Posted on 02/24/2023 7:37:24 AM PST by LouAvul
These are large patches on rural property.
I've narrowed it down to two methods. One is to use a burner which will cost me ~$100. The other is to use a backhoe which will cost me ~$35,000.
Suggestions? This is very rural property with very large patches of blackberries.
Sell ‘em-
lots of foks want ‘em.
I had them on some property I sold way back when.
LOVED them.
Great natural fence, and great tasting too.
Also, easy pickin’s for harvesting pests like rabbits etc.
Crazy prices to buy a few bare roots.
Dynamite?
What ever you do, be very careful.
Snakes love blackberry patches.
Some of my fondest memories are of a very large BB patch near our home. I would stop by, eat my fill, and then visit the nearby waterwell.
BTW, BB packed in water with spoon of sugar then frozen. Damn good eating.
Be very careful moving around in blackberry bushes...Copperheads love blackberry bushes...
Had about a 20’ by 80’ patch 4 years ago on a sidehill with rocky soil, where our yard borders the woods. Too many rocks for a spade. Chainsawed a couple inches from the ground: made one pass with the saw, then raked the cut away from the uncut with a garden rake and a pitchfork. Threw on a brushpile for burning. Repeat until done. Good workout.
Mowed the the patch ever since. The roots must have given up. No sign of them anymore.
Just beat me to it (about the snakes)...LOL
Goats.
Call the local university extension and have them put you in touch with the Master Gardeners. They might come dig them out.
Just my thoughts! You might have to purchase a number system to keep the throng of awaiting pickers in order.
Goats are highly effective and you can often find people with them who are willing to rent them cheaply (free graze).
If your soil is pliable you might consider renting a skid steer or bobcat and using a tool called a ratchet rake. It’s fun to use and it is quite effective at pulling them out but you will have to do some follow-up.
We have blackberries along our deer fence for the garden and I am quite fond of them. Would love to have a few wild patches as I picked many as a kid!
https://extension.oregonstate.edu/news/methods-control-blackberry-thickets
I’ve removed acres of blackberries on our organic farm by plowing, tilling, thrashing the vines to send them into shock. Takes several treatments over a year but I’ve killed huge stands of the blackberries this way.’
Also planting a cover crop (even small areas) of certain rye grasses or better legume cover crop seed mixes that compete and strangle them. You can mow most cover crops then eventually till under.
Yep, my goats have eaten anything and everything thorny and also eradicated the poison ivy.
As kids, mom paid us 15 cents a quart. Their friend paid us 25 cents a quart for wild blackberries. Wasn’t worth it even then.
Wild blackberries taste better than domesticated varieties. I have some on property I own. I pick enough every year for my wife to make me a couple of blackberry cobblers, which is one of my favorite things to eat . . . a weakness from childhood.
**Be very careful moving around in blackberry bushes...Copperheads love blackberry bushes...**
Spray starting fluid (ether) into the brush a couple inches above and horizontal to the ground, the snakes will retreat quickly. But spray downwind from yourself! And no smoking!
D8 Cat to scrape them into a pile for burning. After that, spray new shoots with Roundup for the rest of your life.
Blackberries make a very nice wine. I’m surprised no one has mentioned it.
I’ll just be careful when picking blackberries to eat...I’m not spraying anything on the bushes...
As for this whole thread, I see no reason to destroy blackberry bushes anyway...They are too good for jams, jellies, pies and just plain berry eatin’...
Cut your way in to where the stems come out of the ground, then dig or pull as much root as you can get. If any try to come back the next spring, dig them up again. That should do it.
When I was much younger (and lighter), I’d take two long planks and a 5-gallon pail and work my way across the tops of huge blackberry thickets. Sometimes I’d be 8 or 10 feet above the ground and 20 yards from the edge of the thicket; falling off was not a good idea. Later, my sister would make pies and jam from the berries.
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