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submitted 1 year ago by ianhclark510 to c/gardening@lemmy.world

I’m struggling with my yard, blackberry vines have pretty much taken over, does anyone have any tools they’ve found efficient at removing them? Looking for inspiration since search results are filled with such junk

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[-] catloaf@lemm.ee 8 points 1 year ago

Honestly, the most effective tool is a spade.

[-] teft@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago

100% this. Blackberries are rhisomatic which means they can grow back from a tiny bit of leftover root. You need to remove all the roots to get rid of them. Also blackberries take three years to mature so you may have to deal with this for a few years before they are truly gone.

[-] SchmidtGenetics@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

Don’t they still need energy for that? So if you constantly till it for a year you should be good too. Or am I way off base on that?

[-] teft@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Way off base. To control rhisomatic plants you want to refrain from tilling. They spread easier when you till since you break apart the rhisomes and each piece can create a new plant.. It's one of those things that can really frustrate new gardeners or home owners who don't know about this. This is why you plant rhizomatic plants in raised beds, it's way easier to control them that way.

[-] morphballganon@mtgzone.com 2 points 1 year ago

What if I till and then get rid of all the loose dirt?

[-] catloaf@lemm.ee 1 points 1 year ago

Yeah but that's going to be expensive.

[-] SchmidtGenetics@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Yes, but after you till them a second time, before they can pull energy back into the roots it will slowly kill them over time. I’ve just heard of it as a cheaper more efficient way when it’s a large patch since it’s so much soil to remove and replace.

[-] catloaf@lemm.ee 4 points 1 year ago

You would think, but in practice, they're very good at regenerating. That's why these, and others like oriental bittersweet and Virgina creeper are so problematic. (I don't know if they're strictly in the same category, but they behave the same.)

[-] SchmidtGenetics@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Dang, maybe I’ll look up their growth process then, I wonder if they get enough energy from the soil, or if it starts storing energy by the time you see the shoots.

Natures fascinating.

[-] catloaf@lemm.ee 1 points 1 year ago

So I did a little reading. For rhizomatic plants, the horizontal vine is actually the stem. It's basically one big plant growing horizontally underground. That's why if you don't pull it all, you're just plucking shoots off the stem. And like most plants, if you cut up the stem and plant it, each section will grow a new plant.

Of course, if you completely shred it into very fine pieces, it won't be able to regrow. But it can come back from fairly small ones. You might think you've gotten it all, but it's just regrowing until it erupts again.

[-] whyrat@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago

Apply fertilizer and start watering them. As soon as you try to get blackberries they die off in my experience...

[-] Aezora@lemm.ee 4 points 1 year ago

I've found it easiest as a two step process, first removing all the vines using loppers (the kinda bolt cutter looking things), and then once that's all been trimmed close to the ground and all the vines discarded, then using a normal shovel to uproot them.

[-] bigboig@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 1 year ago

I like using a pickaxe to really pry up the taproots

[-] LordCrom@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

But aren't blackberries good to grow? My market charges like $8 for a tiny box of them

[-] Drusas@kbin.run 2 points 1 year ago

They are extremely invasive.

[-] ianhclark510 1 points 1 year ago

Valid point, I don’t want to spend the time or effort needed to cultivate them, and I doubt Himalayan blackberries are a popular commercial cultivar

[-] ThrowawaySobriquet@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

If it's really crazy, might be best to take it apart in pieces. Don't try to pull out huge pieces, just trim with lopers or some shears if you're brave and treat it like eating an elephant. Spread it over a couple days, even. Like someone else said, trim it all the way back to the root ball and, if you want it gone, shovel it

this post was submitted on 12 Jun 2024
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