Briars and Ivy taking over Ireland

Biscuitus

I had to take a drive to pick up a machinery part over the weekend. From coast to coast Ireland is being overrun by briars any ivy. Every fence along the motorway, every back road, every farm and field was covered in briars. Some sticking out into the road, covering entire fences and ditches. Neighbouring dairy and sheep farms that were kept immaculate are now struggling to stay on top of briars.

Then there's ivy. Every tree is being covered. It's like a parasite and eventually kills them and pulls them down. No matter the time of year ivy grows and as soon as it hits a tree it races to the top.

How are you fighting this problem on your farm? Is this just a problem from climate change we have to deal with. I've read that both are growing more cause of the milder winters.

patsy_mccabe

I'd have to agree. I've seen briars grow 10 ft in a year. I've taken to spraying now with Graze On Pro. Ivy I cut at base of tree.

blackbox

A few goats needed to sort that out!

tanko

The widespread use of electric fencing, cattle not being outwintered anymore and most farmers being part time are the reasons i think.
Every tree in the country seems to be smothered by ivy now.
It’s very satisfying to cut it at the butt and see it die off.

atlantic mist

cows here seem to love eating the ivy off trees and sheds

could all the briars be considered in our 30% organic figure for the eu, fully organic blackberries there everywhere;) id say we loose a foot off every field that we dont hedgecut to briars each year

memorystick

Put your thorny wire in the middle of the ditch and let the cattle walk along it.

_Brian

My mother keeps saying that the countryside is unrecognisable with overgrowth in the last 20 years.

We have two corners set aside where briars etc are allowed do their thing.

Most boundaries are fenced with electric wire. We used to spray these but stopped for environment and cost reasons. Means much more manual work trimming and cutting back briars off fences. But we’re not loosing ground to them every year. Electric fences are in same line last two decades.

wrangler

_Brian wrote: »

My mother keeps saying that the countryside is unrecognisable with overgrowth in the last 20 years.

We have two corners set aside where briars etc are allowed do their thing.

Most boundaries are fenced with electric wire. We used to spray these but stopped for environment and cost reasons. Means much more manual work trimming and cutting back briars off fences. But we’re not loosing ground to them every year. Electric fences are in same line last two decades.

Electric fence are only a joke on a boundary fence unless the flail can go between the fence and the ditch. dairy farmers think they have fenced when thy stick an electric fence along side a boundary ditch when in fact they are destroying the ditch as I've never seen them leaving room for the flail, briars thrive in those conditions, Sheep farmers fence for everyone

memorystick

wrangler wrote: »

Electric fence are only a joke on a boundary fence unless the flail can go between the fence and the ditch. dairy farmers think they have fenced when thy stick an electric fence along side a boundary ditch when in fact they are destroying the ditch as I've never seen them leaving room for the flail, briars thrive in those conditions, Sheep farmers fence for everyone

In the process of improving all ditch fences. Take down electric and put up thorny.

What would be best option for removing ferns......i noticed they are creeping out too far into one or two fields here


Would roundup and reseed be best option

Seamai

Used Gallup a few month back on briars with fantastic results, about 6 weeks later went back over the odd green shoot that popped up. TBH I found it better than Roundup and it's a lot cheaper.

yosemitesam1

Biscuitus wrote: »

I had to take a drive to pick up a machinery part over the weekend. From coast to coast Ireland is being overrun by briars any ivy. Every fence along the motorway, every back road, every farm and field was covered in briars. Some sticking out into the road, covering entire fences and ditches. Neighbouring dairy and sheep farms that were kept immaculate are now struggling to stay on top of briars.

Then there's ivy. Every tree is being covered. It's like a parasite and eventually kills them and pulls them down. No matter the time of year ivy grows and as soon as it hits a tree it races to the top.

How are you fighting this problem on your farm? Is this just a problem from climate change we have to deal with. I've read that both are growing more cause of the milder winters.

They are the two most important plants for pollinators in this country.
Far from a problem if there was any reasonable amount of hedge management out there. Unfortunately proper hedge management is a thing of the past

Dinzee Conlee

[Deleted User] wrote: »

What would be best option for removing ferns......i noticed they are creeping out too far into one or two fields here


Would roundup and reseed be best option

Spray with Asolux.

Chain harrowing or rolling this time of year, is meant to do a good job of halting their progress as well...

SouthWesterly

patsy_mccabe wrote: »

I'd have to agree. I've seen briars grow 10 ft in a year. I've taken to spraying now with Graze On Pro. Ivy I cut at base of tree.

You're spraying them and I'm planting them

wrangler

patsy_mccabe wrote: »

I'd have to agree. I've seen briars grow 10 ft in a year. I've taken to spraying now with Graze On Pro. Ivy I cut at base of tree.

Graze on is good coupled with good grazing management. roundup etc only seems to propagate them, grass gets killed off with roundup which gives the briars a great chance to reestablish, I see a neighbour annually using roundup with little effect apart from propogating nettles as well

Still waters

yosemitesam1 wrote: »

They are the two most important plants for pollinators in this country.
Far from a problem if there was any reasonable amount of hedge management out there. Unfortunately proper hedge management is a thing of the past

Unfortunately too many farmers like to see bare clean soil, there was a time we as farmers had to work with nature and the land we had, now its easier spray it with poison and cut it back to within an inch of its life

Birdnuts

Biscuitus wrote: »

I had to take a drive to pick up a machinery part over the weekend. From coast to coast Ireland is being overrun by briars any ivy. Every fence along the motorway, every back road, every farm and field was covered in briars. Some sticking out into the road, covering entire fences and ditches. Neighbouring dairy and sheep farms that were kept immaculate are now struggling to stay on top of briars.

