Bracken and weed infested area

[Hector]

We will be clearing an area uncultivated for nearly two and a half decades. Lots of bracken and brambles....as well as the usual weeds.

I've read on here about cutting down the brambles and digging them out but when we have tried this with bracken in other areas we cleared...the darn stuff comes back?

What can we do? Would the deep layers of cardboard ,method work with this stuff?

[Hector]

[Hector]

Just to add, the bracken covers an area of about just under a quarter of an acre and it's the bracken causing problems....we have found cutting down and cutting bramble works....bracken just seems to keep on coming back.

[Limousin Lass]

Will be watching this thread with interest as we also have major infestation of the stuff. 
Over the past 3 years we have tried digging it out and strimming it as soon as it shows it's ugly head but it seems to come back bigger and stronger each year.  I don't like to use chemicals if there is any other method. 
Looking it up on Google it seems as though even the major land management people in the UK have problems getting rid of the stuff without using chemicals.

[Kepouros]

Bracken is extremely tough and persistent.  There is a chemical killer, but it is only available to farmers and foresters.  The traditional method of dealing with bracken has always been to pull it.  Cutting or strimming it has no effect whatsoever on the roots, but if each stalk is pulled up (with as much root attached as possible) this weakens the plant.  In my youth there was a generally accepted belief that if the successive stalks from each root were pulled twice in one season the root would die, and although this is a very laborious method I have always found that it worked pretty well, although one has to keep a watchful eye in subsequent years for any shoots which didn`t know the theory.

[Unwashed]

Pigs would sort it out.

[Kepouros]

I would add that bracken contains certain carcinogens, and cattle which eat it usually develop cancer of the mouth.  Whether Unwashed`s pigs would be immune to this I couldn`t say

[Hector]

I wouldn't want to harm cattle/pigs but we are desperate to get rid of this stuff. We have tried bashing/pulling to weaken and up it springs again. Unbelievably tough stuff.

[1066]

Hector have you tried using a mattock? That's usually my answer to every nasty / big plant or weed that I want to get rid of!
Maybe you could rent a pig?!

[Hector]

Funnily enough I have asked for a mattock for my birthday in a couple of weeks :)


What sort of femcing topigs require? I can see if I can borrow a couple. I quite like pigs.

[hopalong]

I thought bracken was useful, as a mulch? Ive also seen it compressed and made into briquettes for the barbecue.

[1066]

Funnily enough I have asked for a mattock for my birthday in a couple of weeks :)

;D  Maybe you could ask for a pig for your BDay as well  ;)

1066

[Hector]

1066...I think hubbie will have enough probs giftwrapping a mattock....never mind a pig!

[1066]

 ;D  ;D  ;D
Think you have a point there! Mind you I have gift wrapped a garden fork in brown paper, with each tine (prong bit) wrapped individually. Then took it on a bus and a tube without a single person saying a thing! That's London for you tho!

[grannyjanny]

Hector you will love the mattock, we have an azada which is very similar. A friend brought it over from Portugal for us. Much cheaper over there. We used it for clearing the plot where we couldn't get a spade or fork in the ground. Even I could use it :o :o :o. It was really useful when we went digging up our 4 year old manure ;D ;D ;D.
Janet

[Hyacinth]

Hector, echoing Kepouros here, I'm pasting the article in the Sat.Telegraph30/05 re: a bracken invasion in a greenhouse. I hope you can take out of this what is relevant to you - and then the choice is yours! I really don't envy you and wish you all good luck with the battle.

Lishka

Bracken invasion

My greenhouse is adjacent to a (very) uncultivated field. Two summers ago bracken started appearing inside the greenhouse. At first I pulled it up, but in due course I covered the floor with old compost bags hoping they would choke it. On removal of these to plant tomatoes, I discovered a full-scale invasion was under way, and pulling up the stems revealed a mass of huge rhizomes. What can I do? Val Foster-Smith, Anglesey

This is a tricky one – controlling bracken is hard in normal circumstances when it is growing through hedges into garden beds and borders. Normally, you can weaken it by pulling the stems consistently or, if it is in grass, by mowing it regularly. As far as weed killers are concerned: farmers have access to a selective weed killer that deals with the problem effectively, while gardeners have to resort to a strong glyphosate (there is now an extra powerful Round Up), but, of course, this is non-selective. You are going to have a big fight on your hands.

Since I understand you cannot tackle the bracken in the field, I feel that to stop a continuing invasion you will have to dig down vertically at the point where the bracken is coming into the greenhouse, sever the connections and put in a vertical barrier – something really tough like a double layer of pond liner might do the trick. I don't see that you have any choice but to abandon the greenhouse for a while, or, if it is not too late, grow your tomatoes in large containers that can be moved while you tackle the problem. Allow the bracken to grow for a few weeks and spray the fronds with glyphosate once they are unfurled. When you have the problem under control, you should perhaps decide to cover most of the greenhouse floor with a proper heavy-duty woven plastic membrane and gravel – and keep your eyes open for ever more, just in case.

[Hector]

Thanks for that....I suspected we were in trouble.