Cleared 1/2 acre by mistake on 22 acre forest property

Hello! My husband and our two dogs live on 22 acre of forest. Pretty harsh and rough forest (including large rocks and poison ivy - lots of it). The house site and gardens (free of ivy), wood boiler, outbuildings and large pond, are about 2-3 acres.

We cleared about 1/2 acre to use as a dog run/play area because we live close to the highway and we don’t want them roaming through poison ivy. However, the cleared area has way more poison ivy than we thought. Like it’s a blanket over the entire area. I don’t want to risk it so we have pivoted to fencing and area that is clear of it and already planted with grass. We had other plans for that spot but the need for safe dogs is greater.

My question is, now that we have made this mistake in clearing a half acre (some trees left for shade)…what do we do with it? Poison ivy and all. We still have stumps to pull and to level it. But the ivy will be back. No question. I see how it behaves in other clearings around the pond. We keep it mowed but its tiny little plants emerge every spring. We though we could build a garage but it’s across a creek (we would build a good bridge/road with culvert) and lighting and water if we wanted it would be a lot to get over there.

What are some other ideas, now that we can’t turn back?!? Feeling a bit sick about it. We thought maybe planting sugar maples would be good. We live in northern Ontario.

Thank you!!

In my experience, poison ivy will eventually be killed out by repeated mowing. Unless large mother plants are in the neighborhood continuing to drop seeds. It's a big task and not without some risk but tracking down and killing the big vines seems key to getting it under control I have two pairs of long handled loppers, one is purposely very dull, I use it to grip large vines and pull them away the tree or whatever it is attached to and then cut it with the sharp ones. It took about ten years, but I largely eliminated poison ivy from about five acres. A plant still shows up once in a while but as long none get big enough to produce seed, it's pretty easy to get rid of. You do have to tack down and destroy those big seedy vines even outside of the area you and your pets use.

Finding it (more likely them) would be difficult. They come up all along the ditches on the highway. I live on lk Huron where it’s plentiful. My dogs will have crossed the rainbow bridge in ten years. So we are going to leave the ivy. That’s not really my question. It’s more, what do I do with this clearing now?  It’s too much work to get it to a state of being able to mow it, only to not use it as intended. So what else can we do with it?

No experience with Ivy, but if you are considering ideas:

Don't pull the stumps, unless the area HAS to be leveled.  Dogs can play on terrain.  Fence it and make part of it a chicken run.  Nothing lives long in the chicken pen.  It will either be eaten of scratched up.  Perhaps get a milk goat, and let them run in this fenced area so you don't have to mow (or level).  

Consider burning the stumps to ground level and leaving the root in the ground; or at least grinding them down.  Unless you are plowing stumps can be worked around.  

My suggestion would be to get some goats.

goats are fun critters, give milk and babies (if you know someone with a male).

Depending on the breed of goats can give you garments.

Here are some threads that folks might find interesting:

https://permies.com/t/36801/Poison-Ivy-Productive-Crop

https://permies.com/t/54992/Cottage-Mohair-Goat-Garment

Yes it is an option that we have come across but we aren’t into having more animals than we already have. We have a lot on our plate already. And adding goats means having to spend time, money and energy on fencing, housing, husbandry, and feed. Not possible.

Jack Edmondson wrote:No experience with Ivy, but if you are considering ideas:

Don't pull the stumps, unless the area HAS to be leveled.  Dogs can play on terrain.  Fence it and make part of it a chicken run.  Nothing lives long in the chicken pen.  It will either be eaten of scratched up.  Perhaps get a milk goat, and let them run in this fenced area so you don't have to mow (or level).  

Consider burning the stumps to ground level and leaving the root in the ground; or at least grinding them down.  Unless you are plowing stumps can be worked around.  

It doesn’t have to be level but it would look nicer and provide a better spot for a future outbuilding or something. I wouldn’t let my dogs near it. They sleep with us. I also wouldn’t burn stumps due to ivy everywhere. Could be problematic releasing it into the air and breathing it in. We don’t want goats or chickens. I’m thinking more of perhaps planting sugar maple seedlings to have our own maple syrup forest. But that will take 20-30 years 😂

Follow your heartsong, and plant sugar maples.

