Help! The brambles are winning!

[badgerwatcher]

My garden is disappearing under brambles, and there are not enough hours in the day to fight them by hand.
My friend suggests something like roundup, but I am concerned that it would get into the food chain, and harm the badgers and birds.
Can anyone tell me if it would be safe to use, or recommend alternative strategies before I disappear like the sleeping beauty?

[Kayleigh]

I would get a gardener in to sort them by hand. They may need digging up. I would not use chemicals either.

[badgerwatcher]

Would you? I feel that, but my friend keeps telling me that it is quite safe. I've seen things on the internet that say otherwise, but don't know how reliable they are.

[Kayleigh]

Originally Posted by badgerwatcher

Would you? I feel that, but my friend keeps telling me that it is quite safe. I've seen things on the internet that say otherwise, but don't know how reliable they are.

I have not used chemicals in the 14 years we have lived here, and as a result have a very healthy wildlife population. My friend has forever got a bug gun in her hand her garden looks nice with healthy looking roses. But she has NO insect life it is sterile. I know which I prefer.

[stripee]

If you spray them badgerwatcher they will still be there but dead, and dead brambles are even more prickly than living ones to pull up I find. If you can find the time to go out for 20 minutes whenever you can with a trasher, or something similar and have a go at them rather than do the whole lot in one go. Once you have cut them back a bit then the stems will be smaller. And at least they will be easier to cut to the ground next time. They are not that hard to pull up once they are quite small. Some brambles are good for wildlife anyway if you can limit them to just a corner!

[big bill]

If you do not want to use chemicals the best way to get rid is to cut them right down first so your not getting scratched then you have to dig them up ensuring you get all the root leave any and it will just come back .
Have the same problem in daughters garden thought I got it all but missed some of the root stems and its back but not as bad

[badgerwatcher]

Thank you all very much. You've made me feel much better, as I have never used chemicals, but with my friend urging me to use roundup, was wondering if I was being over cautious.
I'll go back to the old way!

[Cotham Marble]

Originally Posted by badgerwatcher

My garden is disappearing under brambles, and there are not enough hours in the day to fight them by hand.
My friend suggests something like roundup, but I am concerned that it would get into the food chain, and harm the badgers and birds.
Can anyone tell me if it would be safe to use, or recommend alternative strategies before I disappear like the sleeping beauty?

Appropriate strategies rather depend on what sort of garden you have; if you have brambles growing through shrubs and/or perennials then the only long term option is to dig out the bramble root. This may involve lifting your garden plants, clearing the soil of weed roots and then replanting - which may be better done in the winter, again depending on what the plants are.

If you have large areas which are now dominated by brambles you could try selecting one or more sections and knock back all the Spring growth, then cover with a heavy grade weed suppressing membrane. This will not kill off the roots but it will make the process of digging them out in the Autumn easier.


CM

[badgerwatcher]

Thank you, CM. I have both types of problem in different areas. A large area I had cleared last year as a vegetable patch is now being overwhelmed by resprouting bramble growth, in spite of a summer of hacking and bonfires. They are also growing up through most of the shrubs,which are old and wellestablished. A huge job.

[Venger]

Well have a snack off them before you kill them off.

To quote Ray Mears Wild food:

Blackberry (bramble)
The crisp shoot-tips are edible and are excellent steamed, or blended into nettle soup, although you should always be careful to choose thick tips that snap off crisply and whose spines are still soft.