Brambles

Brambles never succeed in cultivated land. First step is to slash everything down so you can see the ground clarly. Next, slash out the roots as best you can. Don't worry if some is left in. Don't waste money on weedkillers. Just keep the roots slashed back, and plant/sow as you want to. As long as you continue to hack the root area, you'll deter re-growth. Usually after a couple of growing seasons the roots give up. They don't cope with competition and cultivation. I've done it - and it works. The same goes for bindweed.

Not a good idea to compost brambles as the thorns don't rot well. They go  hard and if you then have them in your compost you'll get thorns in your hands later on.

thanks for the advice guys, the paths to my plot are not wide enough for a mini digger, even the 2.2Ft ones and we are not aloud to use weed killer so i'm going to have to go with the good old back breaking method of digging them once i've cut them down.

thanks again tho guys

Aaron

maggib you have been very fortunate in keeping brambles at bay, that did not work for me and the same with bindweed, their roots go so deep down it is almost impossible to get rid of.   Unfortunately railway companies used bindweed as a stabliser for the embankments so if you are near a railway line, disused or not then more than likely you will have this problem.  The ground I was working on was heavily covered with both and I dug out bramble roots about twice a year and still they came back so you have a lot to be grateful for if you've managed to rid them completely.

Our lot was covered in brambles ( see my blog ) and were even growing into the trees. We cut them back with a bladed strimmer, burnt the tops and dug out the roots. Took a long time but once we planted the patches with veg they have not returned at all, been very good.

One other thing we did was in areas we were leaving wild we built the brambles wigwams out of canes or trained them along the wall and as a reuslt have a crop of berries which we have turned into jam, Gin and vinegar :)

You need to get some pigs! Ours have cleared a half acre site of everything including brambles, nettles and any other undesirable weeds(they adore roots of any kind too). Pigs are an absolute blessing and so much nicer than having to hack down the area by hand. The bonus is also that once they have cleared the site its nicely fertilised and ready for the planning of crops etc! Angie