Identification please!

[shine388]

Hello all, I'd like some ideas for what the following plant is please..it was in the garden when we bought it 2 years ago but because everywhere was 8 foot deep in brambles we had to go at it with a hedge trimmer just to get into the garden

We partially chopped it down but were told it could be a currant/raspberry so didn't dig it out and it has been steadily regrowing since.


Obviously if it is a fruit bush or anything worth keeping we'll move it to a proper bed and make up for almost paving over it


Any help gratefully received!

[Kirk]

Not raspberry or currant, think it is best described as a "weed".
Not sure of the exact variety of weed but pretty sure a weed is what it is.

If wrong then I apologise.

[veggiechicken]

Can't help with the canes, need to see the leaves for that. The plant at the base, with the spiky seed heads looks like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geum_urbanum
I have it here and it spreads like mad. The seed heads hook onto the dogs, or anything that passes, an grow wherever they fall off.

[shine388]

Oh dear! The canes are part of it, the main stem was over an inch thick when we cut through it but the canes have reappeared since. Thank you both

[shine388]

I'll have a closer look tonight, I have a sneaky suspicion that it is indeed two separate plants thinking about it, maybe the part at the front is a weed that has self seeded. We only left the cane part because it was in a previous owners' fruit bed so I thought it may be useful

[veggiechicken]

I think its 2 plants too,
Did the canes have any leaves this year?
Is that the sawn off stump in the middle of the first photo?
Are all the side shoots coming from below that stump?
Are there any soft prickles on the stems?
Does it smell of anything when you rub your hands along the stems?

Lots of questions, sorry

[shine388]

Haha I like questions too! Just waiting for eldest baby to wake up then we're off outside to inspect.

I'd always assumed it was one plant because they've always been so intertwined and self contained.

The sawn off part was the original bush, it's in the previous owner's fruit bed amongst 2 grapes and rhubarb so we weren't sure if it was supposed to be there or not, I suppose that's the joy of buying a jungle.. He had put in some wooden posts with thick wire lengths running across it like it was supporting something ? I feel like an archaeologist!

Will see if I can find the base of the plants when I'm outside ☺️

[shine388]

So it is indeed two separate plants, I cant believe I've been protecting/watering a weed

The other one is woody, buds but no leaves, I can't remember if it had any leaves this year. Some of the canes look dead but there are some reddish ones which I assume are young. No thorns that I can feel

[dilettante]

I can't claim to have tons of experience, but the way that stump looks, the thickness and the bark, I would have thought that was a small tree or shrub, and the canes aren't really canes so much as thin branches resulting from coppicing. I think the leaves are the key here, but I don't recognise them. I'll look them up in my books later today.

Edit: oh wait, sorry, are all the leaves in that picture from the weedy plant? If so, if you can get a close up picture of the buds, especially at the tips, and the end section of the canes/branches, I think that would make identifying the plant easier.

[Nicos]

Looks like an accidentally coppiced tree to me!
But what type of tree....?

Are there any dead leaves on the ground nearby which might give us a clue?