How did I miss you lot? Please help me with my brambles

[baileys_mum 10]

OMG I have only just found this section and you may be able to save me!

 

I have been told to kill the blackberry bush thats killing my garden I'm to use rock salt. My question is this A will it work and B will it affect the soil as I am hoping to grow veg in the patch this year

[mc55 10]

hmm, my experience of blackberries is that they are indestructible ! I've had to dig mine out - can you get to it ?

[jena76 10]

hmm, my experience of blackberries is that they are indestructible ! I've had to dig mine out - can you get to it ?

 

I pity you blackberries are a right pain to get rid off! I have been trying to get rid of mine for ages and the buggers keep coming back

[Ginger_Kitty 10]

salt on any ground that you want to grow things in is not a good idea. If its strong enough to kill a bramble its probably strong enough to kill almost anything else you put in there!!

 

people used to sabotage crops by salting them... kills everything for years

 

You could always hack the bramble back (ouch!) and try to keep it compact and trained then you could have blackberries in your veg patch

[baileys_mum 10]

I have dug the bleedin thing up 4 times and then it comes back. I am convinced its coming from bird poo

[Yellowrose 10]

You could try "root out", several applications after cutting back got rid of one for us. I also bought a bramble killer from a garden centre but cant remember what it was called. Ive never heard of rock salt being used in this way on brambles ... I think some people put it on dandelions.

[baileys_mum 10]

It was a council gardener that told me about it, apparently it can kill a tree too

[pawa 10]

Don't use salt, like you were told it would kill a tree. I guess it would be ok to use on patios and drives where you didn't want any growth.

 

If I can remember back to my school days, I think that this is due to osmosis.

 

When surrounded by water that contains a larger amount of salt

there is a general rule that water will try to move between the inside and

the outside of the cell wall to make the amount of dissolved things

equal.

 

So it would kill the brambles by making them dry out, shrivel up and die. But it would kill anything else in the vicinity and would make the soil unworkable until the rain had washed away or significantly diluted the salt.

[baileys_mum 10]

What else can I do then? After a good rain its back to 6ft tall again

[Guest]

OMG I have only just found this section ...

Just a quick question, and sorry to take the thread OT for a minute. As a group leader myself, I'm interested why people on the forum sometimes have trouble finding the groups. Did you only just notice the Gardening group today, and if so, how did you find it?

 

You can PM me if you like, if you don't want to continue taking the thread OT .

[jena76 10]

What else can I do then? After a good rain its back to 6ft tall again

 

I know what i will be doing! buying plenty of rocksalt. Brambles are a pain and if thats the only way so be it.

[baileys_mum 10]

I think I'll just have to get down and dirty on my knees and dig the lot out. Any volunteers