Hi there, my first post, on a trouble in my new 'meadow'. Last autumn we bought some land next to our house which has been a dense bramble thicket, 8 foot tall, for years. All winter we cut them down and dug out as much of the roots as we could. In April we grass seeded it and this is now growing beautifully into the meadow we wanted. However, there are still many brambles trying to grow back within the grass. I am mowing very regularly so they never get more than a few inches tall. Does anyone have any experience of whether the brambles will eventually give up and die if mown down regularly - which is what we're hoping for - or do we have to go back and manually dig out every last bit of root in order to eliminate them? That would be so much work, we are really hoping they will succumb to relentless mowing in the end. Thanks for any advice.
I've been trying to clear my garden of brambles for about 12 years and, yes, they are persistant. If you mow them down they just grow more shoots. You can either dig them out (that's what I do) or use a systemic poison applied straight to the growing tips. If you let the new shoot grow long enough you can sumberge it into a pot of systemic weedkiller that will find it's way to the root producing the growth. Depends whether you're prepared to use weed killer or not. Welcome to the forum BTW, I hope you enjoy it. You'll find us a friendly lot
hi, i am new too. when i moved to my current house the garden was dreadfully neglected and brambles ruled. i have had to dig all the roots outs as best as i could, i think it is one of those constant battles. if it could be made to behave it would actually make a nice hedge. it is a wild flower after all and it can be quite pretty-until you catch your bare arm against it that is and then it goes back to being a mortal enemy again. as far as using weedkiller or not, if you are very careful and use an organic type i would go for that. it is the only thing in my garden i havent managed to kill off yet. good luck, your meadow sounds idyllic
We strimmed down our areas of bramble,waited for 2 inch shoots, then applied a strong Roundup spray. So far so good. Another dose is expected. Good luck
I treat brambles (and nettles and bracken) as an entertaining hobby but if you let your guard down they will try to take over again. Personally I don't use poison but for a permanent job it sounds essential.:(
Thanks everyone, it sounds like this may be more work than we'd hoped and the mowing may just make the bramble shoots spread. There were also nettles and ground elder but I thought mowing seemed to be having more of an effect on them as they don't seem to be coming back with such vigour. Do you think they may be giving up or am I being too optimistic here?
Mowing is going to weaken the plant. Don;t let them get long before you cut them back though. If you go the chemicals route you might want to look at SBK, rather than Roundup - or even in addition to it!
Hi hollyandivy, nettle roots go deep and a thick and tough to completely eradicate but not impossible, acouple of years of tough weeding and vigorous growing wild flowers and grasses should see it become much much less, with only a very few popping through, I personally get little reaction to the stinging so this seems no more than a nuisance to me but I know some suffer dreadfully. From the little I know you will probably have a great deal more trouble from the ground elder than the other two combined. But in spite of all that I still think your meadow will be wonderful when it starts to come together.
I'd go with kristen on this. I find SBK to be more effective on broad-leaved weeds than anything else.
Mowing will drive the brambles back but theyll still lurk were the mower doesnt reach, dig the shoots up again in the autumn. SBk or the trade equivalent (Blaster/ Timbrel) is the way to go for chemical control
