vid
New Member
I started a landscaping project last year after moving to a new area. It's kind of a wilderness area on a hillside that had been overrun with untamed grown. There's a ravine-ish area that had been used as a receptacle for yard debris --- tree stumps, trimmed branches, cut grass, and anything else that rolled in from the neighboring lots. It was pretty much a catch-all for anything weedlike, too.
My plan was to strategically clear the area of deadwood and overgrown shrubbery in an effort to reduce the fire danger, and make my own native plant botanical garden.
There was a big hedge of shrubbery like this:
.
.
It was really pretty. It had shiny leaves that turn a brilliant red in the fall, and little yellow flowers and tiny white berries in the spring. But it needed to be trimmed back. Here's a couple close-up pictures:
.
.
.
I shredded it with a weed eater. Leaves, berries, flowers, branches, it all flew everywhere peppering me and the hillside in gooey plant matter.
Yeaaaaaaaaaaaah, I didn't get the "plant indentification" merit badge in Boy Scouts.
But, by the grace of God and all good fortune, it did click with me that evening --- "
I wonder if that stuff down in the hollow was Poison Oak?" EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYYYYYA.
By all accounts, I suffered a very mild case of the "itch." Even so, after sharing the story with family and friends, I've heard of some rather horrific cases of the rash.
Now as spring grows into summer, if you're playing or working in the brush, be wary of the leaves of three. And, even if you wearing gloves and take them off before you (ahem) "use the facilities," WASH your hands BEFORE, as well as after. Don't ask me how I know.
.
My plan was to strategically clear the area of deadwood and overgrown shrubbery in an effort to reduce the fire danger, and make my own native plant botanical garden.
There was a big hedge of shrubbery like this:
.
.
It was really pretty. It had shiny leaves that turn a brilliant red in the fall, and little yellow flowers and tiny white berries in the spring. But it needed to be trimmed back. Here's a couple close-up pictures:
.
.
.
I shredded it with a weed eater. Leaves, berries, flowers, branches, it all flew everywhere peppering me and the hillside in gooey plant matter.
Yeaaaaaaaaaaaah, I didn't get the "plant indentification" merit badge in Boy Scouts.
But, by the grace of God and all good fortune, it did click with me that evening --- " I wonder if that stuff down in the hollow was Poison Oak?" EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYYYYYA. Isopropyl Alcohol, A scrubby sponge, A long shower, waiting for wife to return from pharmacy with Dry Ivy® Scrub, and Tecnu®, --- REPEAT.
By all accounts, I suffered a very mild case of the "itch." Even so, after sharing the story with family and friends, I've heard of some rather horrific cases of the rash.
Now as spring grows into summer, if you're playing or working in the brush, be wary of the leaves of three. And, even if you wearing gloves and take them off before you (ahem) "use the facilities," WASH your hands BEFORE, as well as after. Don't ask me how I know.
.
...What are you doing this weekend? Wouldn't want to shoot up to Oakland for a beautiful day of lumberjacking, would ya? :ROFLMAO:
