Problem with briars

[Mikael]

Is there any way to keep ahead of briars. They are starting to over run my hill side yard. I can't seem to keep up with them. I have a large yard, and a lot of it is hill. Thanks for any advice. Mikael

[Travis]

Please define briars.

[Mikael]

[Mikael]

[Phisherman]

I had this problem too. I kept pulling them up and after 2 years, they are all gone. You can use a pair of pliers or whatever you find easy. It's easiest to pull them up after a soaking rain.

[Hal]

Dig up a root and see if it has a bulbous like rhizome that connects to others just as ugly. That is probably pipe briar, not blackberry. The only cure I know is dig up the roots. Blackberry can be a PITA, but can be killed with careful applications of Roundup, I don't know of a herbicide that kills pipe briar.

Regards,

Hal

[Mikael]

Thanks Hal, I know they are not Blackberry. I was just using that as an example, trying to explain them to Travis.

[Travis]

That link does not tell what briars are as in a botanical name.

[Travis]

When I Google for "pipe briar" all I get is stuff about pipes for smoking tobacoo.

[maxsilverstar]

All of the briars (or 'briers', as the USDA would have it) that I am familiar with are classified in the genus Smilax:

'm in the southeast part of the US though, not in the PNW. Perhaps there are other genera where you are.

I find the page referenced by the OP offensive, BTW. Besides the large amounts of misinformation and the anthropomorphism and misdirected censure ("Until you've had one rip your skin though, it's hard to understand and appreciate their viciousness and disregard for life. Briars attack their prey with vengeance..."), I am also offended by the author's apparent belief that he has the right to destroy native life so he can more comfortably ride wheeled vehicles through woodlands. Some similarly inclined yahoos decided they could tear up the woodlands behind our house with their very noisy ATVs without regard to the rights of anyone else, including native vegetation and other wildlife. Our briars made them rethink their assumptions. In that encounter the score stands at briars 2, yahoos 0.

I've never tried killing the briars on our property because I think they are beautiful, they've never been a problem, and I encourage native vegetation as much as possible, but if I had the OP's problem I think I would try painting the unwanted plants with a mixture of a Triclopyr-containing herbicide such as Brush-B-Gon and an adjuvant such as lamp oil. It works wonders on all sorts of difficult plants, including even Chinese Tallow Tree (Sapium sebiferum).

[Travis]

Thank you.

[Mikael]

Sorry for the poor link, it was the first one I found. Thanks for the advice on getting rid of them. Mikael

but if I had the OP's problem I think I would try painting the

[Wes Wilson]

Hi Michael & All - For briars with stickers like you describe - and if one has the stamina - one then could use a long handled tool with narrow sharp scythe-like steel cutter (perhaps 3" wide?) at the side of its two-sided sharp steel tip. Using such a tool carefully one can use it to reach to the base of the blackberry and 'pull-or-push-cut' the canes

- which can then be heaped and carried aloft without too many scratches then - using a long handled pitchfork - taken to your composting pile - or if practical and in a safe fire place and time, etc. - perhaps you'll want to burn them up in a bonfire. Fortunately I think there is just such a tool already available for your needs - if not in your local supplier's place then perhaps you might check out the J.M. Leonard Co. catalog (- they're a mail order garden tool company w/free-catalog). Good luck! - Wes/MO