two by two, hands of blue...

The poison hemlock is gone, huzzah huzzah!... Kids, don 't try this at home... I called up the county weed control office, and their comments echoed what the plant nursery had said. Basically wear gloves and wash afterwards, don't let the juice get in your eyes, mouth, or any cuts. Okey dokey I can handle that, long sleeve shirt, blue latex gloves, with the cloth garden gloves that don't fit very well over them... I didn't take pictures, but was very careful and rather scared.

The idea that S had about using heavy garbage bags worked relatively well. I had to remove one of the wooden stakes from beside the pear tree, as the monster plant was growing right next to it. The one good thing about all this rain is that it was possible to remove the stake, and the wet ground was soft, which made digging out the taproot fairly easy.

I used three large extra thick garbage sacks. Climbed atop my stepladder and dropped one over the top of the plant, then progressively folded/broke down the stalks, handling them from the outside of the heavy plastic bag. After the first one I could get down from the stepladder, and the only time I had to actually "touch" the plant was to guide more of the leafage/stalks into the bag. Once it became awkward, I dropped a second bag over the top and that was enough to get down to the ground level. The plant was about 1½" dia at the base, maybe a bit more, but with all the rain we have been having, the plant was not at all "sturdy", and bent/broke easily. I carefully dug around and loosened the dirt enough to be able to remove the taproot, there is now a hole about a foot deep next to the pear tree.

Broken down inside the plastic garbage sacks, the plant did not take up all that much room, and went into a paper garbage bag, then into the trash. I then peeled off the garden gloves and threw them away too, then the latex gloves. Basically everything, including the Croc garden shoes that were almost worn out, that could have touched the plant got tossed, and after a thorough scrubdown I felt rather like a difficult job had been handled. I have left the aluminum stepladder and small shovel out in the yard to be washed by the rain, the plant didn't really touch them, but I figured it couldn't hurt.

Note to future self: be more active about identifying mystery plants that show up in the yard here at Acorn Cottage, not all will be as delightful as the feral backyard roses...