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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.
PostPosted: Sun Apr 30, 06 12:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

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

PostPosted: Sun Apr 30, 06 12:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Can't you eat knotweed?

jamsam



Joined: 21 Oct 2005
Posts: 2560
Location: erm....i dont know, its dark.
PostPosted: Sun Apr 30, 06 12:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

i doubt it..maybe a rabbit could??

oddballdave



Joined: 08 Mar 2006
Posts: 259
Location: Telford, Shropshire
PostPosted: Sun Apr 30, 06 5:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

jamsam wrote:
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..


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

PostPosted: Sun Apr 30, 06 6:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

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
PostPosted: Sun Apr 30, 06 7:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

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
PostPosted: Sun Apr 30, 06 8:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

<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
PostPosted: Sun Apr 30, 06 9:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

destroy brambles?

I'm keeping mine as a burglar deterrent / jam-fruit crop.

cab



Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

PostPosted: Sun Apr 30, 06 10:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

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

PostPosted: Mon May 01, 06 6:54 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    


wellington womble



Joined: 08 Nov 2004
Posts: 15051
Location: East Midlands
PostPosted: Mon May 01, 06 8:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

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.

Treacodactyl
Downsizer Moderator


Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism
PostPosted: Mon May 01, 06 9:34 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

From the RHS:

https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profiles0604/japanese_knotweed.asp

RHS wrote:
Japanese knotweed is classed as 'controlled waste' under the Environmental Protection Act 1990. This requires disposal at licensed landfill sites. On no account should it be included with normal household waste.

Lozzie



Joined: 25 May 2005
Posts: 2595

PostPosted: Mon May 01, 06 10:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

So, knotweed is the same as Japanese knotweed? Sorry, having a dunderhead day

jamsam



Joined: 21 Oct 2005
Posts: 2560
Location: erm....i dont know, its dark.
PostPosted: Mon May 01, 06 12:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

well now ive cleared the patch i can see that the knotweed has originated in the pub area, not mine and the same goes for the brambles..i suppose i will just have to convince them its in thier best interests to clear it..i feel some begging in there somewhere..!!

Bovey Belle



Joined: 18 Apr 2006
Posts: 77

PostPosted: Mon May 01, 06 7:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

I feel sometimes that we could corner the market in brambles and nettles here, but we have just cleared a good sized patch so I have a new intake veg. plot. I don't use chemicals, and we just (well, OH did really) took the slasher to the bramble patch, and then dug the roots up with the long bar we use for making post holes for fencing. It's hard work, but it does totally eradicate the problem for a few years. We are very fortunate that there are fabulous bramble patches on our doorstep, so eradicating one or ours is not detrimental to my larder or freezer.

When they're "next door" though, it's not easy - but if you cut them back and keep cutting them back, it weakens them. As for the Japanese Knotweed, I used to eat it raw as a kid (we called it French Rhubarb). Again, just try and pull it out as soon as it grows. We have Touch-me-not Balsam here - my own fault as I thought how pretty it was and spread a few seeds in the wild part of the garden. I am now actively eradicating it . . . despite all the fun we've had over the years making the seedpods explode! You live and learn I guess . . .

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