At 73, Smith lives in an island of tidiness surrounded by East Raleigh neighbors who let grass and vines grow wild -- including the rash-inducing type. It climbs a brick wall. It snakes over pine straw. It lurks in a cluster of weeds.

"All of that's poison ivy, honey," Smith said behind the safety of her chain-link fence. "It sprouts over here, but I get that up. You can't let that sprout. You have to do yard work!"

Smith's frustration has grown in the three years since Raleigh relaxed its poison ivy rules.

Before, poison ivy could lead to a $100 fee if a city inspector spotted it in your yard.

But in 2005, a West Raleigh woman was cited when a neighbor reported a single strand growing up a tree inside her fenced backyard.

The City Council sympathized, waived the fee and changed the rules. Let poison ivy thrive if you must. But keep it in your own backyard.

(As a side note, the ivy discussions provided a campaign slogan for then-council member Tommy Craven, who single-handedly took out a patch in Optimist Park. "I didn't need to go through committee," his flier stated. "All I needed to do was take my sprayer and go out there.")

Told of Smith's invasive poison ivy, Council Member James West wondered whether the city's standard isn't a bit lax considering the vine's tendency to wander.

"It's kind of like an overhanging tree," West said. "Maybe we should take a look at this on a case-by-case basis."

Smith moved to her ranch house on Bertie Drive 30 years ago as part of a generation that took lawn care seriously. Younger neighbors, she said, lack their zeal.

"The old people are all dead," she said. "You can go all over this neighborhood and find poison ivy all over, but nobody cares."

She urges the council to change its rules on invasive ivy. It rarely stays put.

"If they don't change that ordinance," Smith said, "I'm going to stop paying taxes."

In the meantime, she explains, you'll have to excuse her. She has a yard to weed.

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