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brambles!
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Message 1.Â
Posted by ianbotham (U14580182) on Wednesday, 7th March 2012
I've got a new site that was overgrown with bramble. Last year, we levelled the site, sub soiled it, and then ploughed it, removing as much bramble as we could by hand. Unfortunately, I only used a small section of the site and of course the brambles are back. I'm planning to make full use of the site this season and I'm planning to plough it over again. I accept I will be living with them for years to come but just wondered if there was a 'best time' to 'disturb them' in terms of making things worse. I run the site organically.
Best,
Alan -
Message 2
Posted by georgeandrewwilson (U15165385) on Wednesday, 7th March 2012
hi ! i was told by an older gardner that the best crop to clear ground was potatoes and i have tried it, not on brambles though, and it does work.
I presume you are not afraid of hard work ! -
Message 3
Posted by rob (U11396917) on Wednesday, 7th March 2012
So whats in a potatoe that bambles dislike ?
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Message 4
Posted by daintiness (U3887838) on Wednesday, 7th March 2012
Potatoes are a good crop because they are in the soil quite a long time - they cover the soil well to help suppress weeds from lack of light; they are thirsty so take a lot of water from the soil; they disturb the soil to quite a depth, loosening it up and therefore making it easier to work, allowing you to dig out more bramble roots. Potatoes will still crop well and you can cut off the top growth of any brambles coming through, weakening the plant.
Through ploughing the soil you are breaking up the roots and probably creating more brambles - smaller plants! If I were you I would not plough before you plant potatoes( you don't need to) but you could dig out any brambles you find as you plant. Hope this helps. -
Message 5
Posted by zoomer44 (U14019069) on Wednesday, 7th March 2012
I would agree with not ploughing your soil again as more roots mean more brambles and what do you have to lose by planting spuds?
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Message 6
Posted by CathB45 (U14851973) on Thursday, 8th March 2012
I took over a similar site and have divided it up clearing a bit at a time and covering the rest. Each area I have cleared I have sown potatoes followed by broad beans and peas (autumn sown) It has worked a treat!
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Message 7
Posted by ianbotham (U14580182) on Saturday, 17th March 2012
thanks everyone... was thinking the same - good to have it confirmed.
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Message 8
Posted by Paull2 (U14064177) on Wednesday, 21st March 2012
Clearing established brambles has to be the worst job in the garden. The bloody things fight back like a stung python when you try to cut and remove to a bonfire, and of course to thorns always get through the thickest gloves in time. Once established in a hedge, your work is really cut out for you. If the good news is the satisfaction of clearing them, you have to do it regularly and get them out early otherwise it's a recurring nightmare. Best of luck.
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Message 9
Posted by marinelilium (U8293024) on Thursday, 22nd March 2012
My heart-felt sympathies as this is a mythical battle. We bought an extra bit of land abutting our garden which had a monster bramble patch!
The solution was drastic and it really requires some safety precautions because it can get treacherous. We found the mother-load root right in the centre of the patch and used a blow torch and set light to the beast. By putting a bonfire on top, it burned for two days as neighbours '"contributed" branch prunings it cooked the roots too. The roots burn underground so we kept buckets of water and hoses nearby and soaked the area around the fire. The heat must have travelled through the sap because there was almost no regrowth and we turfed it all three months later. (don't wear a fleece top cos the beast spits when it burns!)
Jacket potatoes, sausages, salad, wine, good neighbours and some tables and chairs are needed to keep watch so the beast doesn't 'flee'.
MLx -
Message 10
Posted by gaffelbiter (U14481810) on Thursday, 22nd March 2012
Never thought of slash and burn in a gardening context!
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Message 11
Posted by gaffelbiter (U14481810) on Thursday, 22nd March 2012
And all that potash.
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Message 12
Posted by globetrotter (U14085067) on Friday, 23rd March 2012
You need to be determined if you go down the 'burn' route mentioned by Marinelilium, as a half-hearted effort may produce an opposite effect. I recall when we accidentally burnt down the long-established blackberry on the edge of my parents' garden when I was a child and we had a Guy Fawkes bonfire on a neighbouring allotment patch. My father was reconciled to having lost it, but the following year it came up better than ever and we had the best ever crop!
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Message 13
Posted by marinelilium (U8293024) on Friday, 23rd March 2012
Yer... You have to hit the mother-load and keep the fire going. Ours became a neighbourhood weekender with people having to be restrained from dragging any ol' debris along.
We didn't get regrowth other than new single tap root type on the boundary and the grass that grew there was lush.
GO BIG TIME LIKE YOU MEAN IT!
MLx
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