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‘It contains some lovely trees and shrubs that we want to keep’
We recently bought an old 1960s-style bungalow with a large, established garden. It contains some lovely trees and shrubs that we want to keep, but is very badly overgrown with brambles.
What’s the best way to clear these without resorting to weedkillers? Áine F, Cork The first step is to cut their long, thorny, arching stems right back to the ground, so arm yourself with a strong pair of thorn-resistant, protective gloves, eye-protective goggles, and an old thick overcoat that you don’t mind getting torn and then use a long-armed, extendable loppers to slice them to the ground.
Then use the loppers to chop these thorny stems up into smaller pieces before piling them into a heap in a quiet corner of the garden to rot down. The next step is to excavate as much of the bramble plants’ deep, suckering root systems as you can.
A hardy, vigorous, woody perennial that can quickly colonise new ground, the root systems of this very widespread native plant can go very deeply into the soil and can regenerate quite easily from just small fragments left behind. You’ll need to use a mattock, pickaxe or strong garden fork or spade to prise them out as thoroughly as you can, concentrating particularly on removing the main central root system of each plant while taking care not to damage the root systems of any nearby trees, shrubs and perennials that you want to keep.
Bear in mind that you’ll almost certainly need to repeat this process several times over the course of a year or two to properly eradicate them, so it will be a slow and laborious business, but worth it in the end. Although wild brambles don’t regularly produce viable seeds, it’s also important to watch out for any baby seedlings that may appear in the interim and remove these quickly to prevent them establishing.
Once you have the ground reliably clear of brambles, mulch it generously with an organic mulch to suppress further weed growth as well as to boost the health of any remaining ornamental plants, which have presumably been neglected for some time. In large open areas of the garden, you could also consider sowing a lawn, with regular mowing being another very effective way to eradicate brambles and other stubborn perennial weeds without resorting to herbicides.
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