Removing overgrown brambles/ivy- tips, advice?

[Elouera]

We've bought a home which was empty for 5+ yrs and the garden is extremely overgrown with brambles, including an established ivy climbing over the roof!

What gloves are bramble proof? Any regular 'gardening' gloves look useless. I was thinking leather, but do I go rigger, welding or look for another key word? I've seen that salt eventually works on the ivy stump, but any other tips of advice are appreciated.

I would get rigger gloves for the brambles, and be prepared to be shredded anyway. Brambles are awful to get rid of, but they're not the worst. My plan of attack would be to get rid of top growth first, cutting them back to about 20 cms then digging out the clump. They spread underground as well, the swines, as well as by shoot tips rooting.

I had an overgrown ivy problem too, with an apple tree utterly smothered in it. Tackled that by sawing through the ivy stems near the bottom, allowing the top growth to die back and pulling it off when it had withered completely (the aerial roots which grip have shrivelled then so it comes off more easily). There are several brushwood/stump killers available which you can apply to the cut surface of the stumps.

What's it like aside from the ivy and brambles? Are there decent plants in amongst the jungle? How big is the garden area?

When the ivy has died off, you can get rid of the tendrils from brickwork with a wire brush. Be prepared for it to take a long time, but it's worth it.

Definitely rigger gloves. I do some conservation volunteering normally, which includes a lot of bramble hacking, they're good. I'd use loppers rather than just secateurs. I'd also strongly recommend eye protection of some sort.

Agree re ivy, cut at the base and don't try to pull off the wall until it's shrivelled.

Some great tips, thanks. The garden is at least 1/2 acre. TBH, I can't even see the back fence due to overgrowth, so we aren't 100% how far the boundary extends!

Lots of thistles in addition to the brambles. There use to be large confiders in parts, so I'm expecting large stumps under the growth. Any tips to get rid of those?

Hoping to find some some regular plants too, but the garden was used to store caravans for many years prior to being empty, so really not sure what I'll find!

For bits that you want to treat with delicacy, find a bramble at the edge of the area, and trace the bramble runner back to its base. It'll come from a sort of "crown" with several branches coming off. If you can cut beneath that, it'll be less likely to re-grow. Then you can pull hard, holding by the crown (which is less savage) and have the pleasure of yards of bramble come out of the mass.

It's worth cutting all the thistles before they finish flowing, even if you're not eady to remove them completely.

Thanks everyone. Yes, I want eye protection, and also trying to find some sort of leg gaitor and maybe an armoured suit!!!

@MereDintofPandiculation: good to know about the crown and tendrils. We are waiting for the house completion to actually move in, and thus far, have only seen it a few times. I'd love to hack back the thistles now before they flower though. Our last visit, a bramble had grown 2 foot inside the back door. That growth was in 1 week!!!

have the pleasure of yards of bramble come out of the mass.

Except that it's likely that some will have rooted further along some of the tendrils will need severing and tracing back to the re-root point.

some sort of leg gaitor and maybe an armoured suit!!!

IME it's best done in cool weather, so that I can wear an old walking coat and my goretex overtrousers. They're not completely thornproof but definitely help. Gaiters sound like a good idea. The upside is that it's ok as a job for a rainy day.

I have done quite a few hours of hacking and heavy duty clearing, but on half an acre I'd be tempted to get a couple of quotes for someone to come in and blitz it for you. I would expect to be shredded, especially doing it in the warm weather where you're unlikely to be able to bear wearing a thick raincoat/ similar to keep the thorns away.

Cottons, no matter how thick, won't be enough. I usually wear a big thick waxed raincoat is the best thing I own, although they will always find a way through.

Here you go OP you will need this

I would also pay someone to come do it, we had similar areas removed as part of a landscaping project and the digger got it all out in no time.

My garden is prone to brambles in parts and they are an absolute bastard. They grow so fast and are lethal.

I’d also consider getting someone in, a local gardening company who does heavy duty gardening to clear it.

But if not then make sure you’re properly covered and start hacking back . The hacking is not so much the issue, it’s the cleaning it away. Are you close to neighbours or can you burn it? Close to neighbours might mean you can’t.

For the stumps I’d advise using a root grinder service in your area. It’s not cheap, but it’s the most effective way to get rid of them. There are lots of you tube home tips. Like cut a cross in the stump, fill with oil every day for a month then burn but in reality just get a guy with a root grinding machine in.

When you consider dealing with the waste, the root grinding etc, it may be worthwhile just getting a company in to do it.

actually a local groundwork company and a guy with a digger would be a fantastic idea as put forward by a pp.

DH actually suggested a person with a digger! Might be the best option and I'll tackle the 60ft ivy growing over the house!!! Or maybe not!

There is a local gardening group who may have suggestions also.

@JustAnotherPoster00- yes, that is the exact outfit I need!!!

I've found motorcycle gloves to be the best things for handling brambles.

We had similar....but on a much smaller basis, agree cut the ivy and wait for it to die off before trying to pull it off trees and your house,it soons dies off.

Brambles are a complete nightmare, we ended up raking ours and putting them through a shredder and now have to go out weekly to pull up the roots as they come back so fast. Im hoping after this year we manage to get on top of it, would love to put some grass down!

With the size of land you have id also see if you can get someone in, i wouldnt fancy weeding it every week!

We paid a guy to do it. 3 of them did in a morning what it would have taken us a month of our free time to do. They had a stump grinder to take out the tree stumps, disposed of everything and left a clear space to start again. It was about £800 but was worth every penny.