Nuking brambles

[John Rumm]

Is there a reliable way to kill brambles that are growing close to stuff you don't want to kill? We seem to have loads of the things growing in shrubs, flower beads, and around trees etc.

[The Natural Philosopher]

paint them with undiluted glyphosate carefully

[Andy Burns]

Or some Root Out compost accelerator I used to find that pretty good on brambles, but I just sprayed it as nothing nearby I cared about.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

If only. ;-) I'll be looking at any answers avidly.

[The Natural Philosopher]

I used massive glyphosate doses and killed a HUGE bramble patch after years of failing to get it sorted

[Chris Hogg]

As TNP says, glyphosate painted on with a brush so as not to get it on adjacent plants, although I wouldn't use it neat. I would cut them back to near ground level, and wait until some nice juicy fresh green shoots appear, then zap them with ordinary strength glyphosate with a trigger hand spray to keep the spray localised.

An approach often suggested if painting isn't an option is the 'wetted sock' method. Make up your glyphosate solution; get a pair of rubber gloves, Marigold or latex, whatever, and an old woollen sock. Pull the sock over a gloved hand, dip in the glyphosate, and then run said gloved hand all over the stem and leaves of the offending plant.

Other 'killers' include SBK brushwood killer, that can be applied by either of the above methods, but the same care is needed not to get it on adjacent plants.

I try if I can to get to the roots and dig/pull them out. Usually not too difficult. Dig around the stem where it emerges from the soil with a hand fork, just to loosen the soil. Then work your hand into the soil and under the point where the roots spread out from the stem, and heave! In almost all cases, the stem together with attached roots will rip out. If you just pull the stem off the roots, they will shoot again so you do need to get stem and roots out together, like this guy has done

. Leaving a few lateral roots behind doesn't matter, as long as you get the primary root out.

More stuff here

[Chris Hogg]

You're not using the Root Out to kill the plant; you're using it as an 'in situ' or 'localised' compost accelerator, converting the plant into compost where it's growing. :-)

[GB]

*****

Five stars for asking a question about DIY. First one today! :)

[Malcolm Race]

Cut back to almost soil level and put crystals of root out on the freshly cut surface. Cove with gaffer tape/plastic so that the root out is not washed away and can compost the roots 'in situ'

Merthod is very effective against other garden pests such as Ivy

Malcolm

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Think you'll find that will kill the bits that show - but not the root structure. Which will spread and just appear eleswhere.

Or rather that's what I've found.

[Huge]

Glyphosate gel (make it yourself with wallpaper paste. Use it up, it doesn't keep). Put on a heavy rubber glove, then a cotton glove over that. Dip the gloved hand in the gel, then fondle the plants you want to kill.

[Bill Wright]

No, bollocks! It's gardening! We DIYers don't have time for gardening; we get a man in.

Bill

[tony sayer]

In article , John Rumm scribeth thus

We had an infestation of these bloody things over at a friends farm a mini digger saw them off into a large pile which as soon as their dried out will be burnt!.

Seems they haven't come back as yet its now some months ago perhaps not what the OP wanted to know but there was a lot satisfaction seeing them destroyed:)

After all very few plants attack you like those poxy things do..

[Brian Gaff]

Not sure how the heck you can find out which is a new plant and which is just a runner from another one. Armour plated gloves needed. Brian

[Brian Gaff]

Hmm sounds a bit difficult. By the time I'd have done this I'd be dead from blood loss or some infection of open wounds. I need a robot! Brian

[Andrew Mawson]

Running over them with my 5 foot flail mower knocks them back pretty effectively :)

I have a triangle of perhaps 1/2 acre at the end of my field that was completely over grown with them. A combination of reaching over into them with my 4 foot hedge flail on the Ford 4610 tractor and pulverising them, then going over several times with the 5 foot grass flail on the Ford 4000 set to about 3" reduced them to pulp. The grass grew through, and several subsequent flail mowings has produced some almost decent grazing for the sheep :)

Andrew

[Dave Plowman (News)]

If you can dig them - and all their roots and runners up - you might be OK. But that's not an option in most mature gardens.

Months? Mine took a couple of years or more to show again - after thinking they'd all been dug out during a total refurkle of the (small) garden. And they've now appeared in several places that they weren't originally.

Very true. The odd thing is that when there was a bush in the garden - which produced lovely fruit - it seemed to stay rather more contained.

[spuorgelgoog]

If you have a real infestation it might be easier to lift the valued plants , then flamegun and rotavate the beds.

If the valued plants have then died it will be easier to convince Mrs Rumm that she doesn't really want any more beds and that some concrete paths wil l look nice round the perimeter of the lawn as well as being somewhere hand y to put the workmate on a sunny day.

Owain

[Davey]

You could rent some goats:

[whisky-dave]

oi sexist lucky you don;t work here, we have commitees and groups that will, spend hours and hours in metting about such things, byt they won't let a women carry a parecel only post. :-)