Is there SOMETHING I can attach to my wire fence to keep the wild blackberries on the other side from growing through the fence and into my vegetable garden?
(They don't even taste that good!)
I can keep up with the ones that continually grow back because I left a teensy portion of root, but I can't keep up with the blackberries invading from all four sides of my property. If you have a solution, please share. =)
Material to fence back wild blackberries?
This is how I finally got rid of them in my back yard in Seattle. They were 10 feet deep and spanned the entire back of my property. 75 feet.
I got a pair of long handled loppers. Started a small fire, and proceeded to cut them about 30 inches to 3 feet long and feed them to the fire until I had them all clear. It took me an entire weekend. These bushes were 15 to 20 foot long branches.
From then on I just kept mowing them with the lawnmower along with the rest of the yard and they finally gave up. It has been a long time, many years ago and I have since sold the place, but I don't remember putting anything on them. But, maybe when they started sprouting again I sprayed them with Roundup. I don't remember. Anyway, I did get rid of them.
If you don't want to get rid of them, or they are on someone else's property, I would spray them from your side with Roundup. Who do they belong to? If they don't like it, let them take care of them. It is my understanding, and I don't know what it is in CA, but anything on your side of the fence is yours to do with what you want.
I love the blackberries as long as I don't have to have them in my yard.
Jnette, the cutting, digging roots, and mowing is what we've done on the property. I'm committed to continuing that. But many choice garden areas are near the fence, and blackberries growing on the other side of the fence keep popping through the spaces between the wire. I could spend a couple of days every week cutting them back. I don't mind some judiciously used Roundup, but I also don't want to spray it near food plants, either. So I'm hoping there is something I can attach to the fence that would block the vines from coming through.
Thanks for your ideas!
Hardware cloth. But that would be very expensive.
Jeanette
I've heard that goats do a good job. There are even folks around who rent them out for that purpose. Of course, you have to make sure they don't get into the good stuff. :-)
How do you do that? I think that might be worse than the BBs. LOL