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Cut down brambles

Lizzie27Lizzie27 Posts: 12,494
in Problem solving
I've just cut down lots of bramble shoots from an old hedge and intended to throw them  together with the hedge prunings, into a ditch below - but will the bramble root from these shoots again or just die?
North East Somerset - Clay soil over limestone
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Posts

  • nutcutletnutcutlet Posts: 27,445
    If they get their feet in the soil it will be just like hardwood cuttings



    In the sticks near Peterborough
  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,889
    Can you stack them in a pile until they've dried up , then chuck them in the ditch?
    Devon.
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    Hmm ... if the ditch ever has water in it , be it ever so little, it really isn’t a good idea to use it as a rubbish dump.

    Branches, twigs and brambles slow the flow of water, leading to blockages and floods. It may only hold water once every seven years or so , but if that blockage leads to a flooded garden, a flooded house, or even a flooded village, you may regret it. :'(

     Ditches are usually there for a reason. ...

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • PosyPosy Posts: 3,601
    I assume this is your ditch? I know owners of fields with houses on the other side of the hedge who find residents throw garden waste into the field, to the detriment of the livestock. They have to spend hours clearing it. I think such people should be prosecuted for fly tipping.
  • Lizzie27Lizzie27 Posts: 12,494
    Dove and Posy, perhaps ditch wasn't the right word to use. It's a bit hard to describe but I needed to fill in a steep slope in the verge down to our boundary wall so I can walk relatively safely along it in the future when I need to prune the hedge again. It's about 2ft wide by 25 ft long. I did check with the neighbours first. It's a cul de sac so no livestock involved. When the weather gets better, I'm thinking of covering the debris with bark mulch and pegging down a wild honeysuckle I managed to salvage.   
    North East Somerset - Clay soil over limestone
  • DampGardenManDampGardenMan Posts: 1,054
    Do you want the brambles in the hedge to grow back again? If you haven't got the crowns out (the knobbly bit just below the surface) then they'll probably come back like stink.

    On the plus side I've stacked cut bramble stems many feet deep and none have yet rooted!
  • Lizzie27Lizzie27 Posts: 12,494
    Thank goodness for that comment DGM, I've realized I've already trampled some down with the rest of the debris.  I don't want the brambles to grow again although I'm sure they will). It's too difficult to dig them out so plan to keep cutting them off at soil level and/or use Roundup.  Wish me luck!
    North East Somerset - Clay soil over limestone
  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Posts: 11,385
    SBK brushwood killer used carefully (I use a paintbrush) on any regrowth will do the trick Lizzie but they are persistent especially if roots are well embedded within a hedge, so you may have to treat more than once.  It also works on ash saplings which can't be dug out of awkward places, another perennial nuisance in my garden. 
    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  • SkandiSkandi Posts: 1,723
    I'll second the SBK brush it on the stumps as soon as you cut them, takes out brambles on the first application in my experience. I can't vouch for ash saplings, but it certainly does elm and sycamore.
  • PosyPosy Posts: 3,601
    You do need strength to dig them out but it's worth it if you can because the ground is then clear. I am too old and arthritic to do 25ft. But a yard or two at a time is very satisfying.
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