Unwanted brambles from neighbours garden
stba2006
Posts: 2
Hello
This is my first post and Im a complete beginner to gardening so any help would be really appreciated.
I have a small garden with borders on 3 sides and paving stone in the middle.
I have neighbours to either side and a large property in its own grounds at the end of my small garden which is separated with an old stone wall.
Brambles seems to be coming through from the property at the end of my garden and unless i cut back constantly they spread like tentacles coming through and under my borders.
On top of this my neighbouring property is rented and nothing is ever done with the garden and their very thick weeds keep coming through to my garden.
It is a constant struggle to just keep thier weeds and brambles off my property.
I am wanting to lay grass so that my daughter can play in there but am worried that this will make things worse.
Does anyone have any advice on how to stop the weeds and brambles from coming through to my garden so that i could put a lawn down
Also does anyone know if the 2 properties have any obligation to stop the weeds and brambles.
Last edited: 09 February 2018 13:41:37
Posts
There is an unofficial way of dealing with brambles that works very well but you will need care to keep it away from children. Get some liquid lawn weedkiller, make it up as directed put it into an old plastic bottle with a wide neck (there is a particular brand of fruit juice that has strong plastic bottles that are very suited to this). Get the tip of the bramble runner & stuff the end into the bottle leaves & all. Leave undisturbed for a week or 2. The weed killer will track down the stem and kill the root. You need to wear strong waterproof gloves when doing this & especially when taking the stem out. You also need to make sure your children can't get at the bottle & dispose of carefully. It is laborious but it works especially if you cant get to the root of the plant. Repeat as often as needed.
NO WEEDKILLER PLEASE!
I should be inclined to ask your neighbours if they would allow you to clear some of the brambles since they are annoying you, not them. I don't like chemicals much myself so I would tackle the job with spade, fork and mattock, clearing the roots back from your wall. Then I would put in a barrier at the base of the wall, on their side, something like old slates, buried in the soil. Anything that came through after that I would clobber as Iain suggests, but there shouldn't be much of a problem.
I agree with Posy. It's a pain to tidy up someone else's garden in addition to your own, but it would get to the heart of the matter.
Re the timeline, I would suggest dealing with the brambles asap then leaving the lawn until the autumn (lawns establish better in the autumn - better weather and less competition from weeds). Dig over the patch 2-4 weeks before you plan to seed so you have a chance to catch any weeds as they come up, then you can sow the grass seed.
Thanks for that advice Iain,
I have a bramble root right underneath a big stipa gigantica plant so digging it out is not an option and I have no problem with using weedkillers occasionally. I use the same method for bindweed using Resolva., but this doesn't work very well with brambles.
Thankyou so much for all of the advice.
I will show my partner and see which would be the best option for us.
I had this problem as you have and on three sides.. Brambles coming from the left side..The neighbour left his garden for years so it got 12 ft high brambles. I took photos and printed off about 10 and made an appointment with the local council. The owner of the property bought it from the council and the condition was to maintain the garden which he failed to do.. They gave him 28 days to clear it all or be prosecuted.. It worked.. I got a mate who was a lamdscape gardener to knock on his door. He got the job and it was cleared...
My other neighbour was rennter never touched the garden which has about 3000 sycanore seedling in what was once a lawn. They took 5 yrs but eventually were evicted for debt etc.. The day they left I took my power saw and cut it all back to within a foot of the ground and clear of my fence.. I really enjoyed cutting the B's back.
The rear fence had major Ivy and branbles too so did the same. Weed killer ie Round up did nothing.. Best of luck...
It isn't the case that you can't get rid of brambles without weedkiller. I know this because we cleared a large area when we came here nearly thirty years ago. You have to dig right down into the soil and remove the roots. They will grow back, however, which is why I advised putting in a barrier.