There is one battle that I will not have to undertake this year. A battle after which it is always difficult to tell who had the upper hand. I usually emerge scratched and stabbed and my adversary missing a few limbs.
If you have been following Martyn's blog you will have an idea what I am talking about. We are renovating the area in which our thuggish blackberry resides which has meant that the thug had been reduced to a shadow of its former self - indeed one or two roots.
The demise of the said plant is charted on Martyn's blog here and here but just to summarise this ...
The plot next door but one to me has huge brambles on it, yours looked like a baby in comparison. It hasn't been worked since I took my plot on so you can imagine how out of hand it's become. Someone has recently taken on the plot and they were hacking it down at the weekend when Mick visited. I wonder if they're wanting to remove it completely, or if they'll actually succeed if that's what they're hoping to do.
I've had some good offers from them, Mark which is why they email me. I'd be tempted but I have about a dozen hellebores already that I got from them when they were selling two collections of six for the price of one collection a couple of years or so ago. In the end rather than ended up with two of each variety I ended up with six single and six doubles.
Crikey, that was a job and a half. I can sympathise. There are brambles galore on the steep bank behind the house that is my particular nemesis. Even if we could, it wouldn't be a good idea to dig them out because they hold up the soil! The would be organic grower in me doesn't want to resort to a chemical, but it may have to be.
I'm very impressed with that transformation - a lot of hard work involved I think. Good luck with the tayberry. I have one in a very silly position and it's always pulling threads on my clothes.
I keep having to pull bits of our tayberry in, CJ as it send canes out across a gap between it and the greenhouse. At least on the plot though I don;t wear anything decent
I have ever seen red berry bush in the plateau at 2000 meters elevation from sea level. I think red berry and black berry bush are same plant, but they are different. I have no experience about this plant.
I'm impressed Sue! How exciting to have that area tamed and ready to grow new things. Hope the tayberry doesn't extract too high a price for its pruning.
Thank you for visiting and leaving a comment - it is great to hear from you and know that there are people out there actually reading what I write! Come back soon. (By the way any comments just to promote a commercial site, or any comments not directly linked to the theme of my blog, will be deleted) I am getting quite a lot of spam. It is not published and is just deleted. I have stopped sifting through it and just delete any that ends up in my spam folder in one go so I am sorry if one of your messages is deleted accidentally. Comments to posts over five days old are all moderated.
The plot next door but one to me has huge brambles on it, yours looked like a baby in comparison. It hasn't been worked since I took my plot on so you can imagine how out of hand it's become. Someone has recently taken on the plot and they were hacking it down at the weekend when Mick visited. I wonder if they're wanting to remove it completely, or if they'll actually succeed if that's what they're hoping to do.
ReplyDeleteI did try and keep it tamed, Jo but in the end drastic action was called for.
DeleteThanks for the link to Hayloft's Hellebore Collection offer. I've just ordered one. At that price it's too good to miss!
ReplyDeleteI've had some good offers from them, Mark which is why they email me. I'd be tempted but I have about a dozen hellebores already that I got from them when they were selling two collections of six for the price of one collection a couple of years or so ago. In the end rather than ended up with two of each variety I ended up with six single and six doubles.
DeleteIt must have been a very prickly job. Their thorns are so lethal.
ReplyDeleteI've certainly had lots of need of a pair of tweezers over the years, Alain.
DeleteCrikey, that was a job and a half.
ReplyDeleteI can sympathise. There are brambles galore on the steep bank behind the house that is my particular nemesis. Even if we could, it wouldn't be a good idea to dig them out because they hold up the soil! The would be organic grower in me doesn't want to resort to a chemical, but it may have to be.
They really are beasts, Jessica, when we took on our plots they were covered in brambles
DeleteGoodness me I bet that was a job and a half. My trouble is that most of the time I let nature take its course but in the end it just takes over.
ReplyDeleteIt does where brambles are concerned, Elaine one cane touching the soil roots and off it heads off across the plot
DeleteI'm very impressed with that transformation - a lot of hard work involved I think. Good luck with the tayberry. I have one in a very silly position and it's always pulling threads on my clothes.
ReplyDeleteI keep having to pull bits of our tayberry in, CJ as it send canes out across a gap between it and the greenhouse. At least on the plot though I don;t wear anything decent
DeleteGoodness me, that's some job there! Glad you escaped the bloodbath, there's nothing worse than thorns.xxx
ReplyDeleteWe did think it would take longer to get out, Snowbird but Martyn did a good job,
DeleteI have ever seen red berry bush in the plateau at 2000 meters elevation from sea level. I think red berry and black berry bush are same plant, but they are different. I have no experience about this plant.
ReplyDeleteBlackberries grow wild in this country Endah, They grow in hedgerows where many people go to pick them.
DeleteI had a similar battle with a bougainvillea, after it I vowed to never plant a thorny plant again. But then blackberries are very nice......
ReplyDeleteI didn't realise that bouganvilleas were thorny, Liz, Blackberries are nice and whoever cultivated the thornless variety is to be congratulated.
DeleteI'm impressed Sue! How exciting to have that area tamed and ready to grow new things. Hope the tayberry doesn't extract too high a price for its pruning.
ReplyDeleteI think the tayberry will be a pussy cat compared to how that blackberry was to prune, Janet
DeleteThat certainly was a mammoth haircut for the blackberries!! Looks good though...wonder when the roots will forgive you and start to emerge again..lol
ReplyDeleteThey are probably already making plans, Tanya
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