What is the best way to clear bramble

[Tomtaylor]

Hi all Iv recently rented an allotment and it was so overgrown I couldn't get in the gate I have cut it all down its took a lot of hard work but now there is a lot of stems coming out the ground will I have to dig up all of them individually or is there an easy way to go about it thanks in advance

[Greenleaves]

You can't beat a bit of digging in my opinion

[Chestnut]

Hi Tom, and welcome to the vine.
I also had quite a bit of bramble when I took my plot a couple of years ago.
I opted for chopping down the branches and disposing off-site, then dug out each stump.
It worked, but i cannot say whether there was another method which would have been easier…

[Earthgirl Jen]

Hi Tomtaylor and welcome, They are a very friendly bunch on here and you will get lots of advice, I'm a newbie myself.

It depends on which approach you want to take and how soon you want to grow stuff?

Or you pro or anti weedkiller?

Me personally wouldn't touch the stuff. It kills all life in your soil where it is sprayed, and soil takes years to recover all the good organisms. You will end up having to repeatedly add much more nutrients than necessary for quite a while. I inherited a jungle and a veg patch that was smothered in them... I took the dig it out approach, as long as you get the growing sprout below the surface and hand pull any further sprouting shoots when you see them, they plants will eventually realise they can't win and start to give up...

I'm still getting them 3 yrs down the line but they are a LOT less.

Just one small persons view.

[chillithyme]

Congratulations on getting your new allotment
I used an azada/mattock tool to dig out roots after rain,section by section. Forks end up breaking easily

Best of luck

[veggiechicken]

Hi and welcome.
Cut them down to stop the stem tips rooting, then dig them out. Levering the roots out with a fork works for me and its very satisfying.

[Baldy]

You gotta dig em out really. Slow and steady though.

[Baldy]

I despise it second only to ivy...

[Thelma Sanders]

No matter how well you think you've got all the roots out, bits will regrow - you'll need to keep pulling out as much of the shoot and root as you can, if between crops, or dig another bit up if in empty bed.

I thought I'd dug up all my thorny Tayberry, earlier this year - but it keeps throwing up new shoots but I will get it all out, in the end!!

[4Shoes]

You don't need to dig out the roots, only the stump.

Cut brambles to ground level to prevent spreading.

Use Mattock / Pick / Crocodile Fork to leaver out the stump. If this is done in the wet, more of the roots will be removed at same time.

Decide on how to cultivate dig/no dig

Best luck.

[bikermike]

dig out the stumps, cover any areas you aren't using. it won't stop them on its own, but it will weaken them, and give you more time to concentrate on the areas you want to grow.

although it's annoying to use plastic, I'd use that. not the woven stuff either, as the shoots can force theor way through. cover with woodchip to minimise uv damage to the plastic (and weight down)

[bikermike]

i'd also keep the spiky branches - good to put on beds to deter cats

[Jay-ell]

Certain types of blackberries have Adventitious Roots - this means that the roots will develop buds along their length that can then grow into stems. This means that even if you pull out the crowns they may grow back from root fragments left in. When you see the runners pull them out along with as much root as you can.

[realramona]

go for the heart

I've succesfully cleared a couple of allotments of brambles using the method in the link below. Once the thorny bits are lopped off I locate the heart/crown bit with a pink nub on & use anvil secateurs to cut it out. It's usually not too deep. I leave the rest of the roots in.

There'll be bramble seeds around in the soil so some new plants will pop up afterwards, or maybe those are from the roots a previous poster mentioned, but they are easy to remove if you get to them quickly, before they form a crown & roots of their own.

Rachel the Gardener: Bramble removal: How To Do It

Good luck - I've found that by just systematically working across the patch with my trusty little secateurs, it's not too longwinded to clear & is less effort than trying to dig ethe whole patch over.

[self-contained]

Having once lived in a house where the front garden was just one big bramble, I have to say that the best way to clear it is probably napalm. Shame it's not readily available to gardeners!