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Brambles and bindweed
BuzzyLizzie
Posts: 4
Hi!
I'm an anthusiastic amateur gardener who's just acquired my first own garden. Yeay!
However, to my great detriment, the circa 80sq metre plot is absolutely littered in brambles and bindweed. Every fork full is littered with the roots. Not only that. It's apparent that the plot has been littered with building debris and I keep raking back grass to find crushed glass etc. Not fun:(
I am almost resigned to give up digging through the heavy clay soil to find something I can plant into.
I'd be grateful for some advice whether covering the plot and building raised beds might be the less frustrating solution, or whether I should get professional help clearing the site to avoid the evil stuff coming through!
Thank you
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Posts
Very much agree with Verdun BL.
Glyphosphate is broken down on contact with soil, and is your best option.
As an alternative to Roundup, I used Rosate36 last year and it cleared an area 30ft x 30ft of brambles. nettles and even the ivy. It's the same as Roundup but much stronger and availabe from Ama**n. Use at 30ml/L and it'll work very well. The Roundup worked on nettles and to a certain extent on brambles.
I started in April last year and done 2 sprays about 3 weeks apart and further spot-spray was needed on the ivy but after about 8 weeks it was desolate.
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
It will be worth the effort and wait if you persevere and clear the site. Gardens take years to develop anyway - a life-time even. You could ask for a quote for some garden labouring if this is a physical, or emotional, challenge too far or you would just like to make progress a bit quicker.
Treat it as a renovation project - when you have no kitchen for a month, you dont starve so you can take the time whilst it's being cleared and cleansed to dream up plans. You can always do pots this year and the bigger plants can be transplanted next year - win:win.
I agree with Verdun too. Wait until the weeds and brambles have new growth and it's a bit warmer before spraying, it will work better when there is growth to absorb the weedkiller. If you would like raised beds though, you will still have to get rid of the weeds, especially bindweed, or they will grow through the raised beds.
Your name is very like mine. Did you ask for Busy-Lizzie but it was already taken?
Have you tried potatoes? I once had to create a garden from an area of cleared woodland that was a bit like what you have described. Not only do potatoes break up the soil, they have something in them that inhibits a lot of weeds. Okay the garden was functional rather than beautiful for a year, but I had a lot less trouble in Year 2, as well as a lot of spuds. As the other guys say, you can't expect instant results.
For the big roots there is not much else for it other than using a commercial rotavator. I paid someone to do this. It will lift the roots to the surface and break them up into small pieces. You will still have to spend a lot of tme raking out, but they will eventually rot down and help create a fertile gardening soil. Good luck. Ian.
Last edited: 06 March 2017 00:34:28
IMHO rotovating it would be the worst idea imaginable. Every shred of root of bindweed will make a new plant.
Sorry, but I don't agree. A rotavator will break up all the roots creating root cuttings, each of which will grow into a new plant. This happens especially with brambles, bindweed, couch grass and ground elder. You will never be able to rake them all out and they don't rot down, they grow. I know because I had a useless firm to start my garden by flattening and laying the lawns. It had been a farmyard and a bit of a field. They didn't weedkill anything, only rotavated and raked. It meant perennial weeds in the lawns and flower beds. That was over 20 years ago and bindweed and couch grass still creep into the beds from the lawn.
When I grew potatoes in the veg garden they didn't inhibit the weeds. The earth was broken up because of the work I put in digging, planting and digging them up.
Agree with Hosta, not Inglezinho.
Sorry, but potatoes do not break up soil and weeds. You do with all the digging needed to plant them and them keep them earthed up and then harvest them. Back breaking in poor or infested soils.
Rotavating is also a seriously bead idea for all the propagating reasons given above.
IThe best way to go is a spray with a glyphosate based weed kiler on fresh new growth. Follow the instructions on the bottle and add a drop of washing up liquid to help it stick to the leaves. It needs 6 hours of dry, preferably sunny weather to be absorbed and then takes 2 weeks to kill the plants right down to the roots. For strong weeds, a second dose may be necessary.
After that you can dig it over, pulling up every scrap of plant and root you find. Do not put them on a compost heap. Burn them or take them to the dump.
Then you can prepare the soil for whatever plans and plants you have. in mind. If you still can't work the clay after all the weeds are dead - it should be a bit drier by then as spring moves along - then cover it with copious amounts of composted material which you can somerimes buy in bulk from the council or eles take advantage of special offers of multi purpose compost or soil conditioners from local DIY and garden stores.
The worms will work it in for you through the year and you can and should re-apply every autumn once your plants have gone dormant.
Building raised beds is another possibility but will require some expertise and investment to build something sturdy and long lasting and attractive.