Bramble commiseration/advice

[Gardeniafleur]

Just starting to clear a side of our garden that was a wall of bramble last year.

Any advice? Other than thick gloves and tough it out? We only bought the house in the summer and it was just too dense and thorny to tackle then.

About 15-20ft deep and all along the bottom of a wide site. Remnants of an old garden beneath. Lots of azaleas, rhododendrons, hydrangea and bedraggled escallonia emerging.

Especially difficult is how to get the bramble roots up without using glyphosate? Most are diggable (we accept that this will be a several year project!) but some of them have cleverly grown in amongst the azalea roots etc.

Copper nails?

Yes taking the hedge trimmers to the patch which is like a lot of thin, individually rooted strands next week. Then will tarp it for a bit while I deal with digging out the other clumps! Have done a lot but still more to do!

Got in behind the mass today and removed a clump with FORTY STRANDS of thick bramble (some dead). I swear they are sentient they were plucking anxiously at my hair and coat as I did it.

Discovered another surprise rhododendron!

Now - tell me when I can start trimming back escallonia - March? April? How hard back can I cut it.

ALL. SO. SATISFYING.

Also ‘popped down’ for 20 mins this morning just to try and keep up momentum… stayed for 2.5 hours of EPIC CHOPPING. When the mood takes you it is so addictive!!!

I also "popped over" to mine this week and a strangely similar timeshift happened! Leycesteria is lovely - it wasn't a thug in my garden, but then it got wiped out by honey fungus, so I might not be the best judge...

Dead brambles are sneaky blighters

Waiting for it to dry up enough here so I don't sink into my borders while I cut out the few trying to make a come back.

I did mine during the first lockdown, it was wonderful therapy to take all my anger/frustrations/worry out on beating the brambles into my green recycling bags

Hmm ‘bramble eradication therapy’ should this be a thing?!

@Gardeniafleur I love a hydrangea so will add that to my list. We have mostly covered the areas we cleared with grass for the time being so it isn't too bad. There are a few shrubs, mostly cherry laurel which I am removing. I am currently spending a lot of time lurking in local garden centre rescue sections but cuttings are a brilliant idea.