clearing old brambles

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clearing old brambles
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jamsam

Joined: 21 Oct 2005
Posts: 2560
Location: erm....i dont know, its dark.

Posted: Sat Apr 29, 06 5:10 pm Post subject: clearing old brambles
ive just spent the best part of 5 hours clearing a patch of brambles/knotweed and dead rose bushes, only tofind there werent any roos for the brambles, can they have really grown so far in a year or am i going mad?? they would have to have grown out from inside a deralict toilet nextdoor....

Bernie66

Joined: 14 Jan 2005
Posts: 13967
Location: Eastoft

Posted: Sat Apr 29, 06 5:33 pm Post subject:
They are like triffids and seem to be able to multiply for sport. Less roots does mean that once they are gone they should be easier to prevent from coming back though! If you get my meaning.

Treacodactyl
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism

Posted: Sat Apr 29, 06 5:37 pm Post subject:
A bramble will grow at least 3-4 meters long and root so you sound like you're lucky. The knotweed could be a harder critter to get rid of though.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46240
Location: yes

Posted: Sat Apr 29, 06 5:47 pm Post subject:
persist with the knotweed when it grows again ,and again and well you get the picture .you can win if you outlast it . bramble runners can be awesome long ,better than roots though .

jamsam

Joined: 21 Oct 2005
Posts: 2560
Location: erm....i dont know, its dark.

Posted: Sun Apr 30, 06 12:06 pm Post subject:

just finished clearing it all and it loooks likethe roots are all inside a ( say it quietly so cadaw dont hear me) dry stome wall that used to be part of a listed circular toilet ( apparently about 400 years old). i cant get in to dig out the roots as it has collapsed inwards and the pub next door has padlocked up the other access..
oh well, i will just have to keep beating it back and pulling it up where i can..

Lozzie

Joined: 25 May 2005
Posts: 2595

Posted: Sun Apr 30, 06 12:13 pm Post subject:
Can't you eat knotweed?

jamsam

Joined: 21 Oct 2005
Posts: 2560
Location: erm....i dont know, its dark.

Posted: Sun Apr 30, 06 12:17 pm Post subject:
i doubt it..maybe a rabbit could??

oddballdave

Joined: 08 Mar 2006
Posts: 259
Location: Telford, Shropshire

Posted: Sun Apr 30, 06 5:32 pm Post subject:

jamsam wrote:

Fire!
A flame gun which can be applied every couple of weeks to the new green growth will defeat it on your side of the wall eventually.

The wall should be able to withstand the heat for longer than the brambles. Just don't heat the rock to red hot and avoid cold water hitting the stone after you have heated it. Fire and cold water was an iron age technique for smashing rocks and shaping them.

Note: even after you have cleared your side, if it is able to grow unhindered on the other side of the wall it will never be killed off.

The alternative is a systemic poison which will kill the brambles back to the root.

Dave

gil
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 08 Jun 2005
Posts: 18415

Posted: Sun Apr 30, 06 6:00 pm Post subject:

Flame gun only needs to wilt the leaves/stems, not to blast them completely. You may need to do this a few times with brambles. It works not by burning the foliage, but just by collapsing the cell structure of the leaves / stems.

Saw a tractor driven flame weeder for use on commercial organic carrot fields yesterday : impressive but rather expensive to hire in !
Flamer the width of a 4-row wide carrot drill, in protective housing, with a row of tiny chain harrows on the back to disturb the weed seedling roots. Being done a couple of times before carrot seed sowing in order to create a 'stale seedbed'.

Stale seedbed = creating a fine tilth for your seedbed but not sowing; leaving it until the first crop of weeds emerge, hoeing or whatever to get rid of weed; repeating again to catch the second weed crop, and only then sowing.

Blue Sky

Joined: 30 Jan 2005
Posts: 7658
Location: France

Posted: Sun Apr 30, 06 7:06 pm Post subject:

oddballdave wrote:

Fire!
A flame gun which can be applied every couple of weeks to the new green growth will defeat it on your side of the wall eventually.
Dave

Brilliant Dave, Thanks.

I poured parafin over mine last month and set the b*ggers on fire (we have loads of bramble here) which seems to have done the trick for now but:
a) It was a waste of parafin &
b) It set fire to most of the grass nearbye -

silly me

The heat gun idea is most certainly the first thing I will go for when the damned things start to re-appear. Much more of a controlled approach.

Good post!

S

oddballdave

Joined: 08 Mar 2006
Posts: 259
Location: Telford, Shropshire

Posted: Sun Apr 30, 06 8:25 pm Post subject:

<end senior moment>

<reads word on tip of tongue>

Blowlamp.

That was the word I was trying to think of!
Flame Gun/Bitumen Torch/Heat gun

and Blowtorch!

I have a small gas unit. Cost a couple of pounds from Netto.
Gas canister is small to large (�1 to �5) from camping or DIY stores

If you get one with the paint stripper attachment, then you get a wide strip of flame rather than a point.

When I wanted to clean the allotment I used a large propane tank with the flame gun from flat roof repair. I allowed the heat to bake off the slug eggs and seeds, slightly more than was necessary to just kill off the plants. But gil was correct that you can kill off the leaves quite quickly, my warning was that there is such a thing as too much heat on stone.

HTH

Dave

wishus

Joined: 24 Oct 2005
Posts: 777
Location: Northampton, East Midlands

Posted: Sun Apr 30, 06 9:24 pm Post subject:
destroy brambles? I'm keeping mine as a burglar deterrent / jam-fruit crop.

cab

Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

Posted: Sun Apr 30, 06 10:10 pm Post subject:

Lozzie wrote:

Can't you eat knotweed?

Yes, you can, and its rather like rhubarb. Take the leaves off young shoots and stew down with sugar. Great stuff.

When you're clearing it, be very, very careful. Drop any and it can root.

Other than boiling it to make wine, whats the best way of disposing of the stuff once you've cleared it?

Lozzie

Joined: 25 May 2005
Posts: 2595

Posted: Mon May 01, 06 6:54 am Post subject:

wellington womble

Joined: 08 Nov 2004
Posts: 15051
Location: East Midlands

Posted: Mon May 01, 06 8:39 am Post subject:
Aren't there restrictions on how you dispose of knotweed? I think you can't take it to landfill? Maybe the enviroment agency have some advice. I tried just wilting the weeds on my patio with the flame gume, and now it has rained (at last!) the things are looking as healthy as ever, so you do have burn 'em. Mind you, it is couch grass, so it might be exceptionally tough stuff.

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