Hi R,
Welcome to Permies!

My first thought was goats too. I understand not being able to add goats at this time. Is there anyone around you with goats that might like some free food in exchange for some "mowing" services?

Otherwise, I'm going to have to go back to that saying. I don't recall who said it first, but I here it repeated. "If you don't want pigs, or cannot get pigs right now, then you must do the pig's work". The same might apply here. I totally understand not being able to add goats... but that means you have to do the work the goats would have done. So you are probably back to mowing and maybe some grunt work while wearing gloves.

Joseph Lofthouse wrote:Follow your heartsong, and plant sugar maples.

I like this!! Thank you. I have no desire to remove a half acre of poison ivy by hand. Looking for a natural solution to the space. Along with sugar maples, some maple syrup equipment! I've also thought a greenhouse would be nice. Lay some gravel or wood chip around it to keep ivy down in the immediate area.

If I were in your shoes I would pull out any little stumps, Disk everything(going around the stumps you left.  Seed it in grass.  Drag it level it and bury the seed.  Once the grass starts growing, mow it.  If you keep it mowed I think the poison ivy will die of will die off.

J Hillman wrote:If I were in your shoes I would pull out any little stumps, Disk everything(going around the stumps you left.  Seed it in grass.  Drag it level it and bury the seed.  Once the grass starts growing, mow it.  If you keep it mowed I think the poison ivy will die of will die off.

Would hydro seed be appropriate after disking?

R. Beatts wrote:

Would hydro seed be appropriate after disking?

Probably, but after disking the topsoil would be very fluffy so you would have to drag or roll something over the surface to slightly compact the soil before hydro seeding.

I don't know your situation ,but the only reason I wouldn't do hydro seeding is because it probably costs more and I don't have the equipment (nor is the equipment cheaply available on the second hand market) to do it myself.

Assuming you have a four wheeler or small tractor you could do the small stump pulling and disking by yourself.

I'm curious, wouldn't poison ivy be just as big a problem for a  sugar maples forest?
If so, maybe plant a timber crop instead?

I don't see a way to keep it poison ivy free without any work, but repeated mowing followed by deep woodmulch could make foe a wonderful place to grow anything.
If you leave a mowable perimeter, you would still need to police the inner area for seedlings from bird droppings.

J Hillman wrote:

R. Beatts wrote:

Would hydro seed be appropriate after disking?

Probably, but after disking the topsoil would be very fluffy so you would have to drag or roll something over the surface to slightly compact the soil before hydro seeding.

I don't know your situation ,but the only reason I wouldn't do hydro seeding is because it probably costs more and I don't have the equipment (nor is the equipment cheaply available on the second hand market) to do it myself.

Assuming you have a four wheeler or small tractor you could do the small stump pulling and disking by yourself.

Disking isn’t an option. Too much rock. We got stumps pulled and down to a rough dressing. We are advised to use a bucket with a screen to try remove large roots, rock and debris. Hopefully that does it for at least getting some grass, clover, and such down to try keep ivy at bay.

We will have to place tractor/equipment sheds there, which we desperately need (all our gear is under the deck or in a temp tent). I’m wanting a green house there too like the entire garden in a greenhouse. Keep it off the ground and away from ivy. Close to our well too.

William Bronson wrote:I'm curious, wouldn't poison ivy be just as big a problem for a  sugar maples forest?
If so, maybe plant a timber crop instead?

I don't see a way to keep it poison ivy free without any work, but repeated mowing followed by deep woodmulch could make foe a wonderful place to grow anything.
If you leave a mowable perimeter, you would still need to police the inner area for seedlings from bird droppings.

I’m not sure, there are a few maples there. Not sure how they will do now that they have more light. I don’t know what timber crop options might be. Interesting. We will have to place tractor/equipment sheds there, which we desperately need (all our gear is under the deck or in a temp tent). I’m wanting a green house there too like the entire garden in a greenhouse. Keep it off the ground and away from ivy. Woodchip walkways to keep boots away from it. Close to our well too.