Any tips on getting rid of blackberry bushes? I'm open to use of chemicals
but would early use a more natural alternative.

If you are talking about "European Blackberries" here in the US, It's not
easy. I really don't know of any natural alternative. I had two and one-half
acres of the stuff (12'-15' tall) in Oregon and I had to get chemical! I
used a brush hog and round-up, stacked up the dead stuff and burned it.

My neighbor had a similar "field of dreams" (nightmares) and attacked it
differently. He brought in a bulldozer and cut a path to the center (wearing
motorcycle leathers and helmet for protection). When he got there, he set a
post and attached a chain. He connected the chain to his tractor and started
driving in a circle around the field. This mowed it down and THEN he used
"Round up".

Minor differences, but the stuff is pretty aggressive in certain parts of
the country.

How much do you have, and what part of the country?

chet

"Jessica" wrote in message
...
Any tips on getting rid of blackberry bushes? I'm open to use of chemicals
but would early use a more natural alternative.

If you are talking about "European Blackberries" here in the US, It's not
easy. I really don't know of any natural alternative. I had two and one-half
acres of the stuff (12'-15' tall) in Oregon and I had to get chemical! I
used a brush hog and round-up, stacked up the dead stuff and burned it.

My neighbor had a similar "field of dreams" (nightmares) and attacked it
differently. He brought in a bulldozer and cut a path to the center (wearing
motorcycle leathers and helmet for protection). When he got there, he set a
post and attached a chain. He connected the chain to his tractor and started
driving in a circle around the field. This mowed it down and THEN he used
"Round up".

Minor differences, but the stuff is pretty aggressive in certain parts of
the country.

How much do you have, and what part of the country?

chet

"Jessica" wrote in message
...
Any tips on getting rid of blackberry bushes? I'm open to use of chemicals
but would early use a more natural alternative.

Man, still new to these newsgroups. I tried to reply to you but I get a
message saying i need to make a profile in Outlook. Strange.

I live in Northwest Washington in the forest. The blackberries are few
compared to other nuisances like the alders. The reason I ask is that there
are many stumps of once mighty cedar trees on my property. They're quite
beautiful except for blackberry bushes crawling on them.

After I posted this message I met a lady who told me that her mother used to
dig deep into the ground where the roots are and lay rock salt. She said
they never came back. I may try this but I hope it won't kill anything else
as I'd love to plant some phlox or ivy.


"Jessica" wrote in message
...
Any tips on getting rid of blackberry bushes? I'm open to use of chemicals
but would early use a more natural alternative.

Garlon works. Kills alder too.

"Pat Keith" wrote:
Garlon works. Kills alder too.

There you go,a man with the herbicide plan. Hard to find advice like that,
for free.

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Go# 40 42 12

On Thu, 27 Feb 2003 17:00:36 -0800, Jessica wrote:

Man, still new to these newsgroups. I tried to reply to you but I get a
message saying i need to make a profile in Outlook. Strange.

I live in Northwest Washington in the forest. The blackberries are few
compared to other nuisances like the alders. The reason I ask is that
there are many stumps of once mighty cedar trees on my property. They're
quite beautiful except for blackberry bushes crawling on them.

After I posted this message I met a lady who told me that her mother used
to dig deep into the ground where the roots are and lay rock salt. She
said they never came back. I may try this but I hope it won't kill
anything else as I'd love to plant some phlox or ivy.



non-chemical removal is all about labor. Plain and simple. You basically
hack them down and dig them up. You maybe able to rent/brorrow a few
goats? Goats will mow everthing down 80), you can dig up the rest. The
rock salt trick will work, but it can posion the soil over time tho.
Boiling water works great also.

You will be unable to purchase ivy for replanting I'm afraid. Washington
has/will classify ivy asa class a noxious weed as they should. If you
plant ivy, it will take over and become a far worse problem than the
blackberries.