Then there's ivy. Every tree is being covered. It's like a parasite and eventually kills them and pulls them down. No matter the time of year ivy grows and as soon as it hits a tree it races to the top.

How are you fighting this problem on your farm? Is this just a problem from climate change we have to deal with. I've read that both are growing more cause of the milder winters.

If a tree is healthy, ivy won't bother it. Plus as others have mentioned its an important source of food for pollinators, cover for nesting birds and source of trace elements for cattle and sheep. Its the sterilisation of the countryside by sprays and heavy machinery is what I notice far more then a bit of nature around the place

Dinzee Conlee

Dinzee Conlee wrote: »

Spray with Asolux.

Chain harrowing or rolling this time of year, is meant to do a good job of halting their progress as well...

Any googling i seen says asolux is banned in EU??


If i could get it,i would

_Brian

wrangler wrote: »

Electric fence are only a joke on a boundary fence unless the flail can go between the fence and the ditch. dairy farmers think they have fenced when thy stick an electric fence along side a boundary ditch when in fact they are destroying the ditch as I've never seen them leaving room for the flail, briars thrive in those conditions, Sheep farmers fence for everyone

Electric fence is best thing ever.
I’m happy with briars and other wild flowers behind the electric fence on the ditch. It’s great some for biodiversity to thrive.

The only joke is the lads that think a flail is the only way to treat a boundary.

tanko

Birdnuts wrote: »

If a tree is healthy, ivy won't bother it. Plus as others have mentioned its an important source of food for pollinators, cover for nesting birds and source of trace elements for cattle and sheep. Its the sterilisation of the countryside by sprays and heavy machinery is what I notice far more then a bit of nature around the place

It’s not true to say that if a tree is healthy that ivy won’t bother it.
Ivy will smother and eventually kill the trees and do the same with the likes of whitethorn bushes.
Large parts of this country will be sterilized of farmers and briars and weeds will cover the country with the way things are heading.

JJayoo

Having a bit of ivy around is handy if you have a sick animal.

A sheep could be in a bad way refusing to eat grass/concentrate but will go crazy for ivy.

Birdnuts

tanko wrote: »

It’s not true to say that if a tree is healthy that ivy won’t bother it.
Ivy will smother and eventually kill the trees and do the same with the likes of whitethorn bushes.
Large parts of this country will be sterilized of farmers and briars and weeds will cover the country with the way things are heading.

I've yet to see a healthy mature tree die due to ivy - if a tree suddenly looks sick its much more likely to be a fungal disease of the type hitting Ash, Elm etc. currently. Another issue would be damage to roots due to ploughing etc..

tanko

Birdnuts wrote: »

I've yet to see a healthy mature tree die due to ivy - if a tree suddenly looks sick its much more likely to be a fungal disease of the type hitting Ash, Elm etc. currently. Another issue would be damage to roots due to ploughing etc..

You didn’t say mature trees.
Ivy kills lots of young trees and bushes.
I see it every day.

wrangler

_Brian wrote: »

Electric fence is best thing ever.
I’m happy with briars and other wild flowers behind the electric fence on the ditch. It’s great some for biodiversity to thrive.

The only joke is the lads that think a flail is the only way to treat a boundary.

It's a joke when the ditch pushes down the fence and kills the shock enabling the cattle to climb the bank and jump into my land, then the crack starts when they can't get the heifers back over my sheep wire and barbed wire.
The real joke was cutting .my sheep wire and barbed wire, not on their boundary but out on to a private road so I couldn't accuse them ....... but they were seen. so forgive me if I regard an electric fence threaded through badly maintained briars a joke.

Briars are an absolute course, we spray the s*it out of them every year anywhere they appear. Can’t understand farmers letting them grow like mad and start encroaching in the field it’s not that hard or time consuming to do a bit of spraying.

Still waters

wrangler wrote: »

It's a joke when the ditch pushes down the fence and kills the shock enabling the cattle to climb the bank and jump into my land, then the crack starts when they can't get the heifers back over my sheep wire and barbed wire.
The real joke was cutting .my sheep wire and barbed wire, not on their boundary but out on to a private road so I couldn't accuse them ....... but they were seen. so forgive me if I regard an electric fence threaded through badly maintained briars a joke.

So is it the briars or the farmer that's at fault

Say my name

I think Wrangler referred to this earlier.

The biggest reason ivy and brambles are perceived to be taking over in some parts is because landowners have been busy out spraying round up on their ditches.

Landowners have basically made monocultures of their boundaries. The competition has been removed and ivy and brambles take advantage of the situation.

Now yere looking for another spray to kill the ivy and briars.
If the roundup was left in the can the problem wouldn't be there.
Nature abhors a vaccum.

Frankx

tanko wrote: »

You didn’t say mature trees.
Ivy kills lots of young trees and bushes.
I see it every day.

I think I've a problem with ivy on a mature tree

How do u take it off

patsy_mccabe

I don't like spraying briars. I'd rather just cut them back but the work involved seems endless. I cut them back with a battery hedge cutter but maybe I'm getting too old for that now.
Ivy adds a lot of weight and wind drag to tall trees, helping to bring then down in high winds. Whenever there's a storm here it is nearly always the ivy laden ones that come down.

tanko

Frankx wrote: »

I think I've a problem with ivy on a mature tree

How do u take it off

Just cut it at the bottom of the trees and it will die off.

Frankx

tanko wrote: »

Just cut it at the bottom of the trees and it will die off.

Thanks

Does the tree come back after the ivy?