Post Hole digging in Blackberries

[woodlandfarms]

This is what happens. Almost like barbed wire. Took forever to get out. But now I have 100 new trees planted in less than a day..

Carl

 

[moored4]

THAT looks oh so nasty!!

 

[Western]

Cleaning of the auger looks like it would take longer than drilling the holes! Sure that wasn't a Spaghetti patch?:laughing:

 

[CowboyRon]

Looks like it would almost be easier just to catch it on fire. What kind of trees did u plant?

 

[wedge40]

The fire option was what I thought of at first, but unless you have a second auger, it would be rather time consuming. I'm guessing he only had this once, because future holes he got rid of the blackberries. RIGHT??? :confused3:

Wedge

 

[woodlandfarms]

We have 2 seasons, wet and dry. When it is dry you cannot burn, when it is wet you cannot burn. There is a one week window October 7 to the 14th where the you spray and hope that gets the blackberries. I missed that window this year.

We planted Giant Sequoia and Coastal Redwoods for the most part, and a bit of wester red cedars and some "novelty" firs like weeping alaskas, deodorus and such. We are trying to add a bit of privacy to our land.

Saddly, I realized that even if these trees do 3 feet a year (or possibly more) there is now way I will be around for them to hit a good height. Oh well. Next life I guess.

 

[Jerry/MT]

We have 2 seasons, wet and dry. When it is dry you cannot burn, when it is wet you cannot burn. There is a one week window October 7 to the 14th where the you spray and hope that gets the blackberries. I missed that window this year.

We planted Giant Sequoia and Coastal Redwoods for the most part, and a bit of wester red cedars and some "novelty" firs like weeping alaskas, deodorus and such. We are trying to add a bit of privacy to our land.

Saddly, I realized that even if these trees do 3 feet a year (or possibly more) there is now way I will be around for them to hit a good height. Oh well. Next life I guess.

I used to live in Western WA ( Graham, E of Tacoma and Carnation in the Snoqualmie Valley)and you can spray blackberries year around with Crossbow. I normally sprayed in the Spring to keep them at bay. Even after you kill them you have to deal with the aftermath!

Before I'd wind them on an auger, I'd chop them with a machete. That's what I used to cut them back before they overwhelmed the fences and then I sprayed them with Crossbow. They were in dense "windrows" and I could only get to the front line. After a while, the back "windrows" started growing more vertically and were about 10 ft tall. it was a never ending job. Most of the neighbors fencelines were covered with huge blackberry thickets and the weight of the plants would pull the fences down and the "hedgerow" ended up being the fence.

That's good tree growing country so you might do better than three feeet per year.

 

[boggen]

*ughs* that just looks painful! even with good thick leather gloves on.

would of tempted getting out reciprocating saw, to see if i could but a dent in a few things. even though i would of dinged the auger some.

 

[tungularafishcamp]

I bet you could pressure wash those right out, just get a 0 degree or rotary nozzle.

 

[CowboyRon]

I used to live in Western WA ( Graham, E of Tacoma and Carnation in the Snoqualmie Valley)and you can spray blackberries year around with Crossbow. I normally sprayed in the Spring to keep them at bay. Even after you kill them you have to deal with the aftermath!

Before I'd wind them on an auger, I'd chop them with a machete. That's what I used to cut them back before they overwhelmed the fences and then I sprayed them with Crossbow. They were in dense "windrows" and I could only get to the front line. After a while, the back "windrows" started growing more vertically and were about 10 ft tall. it was a never ending job. Most of the neighbors fencelines were covered with huge blackberry thickets and the weight of the plants would pull the fences down and the "hedgerow" ended up being the fence.

That's good tree growing country so you might do better than three feeet per year.

On our place just hitting them with the brush hog would do the trick. They will take over a place, but I do love dew berries. That's what we call them around here.

 

[woodlandfarms]

Yeah, we hog as much as we can, but this was in an area that was, well not so hoggable (90" mower is sometimes too big).

Now this may be a complete lie, but I was told that spraying blackberries outside of 1st leaf spring (when they 1st start leafing) or once blackberries is done is a waste of spray because that is the only time the chemicals will get into the rhyzome and kill the plant dead.

