AareneX of Haiku Farm recently wrote about Himalayan blackberry with much more depth and humour than I could ever muster. I was telling David about it last Saturday while we attacked another stand that has been encroaching on Farcical Farm from the neighbor's property. Last time I used a pair of bypass loppers, but this time I pulled out the big guns -- my beloved Husqvarna straight shaft trimmer with its brush blade attached. (Aside to EvenSong: I just realized that even our lawn mower and weed whacker are orange.)
The key to killing blackberries lies in limiting their photosynthesis. If you can keep above-surface leaves to a minimum their below-surface roots will eventually weaken and die. By "eventually" I mean three or four years -- they are very hardy. The Husqy can get the canes right at ground level, making it a useful tool in the blackberry war. I hope that AareneX is reading this, and I hope that you will visit Haiku Farm to urge her on. They just got a new tractor today, and EvenSong will be happy to hear that it's blue.
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Do the goats enjoy munching on the canes?
Potbellied piggies! You need some potbellied piggies! There was a large growth of these dastardly blackberries in the area I enclosed for a piggy yard, and while they didn't eat the original old-wood very thorny canes, they have carefully cultivated all around the patch, chomping away at the roots and all new growth until there is virtually nothing left but a few dead canes for me to clip out.
Of course, there is nothing green left - period - in the piggy yard. They are four-legged rototillers.
Isn't she funny...the second I saw your post title..I knew who!
Thank you, dp, for the acknowledgment of blue. Tho my current senior citizen stable colors are navy and gray (to match my hair),I do want to let you know that, back in college, by "official" colors were actually slate blue with RUST (orange) as an accent. So I guess you can have all your citric implements!
Glad you were able to conquer the blackberries! That brush blade looks ser-i-ous!
We don't have blackberries. Our war is with the local burdock population. They are so big and tough we chop them down with an axe.
Love this post. Blackberries are evil!!! We have tons on our property that we cut back every year. I do have to respect their resilience!
Hey! Cool! Thanks for the link!
I've decided that you can never really KILL blackberries, although I had a neighbor who dumped used motor oil on them, and that treatment dampened their enthusiasm somewhat.
I am content to lower the self-esteem of blackberry vines long enough to get my fence built. Gotta build quick, though!
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