Any thoughts on this are welcome.

[thyme]

hello, I have always been a keen gardener but am about to get my first allotment. So this is probably the first of many 'silly questions' - which is are bramble roots really difficult to remove from a plot? I put my name down for what was described as a 'tidy plot' in the Autumn. I went to visit the allotment site this week and they are clearing vacant plots by digging/skimming the top layer then they will be rotavate. The plot I really want has a bramble in the middle of it and also lots of others on the boundary quite close by. Do I risk a contant battle with the bramble roots if I take this plot ?

Logic would tell me to take one of the other plots that seem to be just covered with grass but I like the location of the other one, and the couple on a plot near to it seem very helpful and friendly. It has a tree in one corner which someone else said was dead anyway it's a Plum tree they said it had Die Back and that it might be removed. Not sure what to do, I really like the one with the tree and the bramble. Any thoughts on this?

[shirlthegirl43]

Hi and welcome to the vine. Bramble roots are not difficult to get out - just dig down, grab and pull. I am slowly clearing a bramble patch to grow veggies in. It would be a simple job for a fit person but I do struggle as I have CFS which means I do a little when I can.

Good luck with your new lottie and have fun.

[francesbean]

hi shirl.my garden had 50ft of brambles and i struggled until a friend introduced me to a mattock. much less stress than just digging, you can really get down to the knobbly stumps. Still fighting a battle 2yrs on with the odd root as you must try to get all of it out. If you just pull, it snaps and grows again. I bought mine from 2nd hand garden emporium - Gardenalia in Bath,brilliant for old tools and stuff, they had lots to choose from and mine is nice and light, cost under a tenner.

good luck

[francesbean]

sorry -new to this, should have said hi thyme.

[Farmer_Gyles]

my garden is riddled with brambles - they grow under the fences - so no matter how much i remove, i still have the battle with the brambles coming in from outside - you may have the same trouble, but choose the plot you like best

i'm on a 3 year waiting list for a plot down here

[thyme]

Thanks Shirley that's good news. I guess I want that plot because I can imagine being happy workng there, the others are more open and have other allotments on all sides.

[bobleponge]

Hi thyme you sorted the brambles out (see what I did there?)
I have a constant fight with them at home as well. They are all over, they self root at both ends, and are generally a pain. I have a lot of garden and they just bl**dy appear wherever I dont want them too. When clearing I also hack down to the stumps and dig them out of the ground, but it can be hard work.
Great blackberries for jam though

[thyme]

Thanks Frances, I think the roots on the plot are only of one or two plants so with your advice I may be able to enlist help to remove them before I start working on it.

Thanks also Farmer Giles, we are lucky here in the amount of vacant allotments available that is why they are willing to tidy them up a bit to encourage people to take them.

[lainey lou]

Hello to Thyme and Frances! Welcome to you both! Where in Bath is your plot Frances? I'm origionally from Bath (odd down) and all my family still live there. Love the place!

[Seahorse]

Don't let brambles put you off, they're easier to clear than you might think and, in my opinion, a lot simpler to deal with than some other weeds (couch grass for example). If you clear all the top stuff with loppers, you can dig out the roots without too much difficulty - I filled a wheelbarrow with some today! You do have to go over the ground trying to get all of it out but even if you don't get every bit first time, you just need to be vigilant about it regrowing.

The big bonus with brambles is that nothing much grows under them, so once you have the roots out, you have a nice clear space to plant in.

If you want to see just how many brambles I took on (and am winning against ) click the link to my blog below and look at the first few posts!

[Sue]

Thyme
I'd go for the plot you'd feel happiest on, I went for one in a sort of side bit to the general allotments as I didn't want to be "in the middle". This meant I get two runs of the allotment hedge with brambles trying at every opportunity to break out. I put a run of compost bins in front of one bit of it to keep them fenced in and this mostly works - I do get a lot of free blackberries from the hedge though!
As everyone else has said, not too difficult to get out and as for couch grass had that as well and I'm still battling with it.
Sue

[thyme]

Thanks folks for being so helpful and offering me advice. I think Sue has voiced one of the reasons why I find that plot more attractive it is fenced off and almost in a corner, it feels 'safer' and less exposed. The other plots that are tidy and ready are out in the open and in the middle of the site; further to walk too.

I'm a bit concerned about ending up in the middle and over-looked. I'm a bit of a trial and error gardner and I am sure I will learn lots on the allotment by making mistakes to begin with. Some of the plots further in the site looked very well organised and regimented and I doubt mine will. Well, by this week end I may know if I have a choice or it is out of my hands and I have been allocated another plot. Thanks again folks I will let you know how it goes/grows.

[Flummery]

Don't forget that plots with grass on may be full of the dreaded couch grass which really will proliferate if it's just rotovated. Nothing is as simple as it sounds! We get bird-sown brambles popping up in the borders and they get tangled in the shrub root. Right pain in the derriere!

[thyme]

Thank you Flummery, I had couch grass in a past garden and it was a nightmare, so I guess rotovating sreads the thread-like roots through the whole plot. If I am able to choose I think I would prefer to work slowly and clear the brambled plot and grow as organically as possible ( not ruling out that I may not be able to do this 100%). Now I'm not sure the choice will be mine as the plots being cleared and rotovated maybe the ones they want to be taken first.

[Woofster]

Hi Thyme.
I am working on brambles on my allotment and have found a mattock very useful. I think rotovating on a weed infested plot with things like bindweed, nettles and brambles is not the best as the roots get chopped up and just spread about the plot. I know you are planning to go about things organically but I found spraying with glyphosate very helpful to get me started and give me a bit of an upper hand. But as you say, go about clearing your plot bit by bit. This is my third year and I have cleared about half and really have had enough ground to grow quite a lot. I also recommend using raised beds. Good luck and I hope you get your plot soon !