While blackberries cultivated for garden cultivation usually reproduce only moderately via root suckers, wild blackberry plants can become a nuisance in a garden.

The power from the deep

Year after year, blackberry roots also produce new shoots and tendrils in the garden bed, on which aromatic, black fruits form. As long as this is desired in a garden, the unbelievable vitality that blackberries feed on from the roots, even if they are completely pruned, is not a problem. But the whole thing can become a problem for you if you want to end the blackberries' guest performance at one location. Especially when it comes to wild blackberry varieties.

Digging is required for removal

Blackberry roots are true survivors and, particularly in the case of wild blackberry varieties, there is usually a very widely branched network of thin and thick root strands beneath the surface of the earth. This can still sprout again even after a vegetation break of several years, so that a superficial destruction of the visible parts of the plant with chemical and mechanical means brings little success. If you really want to ban blackberries from the garden permanently, you have to get to the root of the problem. At the ends of the blackberry vines, dig for the roots and pull them out to a depth of about a meter. You may well encounter rhizomes in an old bramble stand, with roots that can be as thick as an arm.

Grateful material for herbal witches and artists

Some herbalists swear by the use of blackberry root in certain recipes for kidney ailments. More obvious, however, is the use as an arts and crafts object. If thick root stocks of blackberry roots are first ground off and then glazed, they can be processed into the following objects, for example:

  • jewelry stand
  • floor lamp
  • table base

The combined elimination of blackberry roots

A combination of two techniques has had the most success in permanently removing blackberry plants. To do this, the ground is first dug up deeply so that all blackberry roots that can be found can be removed with a hoe. Then the ground is covered with a thick, black tarpaulin for at least two years, so that no new tendrils of the blackberries can sprout underneath.

tips and tricks

If blackberries are cultivated in a pot on the balcony, the planter should provide enough space for the rapidly growing roots.

Category:

Vegetable garden