getting rid of brambles

[starwatcher]

Hi everone,
just got my lottie and have spent today clearing a 20ft stretch of 6ft high brambles but not sure what to do with what i have cut down. can't really see burning them as an option as the lot I have cleared is just the start I would be burning them for ever any advice please.

[Dobby]

Hi Starwatcher
The only way I have found to get rid of Brambles is to dig them up and Burn them
we just a a lotte to
the picks are in newbe seeking advice/possible allotment

[nick the grief]

Hi everone,
just got my lottie and have spent today clearing a 20ft stretch of 6ft high brambles but not sure what to do with what i have cut down. can't really see burning them as an option as the lot I have cleared is just the start I would be burning them for ever any advice please.

Hi Starwatcher, welcome to the vine.

Do you know any tree surgeons? If so you could ask if you can borrow their shredder & shred them then put all the stuff in some old compost bags with a handful of Ammonium Nitrate & stack them somwhere out of the way. Next year you'll have your own composted bark that you can put down as a mulch or Dig in. Don't be tempted to put you hand in it till next year as it generates a lot of heat & you can end up with serious burns !!

Failing that I'm afraid it's burning like Dobby says.

[Peter]

Roots, buy a mattock and work steadily.

Tops, does anyone do a November the 5th bonfire and want some nice material to keep the vandals off it?

[starwatcher]

Thanks dobby, nick and peter the bonfire idea seems good i am near a park which i think has an organised bonfire perhaps if i talk to them nicely !! Will have a look at your pics dobby, hope your new plot is going well.

[Alice]

Brambles give in quite easily if you just keep cutting them down to ground level. The bits cut off are best burned but guy fawkes is coming up. Have a big burning on Nov 5th.

[NOG]

I wouldn't even bother cutting them. I would just burn them down.

The buring kills the roots and inproves the soil.

[NEWTO THE PLOT]

hi starwatcher sounds like your on the plot next to mine only got my plot last weekend and thats all i spent my time doing cutting down brambles, that and collectint snails and flinging them in a bucket of saltwater. ohh happy days

[CarolineSonning]

I've got a similar bramble problem (but also had a healthy blackberry crop ) and cutting and burning seems to be the best solution.

Shredding is very difficult as the brambles fight back as you are trying to feed them into the shredder also I was told that using the shreddings as a mulch can be hazardous as the thorns stay sharp and can keep attaching long after when you are innocently weeding .

[rustylady]

Hi everyone

Got my plot last year and couldn't even get to the "shed" without cutting my way through shoulder high brambles. Burning is the only way to get rid of the tops, especially the thick ones. You also need to be very careful, as Caroline says they fight back!! The roots I'm afraid you have to dig out - some of mine were like tree stumps. If you leave any in the ground they re-grow.

Stay in there though, it does improve. Take a few photos (before and after) - it really helps you feel good when you can see the improvement!

[balliol]

Weve just been doing the same, I would definately say burn them, once they catch they go quite quick i can promise that.

What I dont understand though is having spent the day pulling and burning brambles and of course I have all the bodily aches that go with that, why do my thumbs hurt so much?

[dinky_doo]

Dig Dig Dig And Spray And Dig Again

[NEWTO THE PLOT]

[QUOTE=balliol;36600]Weve just been doing the same, I would definately say burn them, once they catch they go quite quick i can promise that.

What I dont understand though is having spent the day pulling and burning brambles and of course I have all the bodily aches that go with that, why do my thumbs hurt so much?[

Got no idea about your thumbs ballio, i had a problem with thorns in my socks even after they went in the wash

[CarolineSonning]

What I dont understand though is having spent the day pulling and burning brambles and of course I have all the bodily aches that go with that, why do my thumbs hurt so much?

balliol I get this sometimes when I spend too much time with the secateurs or shears - especially when brambles are concerned .

[starwatcher]

Thanks everyone

hi all
appologies for not replying sooner my computer has been down (got brambles in it I think) thanks for all your advice and words of encouragment. i have now cleared most of the brambles from the plot. taken some before piccies just need to figure out how to put them on here, more hippie than techie me thinks hope everone elses plots are coming along as well keep working you get there eventually and i promise to try and find time to get the piccies on show.