They say that I should expect 6ft a year out of the redwoods and the sequoias. Boy, wouldn't that be cool but I think I am looking at the usual 3ft a year like my cedars.

 

[Jerry/MT]

Yeah, we hog as much as we can, but this was in an area that was, well not so hoggable (90" mower is sometimes too big).

Now this may be a complete lie, but I was told that spraying blackberries outside of 1st leaf spring (when they 1st start leafing) or once blackberries is done is a waste of spray because that is the only time the chemicals will get into the rhyzome and kill the plant dead.

They say that I should expect 6ft a year out of the redwoods and the sequoias. Boy, wouldn't that be cool but I think I am looking at the usual 3ft a year like my cedars.

Whose "they"??

Buy some Crossbow and check it out. I'd do thatbefore i went through untangling the PHD auger for every hole. It's not that expensive a spray and those blackberries are evergreen so they don't go dormant in your country. I usually sprayed in the spring because that's when they're growing the fastest. You won't kill them with one spraying if they are in massive plant colonies but you'll for sure knock them back. It will also be a never ending battle in that country.
Our bushes were so big that even when I sprayed and killed back, the canes are so waxy, the dead plants were almost as bad as the live ones. Like a razor wire octopus! I wore heavy leather gloves and chopped the tentacles back. It took a few years to get them "managable".

it's too bad the berries are so delicious. We used to pick them and make cobbler but my wife and I looked like we were in a cat fight after picking!

 

[crbr]

Tough digging...

 

[woodlandfarms]

I go through at least 2.5 gallons of crossbow plus sticker a year. I thought spraying time was more or less common knowledge but here ya go from a number of websites

UC DAVIS
To effectively control blackberries during the growing season, an herbicide must be transported within the plant to the rhizomes and new growing points. For this to occur, the herbicide must move in the phloem with the plant sugars produced through photosynthesis. In early summer during the rapid extension of canes and expansion of foliar tissue, sugars are transported within the plant from the underground storage tissues to the shoots. After midsummer, new growth is reduced in wild blackberry first-year canes (nonflowering shoots), because these shoots are actively transporting sugars to the rhizomes. These sugars are stored for the following year痴 growth. In the flowering shoots (second-year canes), movement of sugars from the shoots to the rhizomes occurs later in the season than it does for first-year canes and is most active after completion of fruiting.

Time a foliar herbicide application so that it coincides with the maximum rate of sugar movement to the root system. This will depend upon whether the plants are primarily first-year canes or a combination of both first- and second-year canes. In a situation where only first-year canes are present (for example when plants have been burned or mowed), the most effective time for optimal herbicide transport to the root system is in late summer. Herbicide application at this time reduces the likelihood of regrowth in subsequent years. Where the bramble infestation consists primarily of second-year canes or a combination of first- and second-year canes, apply an herbicide in early fall, before plants become dormant. Herbicides applied too early generally result in good kill of the top growth but very little movement of the chemical to the root system. Consequently, the plant regrows.

http://msdssearch.dow.com/Published...ange/pdfs/noreg/010-57876.pdf&fromPage=GetDoc

Otherewise your spray is kinda going to waste.

Whose "they"??

Buy some Crossbow and check it out. I'd do thatbefore i went through untangling the PHD auger for every hole. It's not that expensive a spray and those blackberries are evergreen so they don't go dormant in your country. I usually sprayed in the spring because that's when they're growing the fastest. You won't kill them with one spraying if they are in massive plant colonies but you'll for sure knock them back. It will also be a never ending battle in that country.
Our bushes were so big that even when I sprayed and killed back, the canes are so waxy, the dead plants were almost as bad as the live ones. Like a razor wire octopus! I wore heavy leather gloves and chopped the tentacles back. It took a few years to get them "managable".

it's too bad the berries are so delicious. We used to pick them and make cobbler but my wife and I looked like we were in a cat fight after picking!

