Brambles

[colincParticipant]

Hi All
I’m new to forum so please forgive if question has been asked, I am in the process of preparing veg beds for poly tunnels,one completed 4 to go, the problem I have is one area 18m x 6m is absolutely thick with brambles, can I cut these back,then cover with cardboard, manure and compost or do I need to dig out the brambles first,enjoying your winter veg book Charles, trying growing through winter for first time, we had minus 20 last winter up here in Northumberland and first heavy frost today so looking forward to see how it goes.
Regards
Colin C

[charlesModerator]

 Hi Colin, welcome,

Sounds cold up there! Brambles are unique in that I find it best to dig out their main crown of root (not the whole lot, just the cental stem and a few inches around it, undercut four to six inches, a sharp copper spade helps!), after cutting the main stems and clearing them either to burn or shred.

I find usually that ground under brambles is quite weed free so often they are an easy weed to deal with, necessitating little further clearing or mulching. But their main, central roots, if left in, do regrow when the chief stem is left in place.

Good luck with the growing and all those tunnels!

[colincParticipant]

Thanks for reply Charles, ive dug out brambles not as hard as I thought as you say ground underneath fairly clear of weeds, we live in old Victorian stable block on a country estate, I have about 86 sq meters in patches which will be divided into 8 beds, we hope to get the old walled garden which is full of Christmas trees in a few years, a bit of a project (Victorian Kitchen Garden) will keep me busy, planted 18 fruit trees around us, a few chickens as well, couple of questions, one area I have for 3 of my beds is covered in Ivy, do I need to dig this out like brambles, hardly any weeds in it, the area only gets morning sun maybe 5hrs as one side has 150ft sequoia trees Its a large area so I need to be growing in it, salad crops will do ok, are there veg that wont do well in shade, we are surrounded in masses of bracken, would this be good for mulching new beds or would it make better use composting it, seems to good a resource not to use it, reason for tunnels we are in a frost pocket and can get regularly frosts in June, only just over 4 months good growing outdoors, keep up good work,
Regards
Colin

[charlesModerator]

 Yes you need to dig or pull ivy out.
Shade slows growth of all vegetables but salads are ok for growing fast, also beets and many brassicas, rather than courgettes and summer beans. It sounds a challenge and good luck with it.

[kiwicoopsMember]

The use of Bracken as a packaging product in, (I think ) Rose plant delivery was stopped as it was carcinogenic. So not suitable for use as a dried mulch but could be composted. The best way to kill the plant is to damage but not actually cut off the fronds, if possible run it over. There is a bracken specific herbicide, useful where it’s growing through other plants, Asulox, containing asulam, also kills docks in grassland.

pete

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