Question
I am VERY allergic to poison ivy.  I also have several 60+ year old peonies that my great-grandmother bred for the Botanical Gardens when it was first built in Washington DC.  The problem is there is poison ivy growing up along with them every year.  Every time I try to weed around them I end up at the doctor's office with an allergic reaction.  Is there a weed killer that will kill this for good without hurting my lovely peonies???

Answer
Hi Erin,
Thanx for your question.  I hate to be politically incorrect but I will anyway.  Roundup.  If I were you, with the problems you have with PI (poison ivy...we try not to utter its name...my brother and I are both very allergic to it...) I would engage a professional gardener to come over and eradicate it for you.  What they're going to have to do is manually apply the Roundup with a paintbrush or otherwise isolate the Roundup so it does not come into contact with your peonies.  I've used Roundup with the paintbrush method on many noxious weeds that were happily and smugly growing in the midst of plants I was loathe to give up.  I hope this helps.
Tom