Injecting Briars?

saoirse88

Hi all,

My family have a beautiful row of trees planted at the back of their garden. The row runs roughly 75m. The trees are a mix of natives and are roughly 5 years in the ground now so still relatively young.

This year briars have taken over and it seems to be getting aggressively worse. They’re in amongst the trees so there’s no way of getting at their root or pulling them out without knocking the wall and/or killing the row of trees.

My brother wants to inject them as he doesn’t want to kill the trees along side the briars if they’re sprayed. Does anyone have any other recommendations?

Dinzee Conlee

Could your brother spray them with something like this on the top of the sprayer to control the spray and so not spray the trees…. (You could fashion something yourself out of a bottle top and some duck tape nearly)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Solo-Drift-Guard-Spray-Nozzle/dp/B00BG8IGT2/ref=asc_df_B00BG8IGT2/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=210268466367&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=13454611419776469211&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=20476&hvtargid=pla-428654176503&psc=1&th=1&psc=1

The Continental Op

We all have brothers like that :-) . I really don't know how you inject a bramble? I've injected Japanese Knotweed and thats easy as big plants have a wide hollow stem, bramble stems are woody.

I find just cutting does fine for brambles because I know I'll never totally get rid of them. If you want to follow up on that then you can paint the remaining "stump" with a stump killer. A strong solution of Roundup will do, at least one of the stump killers is just glyphosate (Roundups active ingredient). However the stump killers aren't 100% effective.

Danzy

Targeted individual application, ie just spray one at a time carefully, kill as much as you can and come back another time,if they are native their should be a window in the spring where they aren't leafed up but the briars are greening.

A 2 step job.

stanflt

Forefront

Base price

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119401615#Comment_119401615

Nope - you may as well piss on the briars for all the good that Forefront will do.

ruwithme

Buy telescopic handle loppers from hardware shop & take your time ( which it will at 75metre) & cut them at ground level, they will die, & maybe then you might have a better chance of spraying in at the young briars regrowth later in the growing season.

Grazon would be a fairly safe product to use close to trees in moderation, also if you leave off spraying until next spring you'll find it will be a easier job with leaves haven fallen off the trees

memorystick

Just saw in a FB group where a member is giving away goats. She says they’re ideal for eating thistles and weeds. I don’t know much about goats but I’d imagine they’d eat the nice grass first. I’m probably wrong as usual

Limestone Cowboy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119401915#Comment_119401915

They'd probably eat everything but the grass in fairness. Few after getting dumped in our place again 🤬

Gant21

Mighty eating in wild goat.

Base price

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119401915#Comment_119401915

Goats are browsers - they are not grazers like cattle. Goats will thrive on nipping trees/bark/briars/hedgerows etc and all before them except grass.

As an aside have any of ye eaten Goat meat. As a childer I often ate kid meat in my Grandparents house.

Base price

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119401944#Comment_119401944

The taint 🤢

dePeatrick

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119402004#Comment_119402004

Amazing, think it’s the best meat I have ever eaten.

asdfg87

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119401944#Comment_119401944

I be betting you have that crazy look about you...

bogman_bass

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119402004#Comment_119402004

Wentvv bc to the big grill festival in doublin a few years back and had some BBQ goat. ‘Twas lovely

Gant21

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119402104#Comment_119402104

No wonder you are broke from Boyle sports. One of the healthiest red meats out there.

Furze99

I think you just have to cut them back, enough to allow the trees to get bigger. Either manually as suggested or with care with blade on a petrol strimmer. But be careful not to nick the trees. In time they'll be easier to manage (with spray or cutting) as the trees thicken up and get taller. Don't bother with the goats, they'll eat brambles, trees and all!

asdfg87

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119402350#Comment_119402350

I've eaten it several times, i'm crazy. Moroccon goat curry in Marrakesh. I have also cooked it and will again soon as i was asking someone about goat meat 2 weeks ago..

_Brian

Grazon90, use a shrowd on the sprayer to keep the spray off the trees.

Gant21

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119402389#Comment_119402389

I would safely say it’s some other substance that is making you feel crazy, not goat meat.

