Nuking brambles

Quite a shopping list for the OP. ;-)

Point taken though.

Chris

Could be - I'm no gardener. Original brown fingers. But when I do pull out one which has appeared from nowhere, the roots seem to run back a long long way

I don't think they're terribly popular in this part of London with small gardens - but of course will have a presence on railway embankments, etc. Fields are something we just see on TV. ;-)

Brambles on railway embankments were much better when the on-train toilet deposited its contents on the track ;-)

Yeah, but then again, I don't need much of an excuse for a new tool ;-)

There is no way I am running my hand over those buggers! They have killed more decent gloves than anything else.

I shall try the paint on idea...

Can one thicken glyphosphate with anything to make it more "topical"?

(I have the normal gallup 360 concentrate)

Yup, the problem there is getting to anywhere near the root in the first place.

ok, ta.

Ah, ok that answers my question on thickening...

I find when dealing with the huge long stems, the safest way is to cut off, and feed it direct into a shredder before it gets a chance to return the favour!

;-)

They tend to be most irksome when immersed in already established and sizeable shrubs. (or poking out of bushes, waiting for something soft and squishy to drive past on a mower!)

Like I said already, wallpaper paste.

Or if you're on good terms with your bank manager

On a lesser scale, I use a hedge trimmer, then a Flymo. When the brambles regrow, they can be individually picked off or pulled out.

Only if parboiled with a little salt and pepper.

Yup, saw that after I posted

The info. on the Gallup 360 leaflet says not to spray under hedges, so I'd assume the same for (other) shrubs. Weedol does seem to be suitable for under woody growth, so I keep some for that purpose. Now, how to eliminate Aquilagea growing up through heather...?

I'd like to know the reason they say that. I would imagine it's because of the real possibility of getting the spray onto the hedge itself and damaging it, rather than because it isn't effective on weeds under the hedge.

Which Weedol would that be? Scotts do several products under that umbrella name.

Work your hand down through the heather along the stem(s) of the aquilegia until you reach soil level. Grasp the stem firmly and rip it out! My aquilegias are just going over ATM and beginning to set seed. Rip them out before the seed ripens, otherwise the problem just perpetuates itself. Personally, I like them, especially the purple 'wild' one, so I let it seed where it will.

Sorry about the snappy tone ...

BTW, if you do make some up, use it all. It doesn't keep - they stuff I tried to keep for future use (i) went runny again & (ii) went mouldy.

Possibly, yes. The Weedol does, of course. warn about drift.

Rootkill Plus.

Trouble is, they spread everywhere and I prefer various long-flowering herbs. I've let a chunk of the garden do 'wild' but still control it to favour what I want. Getting to the bottom of the Aquilagea is painful (can't use a glove as need to feel the stems) and the roots are in amongst 50-yo heather roots - they just snap off. I have a cunning plan: remove them down to the roots, let them grow several leaves, use a plastic cylinder as a barrier and see if I can spray/wipe then. Need some sort of wetting agent - the leaves are hydrophobic.

Contains glyphosate