Food Gardening

[manticle]

Finally got some good patches going after 4 months and a bit of work.

I was in a hurry to get stuff in the ground so my soil preparation was a bit naff.
Paying for it now with a constant battle against weeds and the soil is a bit dry and grey but most seeds I've planted seem to be coming up after a week or so.

Anyone got any tips on non herbicide methods of blackberry control? Got a bit growing here - I know I won't get rid of it and eating the occasional berry won't be too bad but that fucker needs to be restrained.

 

[wide eyed and legless]

I emptied the last of my aged compost onto the garden beds and turned over the newer compost, a couple of cubic meters in a confined space, when I come to use it in autumn it will be half the amount.

 

[wide eyed and legless]

Anyone got any tips on non herbicide methods of blackberry control? Got a bit growing here - I know I won't get rid of it and eating the occasional berry won't be too bad but that fucker needs to be restrained.

The only thing I know of is a goat, but it will eat everything else it comes across,I think most weed killers nowadays are neutralised when they hit the soil, not sure about Blackberry killer though.

 

[manticle]

I'd love to get a goat but the yard might not be big enough to be able to keep it away from everything else.
Maybe I can rent one?

Will have a look at some chemical options -the brambles are far away enough from everything else that I wouldn't be super concerned - it's more that I wouldn't mind eating some fresh blackberries.

 

[Danwood]

I was reading about a goat for sale in Richmond recently... think it's gone now, though.

 

[manticle]

Richmond, TAS?

Or VIC?

 

[Camo6]

A good 'low' toxin herbicide for blackberry is Brush Off or its equivalent. Not super effective on very young blackberry but great for bigger plants. Slow acting but gets right into the roots. Supposedly less harmful than fly spray but wouldn't rely on that. Otherwise, gloves, a fern hook and a whole lotta physical labour. Or a goat. But that might cause a bit of gossip with your neighbours. Better to be Manticle: the Great Blackberry Poisoner.

 

[Danwood]

Richmond, TAS?

Or VIC?

Nah, Victoria. It went to a Japanese buyer, I think.

 

[manticle]

I want a cordless goat I can pack away when it's not in use.

 

[Danwood]

Here's me, trying to be subtly topical, and you're just being silly.

And anyway, there's no reason why you couldn't pack away a corded goat just as easily as a cordless one.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

http://goat-simulator.com/

 

[spog]

I'd love to get a goat but the yard might not be big enough to be able to keep it away from everything else.
Maybe I can rent one?
Will have a look at some chemical options -the brambles are far away enough from everything else that I wouldn't be super concerned - it's more that I wouldn't mind eating some fresh blackberries.

Sodium perc ? Biodegradable and gets rid of nasties in the brewery so it might sort a nasty in the yard.

 

[Airgead]

My FIL used to have a flamethrower type arrangement that he used to burn blackberries out of gullies. That would be effective. And fun. Almost as much fun as a goat.

 

[manticle]

You could roast the goat at the same time.

 

[Dave70]

Finally got some good patches going after 4 months and a bit of work.

I was in a hurry to get stuff in the ground so my soil preparation was a bit naff.
Paying for it now with a constant battle against weeds and the soil is a bit dry and grey but most seeds I've planted seem to be coming up after a week or so.

Anyone got any tips on non herbicide methods of blackberry control? Got a bit growing here - I know I won't get rid of it and eating the occasional berry won't be too bad but that fucker needs to be restrained.

I've had good results destroying ******* lantana creeping into my yard by taking a 25mm spade bit drill to the thickest part of the trunk I could find, boring in about 50mm and filling the hole with one of the top selling glyphosate herbicides. Neat. Shes on the way out after three weeks.
Had to do this covertly as technically the trunk is still on my neighbors land. But he's not interested in keeping it tidy so bugger him. The whispering pines will be the next to go.

 

[wide eyed and legless]

You can drill little holes into a tree and squirt some Roundup into the hole that will kill it.

 

[Dave70]

You can drill little holes into a tree and squirt some Roundup into the hole that will kill it.

Thats the plan for the pines as the trunk is to far to reach with the Makita..

 

[Camo6]

My neighbours gigantic cypress that overhangs 4 metres over my backyard will be getting a bit of glyphopuncture to help it cope with the upcoming El Niño.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Thats the plan for the pines as the trunk is to far to reach with the Makita..

You need a cordless DeWalt

 

[Dave70]

You need a cordless DeWalt

The drill isn't the problem. By 'to far' I mean I cant stretch my arm far enough through the pig wire fence. Id hate to be labeled as some kind of neighborhood tree killer if sprung.