How best to clear big patch brambles, ivy etc...
chloedp
Posts: 1
My brother and myself have taken on the mammoth task of getting our Dad's garden under control! It is a big space and has been covered with brambles, ivy and all kinds of things for the past couple of years... Sad because my Dad was a wonderful gardener when he was younger.
We have had a couple of gardeners in to clear and get rid of about 2/3 of the material but now comes the fun part, actually getting roots out of the ground and tidying the whole thing up!!
But there must be a more effective way of doing this than digging up all the individual the roots (I hope!!), there are so so many!!! Would anyone have advice on returning this space to a blank slate? Are there any tools that would make our lives easier? Could we burn the roots?!
I would love to be able to use this space again and return it to it's former glory!
Thank you!!
Posts
Digging is an option, the other (and it's not for everyone) is weedkiller. For the weedkiller you'll need foliage to apply it to which will mean letting the weeds grow back again in the interim. Weedkiller is not for everyone as said but it might be your best option (at least in terms of time and effort) with a patch this size. With brambles and 'tough' weeds it might also need more than one application. You have to weigh up the pros and cons of what approach you take.
Hopefully you can then return it to something that will be a fitting reminder of your Dad and that he would be proud of.
Last edited: 23 August 2017 17:36:39
Agree with Dave Humby, no quick easy fix.
With hind sight it may of been ideal to of used weedkiller before it was cleared to get best results this year. Applying weedkiller now may be a waste of time and money as it best works on new growth which will be at its best next spring / early summer now.
At this time year if your wanting to clear it now / this autumn I think its probably going to be achieved best by digging it over by hand. It will probably need doing again next spring too. One consolation is that starting now you do have all winter to dig it all over.
EDIT: looking at the photos though I've a lot lot worse than this, it's largely clear and level.
Last edited: 23 August 2017 18:54:21
Good luck with all that. I would resort to strong weed killers when next years shoots come up. Unless you have an army of gardener helpers and time is not an issue it will be almost too much to manage.
Dont rotovate it or the small roots will cause even more problems. If nothing else, weedkillers will at least stop it getting worse.
Show us how you are getting on next year.
'You must have some bread with it me duck!'