The Continental Op

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119402408#Comment_119402408

But how do you then spray the Briars? A Drift Guard is fine (almost, I hate the things) when you are spraying close to the ground but any Briars I come across are often hitting me in the face and have no foliage at ground level.

I suspect the OP's panic is because this is the time of year that Briars start to stick out those long adventitious shoots that root at the ends. I've cut loads back this week and once done it really reduces that overrun with Briars look and is a big step to stopping them spreading. Its not a one off job I'll do a little bit every week until they stop growing but its very little work. My view is if I can easily cut them back faster than they are growing I'm winning.

White Clover

A petrol hedge trimmer and do 15m each evening until finished. Try to avoid using sprays when the job is small enough to do by cutting them.

asdfg87

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119402449#Comment_119402449

Likely the lot on here...

_Brian

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119402487#Comment_119402487

Your right.

they probably need cutting back and hit tue fresh growing stems with the Grazon90

The Continental Op

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119404002#Comment_119404002

I'm a maniac with the Roundup (or Gallup) is Grazon90 any better on brambles (as I call them)?

dzer2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119404081#Comment_119404081

Ban Dock or Dock star are the best but think they are unavailable anymore

cruizer101

I'm interested in this too, I've a hedge out the front which has briars in it, I just can't get to the roots of them. Occasionally I mange to pull one out, though I'm sure I leave a little bit of root anyway. The hedge itself is a bit thorny anyway so hard enough to root around and try follow the briar back to its root. So far have made do with cutting them but would love a more permanent solution.

_Brian

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119404081#Comment_119404081

Its a selective herbacide, it will kill gorse, briars etc but not the grass...

The Continental Op

Can't find Grazon 90 but can find Grazon Pro both have 240g/l triclopyr + 60g/l clopyralid. €72 for a liter (no questions asked I'm not a farmer) isn't bad as that would last me a long time. Also might be handy for finishing off my crusade against Japanese Knotweed as the label says its susceptible.

Just reading a bit more online and Grazon Pro is the new name for Grazon 90.

memorystick

From my reading here, goats would rather graze under the fences than in the middle of a paddock. If they could be fenced, they’d be a handy yolk to have. IF

Thud

Strimmer first then mow the area a few times, then a Chillington hoe is will make short work of the roots when the start to grow again

The Continental Op

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119406755#Comment_119406755

I'd be very concerned about advising anyone without a decent amount of experience to strim brambles around trees. Far too easy to get too close and take the bark off even with a line head strimmer.

Thud

ah it's not rocket science, they are 5 year old trees so should be easy enough to avoid

The Continental Op

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119406796#Comment_119406796

I quite agree but I've done the work professionally and seen how bad trainees can be.

zetecescort

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119406710#Comment_119406710

did I hear during the week talk of putting goats on the hill of Howth or somewhere in Dublin to help prevent hill fires?

Bass Reeves

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119406755#Comment_119406755

I had to look up Chillington hoe. Where I grew up in Kerry it was know as a gruffan I am not sure of the correct spelling

Danzy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119409979#Comment_119409979

Same here, grafán would be the spelling of it

Made one out of an old navy shovel. Some yoke to dig

Thud

got mine. From Quickcrop, went for the heavier one, very handy tool

Bass Reeves

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119410037#Comment_119410037

Ya that is it.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119410553#Comment_119410553

Traditionally spuds in the part of Jerry we were in spuds were set in ridges not in drills. The ridges were formed by ploughing and Turing over a sod and then found it in reverse to form the other side of a ridge. This was by horse and plough.

There was a few tractors ploughs around. These usually send two sides one direction and one the other to form a three sod ridge.

You has to close the top of these ridges in using the grafan to prevent air getting into the potatoes that were set as the frost would kill the sprouts under the ground

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119409271#Comment_119409271

You did.

I noted the absence of "the farmer dunnit!!" brigade, leads me to believe ONLY dubs and farmers can buy matches 🤔

I was at a farm walk during the week where they had a goat pegged out specifically to eat docks.