Bramble and bracken

[pgkevet]

My predecessor here had planted a few acres of woodland..blocks of slver birch, ash and oak mostly. This question is for the hilly field..runs at 45 degree slope and it's thick with neglected bramble and bracken.

 

Now that it's died back over winter it's still all but impossible to wade through without chopping as you go..and the tree spacing is about 2 metres.

 

How do folk cope with clearing that undergrowth? Even spraying would be a mare to try and cut pathways through to get to do it. Chainsaw one's way through the brambles?..I've tried machete's and brush cutters and hedge-type cutters and trying to work uphill (can't start from the top down) with any of those has been more work than results.

 

I've done best on flatter areas clearing brambles with the chainsaw and then mulching the base down with a land clearer..still hard work but gets there..just don't see that working on the steep slope?

 

Sorry.. should have added the trees are about 10-12 years old.

[fergusonforestry]

i know some whos dogs were called bramble and bracken! but anyway do you know anyone with pigs? get a few of them in for a month or so should root up all the nasties?

[pgkevet]

i know some whos dogs were called bramble and bracken! but anyway do you know anyone with pigs? get a few of them in for a month or so should root up all the nasties?

 

I was wondering about pigs..will they shift the huge brambles too?

I know of some pigs needing rescue that could have a working home...

[fergusonforestry]

pigs love rooting and will shift both brambles and bracken eat up all the offending roots and leave a good fertilizer

[arbmark]

I was wondering about pigs..will they shift the huge brambles too?

I know of some pigs needing rescue that could have a working home...

 

pigs are very risky, damaging tree roots in their escapades. I'm not sure it would be a permanent fix in any case. Has the canopy closed after 10-12 yrs or have the trees had a fight on their hands getting away through the ramblers?

 

The density of b&b should decrease as the canopy thickens, but this makes each tree thinning the perfect chance for renewed vigour in the scrub layer.

 

Mechanical solutions are limited, so you could brushcut & clear up a few lines and make inroads from there, just severing the bramble shoots at the base.

 

Unless things are really bad i would let it run its course - woodland always wins in the end. It would be a lot of work just to speed things up.

 

Or perhaps late springtime spraying would be the best option. I would guess it is the oaks that probably need the most help so focus on them?

[daveindales]

Just a reminder, but as far as I know, you can't buy asulux at the moment, but you can still use it up till end of this year, if you still have it.

[arbmark]

Just a reminder, but as far as I know, you can't buy asulux at the moment, but you can still use it up till end of this year, if you still have it.

 

bummer didnt know that! there must be someting else for bracken about. anyone tried anything effective?

[daveindales]

bummer didnt know that! there must be someting else for bracken about. anyone tried anything effective?

 

nothing as good as asulux. However, it's hoped that it will become available again sometime in the future.

[jrose]

brushcutters work well with a mulching blade, you need a big professional machine (40cc+) lift it up and smash it down onto brambles, rather than the normal side to side action of strimming.

[timtree81]

one word goat