 

[Jerry/MT]

I go through at least 2.5 gallons of crossbow plus sticker a year. I thought spraying time was more or less common knowledge but here ya go from a number of websites

UC DAVIS
To effectively control blackberries during the growing season, an herbicide must be transported within the plant to the rhizomes and new growing points. For this to occur, the herbicide must move in the phloem with the plant sugars produced through photosynthesis. In early summer during the rapid extension of canes and expansion of foliar tissue, sugars are transported within the plant from the underground storage tissues to the shoots. After midsummer, new growth is reduced in wild blackberry first-year canes (nonflowering shoots), because these shoots are actively transporting sugars to the rhizomes. These sugars are stored for the following yearç—´ growth. In the flowering shoots (second-year canes), movement of sugars from the shoots to the rhizomes occurs later in the season than it does for first-year canes and is most active after completion of fruiting.

Time a foliar herbicide application so that it coincides with the maximum rate of sugar movement to the root system. This will depend upon whether the plants are primarily first-year canes or a combination of both first- and second-year canes. In a situation where only first-year canes are present (for example when plants have been burned or mowed), the most effective time for optimal herbicide transport to the root system is in late summer. Herbicide application at this time reduces the likelihood of regrowth in subsequent years. Where the bramble infestation consists primarily of second-year canes or a combination of first- and second-year canes, apply an herbicide in early fall, before plants become dormant. Herbicides applied too early generally result in good kill of the top growth but very little movement of the chemical to the root system. Consequently, the plant regrows.

http://msdssearch.dow.com/Published...ange/pdfs/noreg/010-57876.pdf&fromPage=GetDoc

Otherewise your spray is kinda going to waste.

You situation is a little different than California (UC-Davis)because of the climate, but whatever works for you.

 

[woodlandfarms]

You were correct. That was UCDavis

Here is Washington State University results

http://county.wsu.edu/county/gardening/general/Documents/080610.pdf

Not trying to pick a fight, just saying you put a lot of cash on Crossbow and better results are netted in a different spray time. But hey, having lived in Wyoming / Montana for half of my life I realize it is a different climate. In our area Blackberries are not year round, They go dormant in late september to mid october (except this year, it has been a very late year) and begin new growth in march.

Carl

 

[Branchchipper]

I can sympathize completely with Woodlandfarms spray experience on the "wet side of the mountains"...

I have seen folks dump huge amounts of Crossbow onto Himalayan blackberries (the PNW's version of kudzu) with no lasting effect because of poor timing. You can smell it for weeks afterward- it doesn't get absorbed, and ends up in the streams and, ultimately, in salmon and steelhead ... Meanwhile, the plants shrug it off and just get bigger!

I still spray when I have no alternative, and have had good luck when I hit 'em at just the right time.

But, before post-hole digging or whatever, I have had good luck with blackberry-specific steel blades made for gas trimmers They "mulch" after initial cut-down, and leave no whole vines behind.

The ones I use are made in Woodland, WA by Simplar. There are two styles; Maxi-Blade and Brush Eater- I have used both on my large Stihl and they are still going strong after many miles of berry vine!

 

[AHNC]

My property line has massive bb's on my side and over the fence. The neighbors side is a bunch of poor black walnut that are all bent over and basically weeds. He decided to cut them down andplant some fruit trees. We have worked it out and he took a metal bladed weed eater to the bb's. I took the tractor and pushed them into an enormous pile. I then took the box scraper and dropped the tines and ripped the ground. I got deep enough with several passes that I could go along and pull the big root balls on some of the bb heads. I wish I could say all, but they are bb's.

 

[Jerry/MT]

You were correct. That was UCDavis

Here is Washington State University results

http://county.wsu.edu/county/gardening/general/Documents/080610.pdf

Not trying to pick a fight, just saying you put a lot of cash on Crossbow and better results are netted in a different spray time. But hey, having lived in Wyoming / Montana for half of my life I realize it is a different climate. In our area Blackberries are not year round, They go dormant in late september to mid october (except this year, it has been a very late year) and begin new growth in march.

Carl

I'm not trying to pick fight either but the WSU info is more applicable to your situation and it indicates a larger window of oportunity for using herbicies to control blackberies than the other reports. It also reflects my experiences when I lived in Western Washington.

Respesctfully,
Jerry/MT
Former WSU Extension Livestock Adviser-Pierce County
Beef Cattle & Pasture Management

 

[bcp]

The ones I use are made in Woodland, WA by Simplar. There are two styles; Maxi-Blade and Brush Eater- I have used both on my large Stihl and they are still going strong after many miles of berry vine!

I can't find anything on Google except this photo from here:

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