Cat/Bird friendly way to get rid of blackberry invasion

[RobinEllacotStrike]

I'm a rubbish gardener.
My smallish garden has been overrun with brambles - initially coming through the fence, and I really need to clear them.
What is the best way to get rid of them & then keep them away.

I bought some weedkiller but I don't want to harm birds, my cats, or fruit trees & I am concerned about using it

Chop them back and also chop them back beyond the fence if you can, as they’ll only come back if it’s still there. Then keep alert for new growth and pull it out every time. Maybe some digging for roots too.

Dig them up if you can. Loosen the soil at the roots as much as you can and pull them out with very thick gloves on, or from the roots if you can get to them, they're not jaggy.

Be careful how you dispose of anything you cut back as they'll root before you've got your back turned. They are fuckers and never to be trusted.

so what you both seem to be saying is manual removal of untrustworthy fucker forever 🤣

Fraid so, in my experience. Massive thick gloves and long secateurs needed…

Digging them up is an awful job if there are lots. You'll be digging for days. After cutting them back and digging up as much as you can, you could seed grass and keep on top of the mowing as that'll discourage them. You could build a wall as they'll find that harder to break through than a fence. Definitely invest in some long thorn proof gloves and good secateurs/a hedge trimmer.

Chop away at them to your heart's content, and every time you see any popping up, chop it down to ground level again and again. You will need stout gloves - there's some I had at one time called 'thornmaster' and they were very good.

I hesitate to recommend Roundup, but it can be used on the leaves with care.

We eventually discouraged ours by regular strimming (make lots of noise and move brambles with implement to flush out any birds first - we have had blackcaps nesting in ours). We have a big garden so do leave some for birds and butterflies but they are thugs! If you dont have a strimmer can you borrow or hire one - brushcutter uses a metal plate rather than the milder plastic thread for lesser strength.

We have never used pesticides herbicides etc and garden is thriving with amazing wildlife bees butterflies and birds so well done OP for resisting. Nature is already being decimated by human intervention so making a sanctuary in our gardens is good way to help make a difference.

Can you plant some shrubs in place of the brambles once cleared to provide habitat and keep light from any new bramble growth. And ask next door to cut back theirs if possible to keep clear. Good luck.

nature really loves my garden since I stopped "gardening" a couple of years ago. I have sloworms, frogs etc. But the brambles are too much.

thank you for your advice - I will get some very sturdy gloves.

I have a rogue bramble on the allotment. I chop it down every spring and a few time over the summer. If you can dig the roots up that helps but they are very persistent. If you keep on top of it it’s not too bad.

Yes @Chumpingtonquinces I can plant some shrubs. I have a bunch shrub of seedlings coming along but probably they wont be ready to plant out for another year.

Chop it down and keep chopping it down. Best advice! No need for chemicals.

if it is on your land then dig it up when the ground is soft.
otherwise keep chopping it back

If they've been there a while the roots can be absolutely massive. We had some (paid) help with our garden last summer from a young adult neighbour - some of the brambles he dug up had roots six inches wide and two feet long

Yes just keep cutting it back and pull out the roots that you can. It's very difficult to kill with weedkiller anyway unless you are really persistent and the weedkillers that might work eventually will kill everything. You could try sinking concrete gravel boards along your boundary to keep out the surface roots.

You have to dig them out at the roots. We inherited a lot, one side (neighbours) about 80 feet long, stems 4 inch diameter,that smashed the fence. DH spent a couple of years (working ft with 80 mile daily commute) to get rid of them. Our garage is in a block on a slip road, and he discovered the other day, they are coming in to the garage from the other side of the neighbours garden. They will ruin the roof felt,so he had to cut them back.... unfortunately, they WILL return..I have a row of well behaved ones in a fruit cage, along with black currants, blueberries and raspberries

.

Its just me doing the garden. I can't afford a gardener.

I thought I would enjoy gardening but its just like outdoor housework.

DC won't help and no P to get all hot sweaty and grimy with his shirt off in the garden <sigh>

I've gone from growing seeds, planting borders etc to everything getting overgrown with that sticky stuff, vine weed & blackberry.

I'm going to have to put on my big girls gloves & get stuck in.

I have heard of people using goats to get rid of brambles - e.g. https://biogoats2rent.com/ (caveat - I do not know this company). If you want to go full eco!

Love the goat idea - don't think my garden is big enough.

I used to live in west London & the gardeners at Holland Park got in a load of British Saddleback pigs to clear a meadow in the park that had succumb to blackberries & nettles. They did a marvellous job clearing everything.

https://www.standard.co.uk/hp/front/welcome-back-to-holland-pork-pigs-return-to-root-out-meadow-6405380.html

We moved to our new house two years ago and the garden was overrun with brambles. First year we had a day or two of pulling out as many as possible. Some of the roots run quite near the surface and pulling them up was really satisfying. Then we had a couple of months of going out there for an hour every week and keeping on top of the bastards, pulling out any new ones, digging out the roots.

Second year we were amazed how few tried to sprout. Honesty, an hour a month kept it in check. I'm really hoping that there'll be next to nothing this year. Once you've done the first attack you are on to a winner with a bit of maintenance.

We moved had this overgrown garden, some brambles where like thick brances, got long leather type gloves garden center, and a good pruner cutter thing. Covered up and went in at roots, then pulled them out, took a few days bit of effort and determation.
Also, had to get rid of the brambles, put in skip type bag, and stood on them to break.down. boot of car and fews trips.to recycle centre.
We keep ontop of it, cutting away new growth.
Worth the effort, we've daffodils and snow drops coming up now this year. Didn't know we had them.
Best of luck.

If you might have birds nesting, it is best to get the chopping (whether it's secateurs or a strimmer) done this month. I recommend doing it when you're angry - it can be really therapeutic!
Making lots of noise only works for adult birds - eggs and chicks won't be saved.
Tackling roots and new growth can happen any time (or any time the soil isn't like concrete).

You’ve been given all the advice about brambles but I’m sorry to hear you aren’t enjoying gardening.

It’s nothing like housework ( which is dull, repetitive and people only notice when you DON’T do it)!

Maybe you need a different sort of garden that’s lower maintenance but more wow. I have a very small garden but after years of shifting it about I have something I like.

I was guys suggest goats, we had some that loved brambles. I you know anyone who has any? You could borrow them for day or two.

Welders gloves are a must! All other gloves get torn with brambles.

good luck!!

Poster, I love your name. I'm just reading the latest Strike book. I had a think about our garden,it would have been 100 foot plus of brambles, because our garden is 168 feet long at the back.. DH tried cutting them back, they're like roses,you can't prune them too hard. The folk that had shallow roots were really lucky. These had obviously been there years,then you get neighbours who don't bother. We were given LA house years ago,we lived there 6 weeks before we could even go down the garden. It was physically impossible
Brambles,caved in structures, an air raid shelter,bonnet and bumper. No idea how that got in there,there,was only a side path, and no access at the bottom. CouId I be nosy and ask if you bought the property? Sometimes you can get scouts to do some clearing for a donation.

I don't think our neighbours would have been amenable to us putting a couple of goats in their garden.