Re: Sassafras and Poison Ivy - irony of nature

Thanks for the shrub pic. That is definitely what's growing in side yard.

I did some further investigtion in the back yard where there is a wall of bushes, shrubs, trees and weeds separating yard with neighbhor's. I do believe I saw a Sassafras tree there (hard to tell, may be several interwined small trees, one of them reaching up to 15 feet tall). This/these tree[s] show a bunch of newly blossomed growth, and it's interesting that many of these newer leaves are single lobe, but inspection of other parts of the tree/branches shows leaves with two and three lobes. The new leaves seem to have sprung forth from a cluster of hairy looking green/yellow flower, this does not seem to follow what I previously read (new growth springing from dark/black/purple looking berries.....?.....maybe this is a difference between bush variety and tree.....? dunno. Maybe I should take a few pics and post to see if others know. Balancing this new find there is also a young forrest of poison ivy, oak and sumac within the same wall of bushes and weeds, many new shoots of each popping through the ground where I just mowed two days agao. As fate has it, this spot of the yard is Dog's favorite night time sniffing grounds :( My mission, should I choose to accept it, is to figure out a way to promote the growth and subsequent harvest of Sassafras and other desireable plants while also somehow reducing the poison growth...... or else erect a barrier to keep dog away.