Best way to get Bramble roots out?

[seasprout]

My usual list to newbies.

Here is a good list of books to ask Santa for to do some research or get down the library and look for these books..

How to Plant your allotment by Caroline Foley

Your Organic Allotment Pauling Pears

The Allotment Handbook by Andi Cleavely

Allotment Gardening : An Organic Guide for Beginners By Susan Berger

Grow Your Own Veg by Carole Klein

The Half Hour Allotment by Lia Leendertz

All the Above are available from Amazon, just type allotment in the search

[NOG]

I've got an allotment, I've got an allotment, I've got an allotment, yoo be doobi do! I've got an allotment.

Did I mention that I have an allotment, by the way?

:

Yep you did and now the work starts. Have fun and buy a big bottle of Radox.

[Peter]

Pickaxes can be useful and easy.

A pickaxe or mattock does not have to be swung vigerously you know.
Gentle swinging or chopping letting the weight do alot of the work and going back in the same spot, then levering by pulling the handle the opposite direction to the direction you stuck the pointy end in will get bramble out easier than a spad or fork.
This is because the tool is VERY sturdy and you have a massive leverage, three-four foot handle to one foot steel spike pivoting first where the spike is firmly lodged in the ground then at the join of handle and spike.
An old housebrick, engineering type (extra dense / strong) can be useful, push the handle the wrong way and pop the brick under the pivot point then do it right way.

[Alice]

Hello Caroline. I might be in a minority here, but I don't think brambles are a major problem once the initial cutting down is done. I've cleared great big patches by cutting them off at ground level (what a pain getting rid of those cuttings) spraying any regrowth with weed killer, twice maybe, and that was the end of the brambles. The roots were never dug out and never reappeared, but I wasn't trying to dig the space to grow vegetables so maybe it's different.
Congratulations on your allotment. Hope it works out great for you.

[CarolineW]

Azeda result on brambles!

Congratulations Caroline! I only got my allotment a few weeks ago and was literally so excited that I couldn't sleep!

Mine is also long untended and full of brambles. I'm finding them hard work with a spade but not impossible. I haven't tried one but azadas are supposed to be good for getting out roots (I guess they're sort of halway between a pickaxe and a spade). There are some here:

Get Digging - Tools for the Allotment and Garden

Claire

Hi Claire,
I couldn't sleep either - same reason Well, we tried the Azeda fork thingie, plus a normal azeda from the site you mentioned. Wow! Anyone else trying to get bramble roots out, don't bother with anything else if you can remotely afford the 20 something quid to buy one. It is so much easier than using a garden fork I can't even begin to tell you!! We're getting the roots out (relatively easily) with the Azeda fork thingie, and then going over the ground again with a normal Azeda and picking out any mini roots that this turns over.

Thanks for the tip, Claire.

Caroline

[CarolineW]

Life begins at ...

Well done - Lucky girl! And happy 40th by the way. Life begins .... etc

Thanks Allotment life is certainly beginning - my 'young' body is telling me all about it! It isn't sure what it thinks about all the digging up of bramble roots, and keeps complaining about it

I'm having a wonderful time on the plot. It's so satisfying seeing the pile of roots grow, and order coming out of chaos. Love it!

Caroline

[CarolineW]

Book list

Here is a good list of books to ask Santa for to do some research or get down the library and look for these books..

How to Plant your allotment by Caroline Foley

Your Organic Allotment Pauling Pears

The Allotment Handbook by Andi Cleavely

Allotment Gardening : An Organic Guide for Beginners By Susan Berger

Grow Your Own Veg by Carole Klein

The Half Hour Allotment by Lia Leendertz

All the Above are available from Amazon, just type allotment in the search

Thanks for the list, Seasprout. I'm gradually working my way through it, thanks to Bromley library
Caroline

[Seahorse]

So pleased to hear everything is going so well!

[seasprout]

Bargain

The Carol Klein Book, grow your own veg is on sale for £4.99 instead of £16.99 from the book people, (its a shop not a club).

https://www.thebookpeople.co.uk/weba...__basicSearch_

[yorkshire sam]

I am in the same boat, I took over an allotment in september this year which no one wanted to take on....

Had lots of dock and brambles and fortunately the brambles are not as difficult as at first glance -- found a mattock was the best tool to use and most of the roots are around the surface. Good luck

[shirlthegirl43]

Hi and welcome to the vine yorkshire sam.

Brambles are okay to get out once you cut the devils down.

What are you planning to grow once you get it all cleared?

[Flummery]

Hi and welcome Yorkshire Sam. Still in Yorkshire - or do you garden elsewhere now? The bramble problem isn't too bad on an allotment (as long as you manage not to scratch yourself to death) but I have a bit of a problem in garden borders where the roots get entangled in shubs. I think they are bird sown - my shrubs make a good perch from which to poo when you've pecked up the brambles! However, I do get a few nice free honeysuckles growing through - same source.

[CarolineW]

What I'm gonna do with it - I think

Hey, Caroline - do you have an allotment?
CONGRATULATIONS
Whadya goina do with it?

Funny you should mention it, Scarey - but yes, I have an allotment!!! Actually, I lie. I now have 2. But one of them is a tiny mini allotment very close to our house. The week after taking on the Bramble Allotment which is 15 minutes away, I got a phone call out of the blue from a guy who'd told me there was a 5-9 year waiting list, to say that the previous 8 people on the list had suddenly dropped out/moved away, and at the same time a small plot had become available if I wanted it. Nearly said no, as I now had one, but thought I'd have a look anyway because I'm a bit concerned about how water hungry crops would fare if there's a hot summer and I'm just going 2-3 times per week. So a closer plot I could just pop to to give thirsty plants a water would be great. Anyway, it's in almost perfect condition, raised beds, crops waiting to be harvested, just some light weeding to do. The man who has had it for the last 30 years has unfortunately become ill, and given it up. So I've taken it.

As for the Bramble Allotment, 3 beds are now in place, and I've drawn up a plan for what to grow where. There will be 13 beds (each 1 meter by 3.5 meters). I'm planning to grow potatoes, onions, squash, courgettes, melons (probably a bit over optimistic, that one), leeks, brussel sprouts ... that's all I can remember at the moment, because I haven't got my plan in front of me. I've mapped out what's to go into what bed so that I can do crop rotation. I totally haven't got my head around whether I can do any intercropping, or whether any crops are finished in time to plant new ones in their place. I guess once I've recovered from the information overload of planning an allotment, and working out which crops belong to which family, I'll post questions asking that. Praise God for the Grapevine! Where would I be without it?!

Caroline

[DiggyBob]

The Azada for sure is the tool

Hi all

I started to clear a completely bramble covered allotment in January. I am using the Azada and other tools and I am documenting the whole thing on my blog

DiggyBob

[Matt94]

diggy bob the last post on this thread before yours was about 4 years ago, maybe you could introduce yourself to us on the welcome/introduce yourself board.