option because they won’t let any sunlight reach the soil. Cover the soil for at least a few months to make the ground uninhabitable for poison oak. This will reduce the chance of it returning, and this method is also effective for invasive plants and weeds. 

Is Poison Oak The Same As Poison Ivy?

Poison oak isn’t the same as poison ivy, but they’re similar. They are closely related and look alike, which is why so many people mistake them for one another. They’re both green, have similar leaves, and give people uncomfortable rashes. Visually, poison oak has fuzzy, round leaves, whereas poison ivy has pointy leaves. Poison ivy is more of a vine, while poison oak grows as a tiny shrub.

Both contain urushiol, which is what causes itchy, uncomfortable rashes. Wash your hands with soap and cold water right away if you handle poison oak or poison ivy without gloves. Some people even use isopropyl alcohol, which is useful if the poison oak residue is stuck on your hands. Poison oak and poison ivy are equally bad, so you should minimize exposure as much as possible.

Should You Burn Poison Oak?

You should never burn poison oak or poison ivy. Doing so will release urushiol into the air, and you can inadvertently inhale it. Urushiol is bad for your skin, and it can really harm your lungs. Inhaling urushiol can trigger dangerous lung inflammation and severe breathing difficulties. This is dangerous for anyone, even those without asthma and other existing breathing problems. Urushiol can remain in old poison oak for years, so you shouldn’t even burn old, dead plants.

Summing It Up

The best way to get rid of poison oak is to expose and cut the roots, then remove them. Next, you must cover the stumps with triclopyr, which will spread into the roots to ensure they don’t come back. Put the fragments in a yard waste bag, then smother the ground where the poson oak was with a tarp for a few months to ensure it doesn’t come back.

Related Guides:

• How To Permanently Get Rid Of Poison Ivy
• How To Cure Poison Ivy Using Ingredients From Home