I just moved into my property and the back garden is full of blackberry bushes. How can I kill the roots permanently?
By Annette from the UK
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I moved to north east Scotland in 2010 and have spent the last two years trying to get all the blackberry canes out of my front garden where I don't want any kind of berries growing. I love brambles and have a patch in the back garden, but the front is for kerb appeal! So the minute I see a cane waving at me, I trace it to the ground and dig it out trying very hard to get every last bit of root.
I'm an American expat so I am still learning about gardening here in the UK, but I'm sure there is an herbicide I could spray to kill off the lot. However, there are other plants in that spot that I do want to encourage, so I hand dig the canes.
You might try asking at one of the garden centres what they recommend for killing off a large growth. Otherwise, the only way to get rid of this is by hand digging, and then staying on it every time you see a new cane. (Handy hint-wear stout gloves!)
It will take you a while to hand dig them all out, and even then you'll have to be vigilant because the birds will bring you pressies, lol, and you'll find you have volunteers of all sorts of thing:) Too bad they won't drop me off any raspberries, darn it-I had to buy those to plant in the back garden!
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