Poison ivy, mosquitoes, spiders, etc in the backyard
 

Hey guys, so this new house has been a lot of work to fix up(fixer upper). When we finally moved in, its yard still needed a lot of work(still does)... Everywhere had tons and tons of spiders... I got bit 4 times already in one day from being out there using flip flops... :l So now I stomp on any spider I see.

There's tons of mosquitoes and gnats... We live relatively close to a lake/pond (its sorta big-ish)... (It's about 10minutes away on foot- on a walking pace- and 2-5 minutes on car)...


I think I've also seen poison ivy and it must be that because on my legs I have been getting rashes, and now my arms.... Which is really peeving me off-- and I am wondering if it's my dog that got on it and is transferring it to me. (I heard that poison ivy sap can stay intact in clothes for 10 years even if you wash it the normal way).


I really think what I have seen is poison ivy, I also have no other known allergies.


Once the sun goes down the mosquitoes and gnats are a lot... We can't spray poison in the yard because apparently our water comes from well water... so the poison might seep into that...


Is there a way to kill poison ivy, get rid of the sap, get it off the dog (if she even has it).... I wonder if I should shave her down completely... I dont want to but poison ivy affects me worse than usual.... A couple of years ago I had to go to the ER because I couldn't breathe well (the ivy got on my face).


What about getting rid of the bugs and stuff? We tried those large citronella candles and we used lot of them (like 10 in one area in the yard) and it had no effect at all... It's a big scam and we feel like we should ask for a refund because they had no effect- the mosquitoes even got close to it and didnt care. :/

I want to bleach the area that has the poison ivy to neutralize the "poison" but I am not sure if thatll do anything and it shouldnt be done because it could mix in with the well water...

On another sad news is, that we just got given a pamphlet that apparently a few blocks down they want to build a drug rehab center... while its a nice thing to do-- we don't feel that comfortable with it...

Also on a non-related note I didn't feel like making another thread for this, but I've started training her to eat within 10-15minutes of the food being set down.

Id like to free feed but its really a dumb idea for her because she prefers to eat later during the day and if there's a necessity and then decides to eat stuff like little pebbles, lint, etc. We're always sweeping, cleaning, and yet she finds a way to get in trouble.. We have to puppy proof the puppy proofed parts because somehow she finds to un do things... I feel like she knows more than she acts...

So today I decided to take advantage of her hoarding tendencies and her safeguarding stuff that I served her like 1/4th of food to see if she'd eat it without waiting for later, 15 minutes later I asked her to eat(she knows how to eat on command- by the word "Eat" and me using my toe to point near the food), she didn't eat. Soooo while she was there I pushed the food to the other dog knowing the other dog is a glutton (it was only a little bit of food) and maggie saw her eating it so I pushed her away from the food and kept her from going to the food while sasha ate some of her food. and she kept growling at her, then I let her go and eat the rest of the food (I let maggie actually get to the food).

She ate it while sasha was looking at her food (without comming near) and maggie just growled at her (anytime she did I hard shh'd her which disrupts her and told her to eat), when she finished the 1/5th of her food, I decided to dump the rest of her food there, she didn't eat the rest on the spot, so I gave her 5minutes to begin eating.

I told her to eat, she didnt eat, so I again pushed the food to sasha and she ate some of her food (a little bit) and then maggie growled at her and pushed her away and ate it all.

I know this might create a resource guarding thing.. but she's already doing that.... soo too late on that.

The reason I want her to her food on the spot is because food shouldnt be left out all day long, especially out where we are... it will go bad after some time as well.. I dont like wasting food.

For the poison ivy, I would go to your closest garden center and buy an herbicide that is specific for poison ivy. If you apply it directly to the poison ivy plants and only to the poison ivy plants on a dry day, there will be no runoff that would affect your drinking water. Roundup has worked well for us.

Once you have the poison ivy sap on you, you're going to develop a rash. You can wash it off with plenty of soap and water to keep it from spreading.

Citronella candles have also worked well for us, but maybe the mosquitoes are more sensitive where I live. You may have to apply mosquito repellent to your skin. It's just the price you pay for living in the woods.

I live in a very heavily wooded area, after a rain fall when grounds are still damp Citronella candles do not work as well as when grounds are dry. I use OFF repellent, I spray it onto the palms of my hands then pat my arms and any exposed body areas, I also "pat" it on my face, hair and clothing. I do the same for my boy, spray onto my palms, then lightly pass my palms over the back of his hair , I do not rub it on him, just pass it over the tips on his back. Mowing the lawn I am attacked my gnats I do the same thing.
Have no solution for poison ivy, thankfully I do not have any.







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purple martin bird houses..they eat mosquitoes! have you actually identified the poison ivy? it can be carefully cut down but be sure to cover all exposed skin because the urushiol oil (the highly allergic oil in the plant) is in the entire plant...spiders depends on what kind but removing any wood piles, brush, etc def helps

Good point about making sure that you correctly ID the poison ivy plants for removal. I've cut them out before too (wearing thick garden gloves), but they tend to grow back unless you use herbicide that kills them down to the root, like roundup. If you're not sure which plants are the poison ivy, google for pictures, or have someone show you. They are very easy to ID.

Some links on the use of Roundup. I know that some people don't like to use chemicals, but roundup is relatively safe, and sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do to get rid of this stuff.

Roundup Ready-to-Use Poison Ivy Plus Tough Brush Killer with Comfort Wand - Poison Ivy Killer - Roundup

How to Identify and Get Rid of Poison Ivy - Weeding Wisely

pests
 

We had a lot of black widows among other things when we moved in to our house. We used borax (laundry powder) around the foundation and property perimeter to deter the widows. It worked. We also used Castile Soap spray the directions are on Dr. Brommer's Castile Soap. We use a spray bottle attachment from the garden center that mixes it for you. It knocks down a lot of bugs that are soft bodied.


Before doing either do a thorough washing down of your exterior making sure to get under the rim of the siding and foundation to knock down webs and nests. You'll need to apply the borax in a way your pets don't eat it. Our pets didn't show any interest in it - but they weren't yorkies.


There are good articles online for both borax and castile.

We might get some bird houses later on.

Anywho, I havent exactly identified, but I can tell one of them is probably one. I dont get rashes like this except from poison ivy. There is nothing else I am allergic to.

I wonder if there's a way to protect myself, and then I could remove the roots, put them in a bucket and put undiluted bleach in the bucket.