Well done my friend!! That is no easy task!!! I will be 67 this July...I am on my hands and knees now...just taking a break. I am located in southwestern ontario and still battling nasties the old way...just as you are doing in this video. Every summer I spend 6 to 8 weeks with a stick in one hand and a pot of soapy water knocking off Japanese beetles...the bulk of which are drawn here to a rows of wild raspberries along the fence line that my neighbour brought from the woods. WILD RASPBERRIES being number one on the snack menus for these horrible beetles. Every year I dream of going next door...ripping out and burning. Sorry I digress. Hats off to you and again well done!
Hey Joanne thank you! Sounds like you have fantastic determination as well to keep your garden under control well done! Yes I always find the old ways are usually the best ways unfortunately with modern transportation we do get invasive species that seem to desimate areas with no preditors we have to be the preditors to keep the numbers down! Keep up the good work 😁👍
Nice to see brambles being cleared correctly! The initial time and elbow grease investment to get out the roots pays off tenfold in the long run. I see so many gardeners grab the power tools, do a quick once over, and just leave the roots... only for them to grow back even thicker the following year...
Hey difirkins thanks very much for your comment it's appreciated. Your absolutely right most people end up pruning them rather than removing them which only stimulates more growth! Hard work certainly pays off 😁👍
You were so lucky to see the beautiful grass snake! I've seen only one wild snake in England and that was a young adder. Always a privilege to see our wildlife up close 🙂 By the way, you can make some excellent cordage out of bramble canes, and you can also use cut lengths of spiky bramble around the edges of garden beds to stop some slugs and snails from getting to them.
Hey Jacqueline, they certainly are getting less and less of a common sight which is a shame. It was nice to see such a healthy one in the wild. I have never made cordage from brambles will have to give it a go thanks for the tip. I have used it as protection for plants it's great stuff and when it's brittle and old you can compost it and harvest some new canes. Thanks for the comment 😊👍
Hey Rebecca, yes that oak certainly was suffering being smothered like that but is now thriving with all the new light available. Thank you once you get started clearing these sort of areas you get into a good motion with hard work it is surprising how quickly it can be done 😁👍
One of those jobs that’s physically demanding and psychologically rewarding in equal measure! P.s. I love a snake! I was at a clients house last week and he had a 4 ft grass snake in his office, which was a great opportunity for me to play hero ☺️
Absolutely! I found my second job of the day a lot harder after completing this one in the morning! But is is always very rewarding transforming an area. Yes amazing creatures it's a shame I disturbed him enjoying the sun. Ah that's great snakes in the office sounds like a cut throat novel.....
Wow you did this on a morning! Amazing it really is labour intensive if your a novice. I know myself from trying over the weekend. Where about a was this? Surprised to see a snake in there!!!
Hey Paul thanks for the comment, certainly hard work but hard work forever pays off in the long run always worth tackling a challenge even just little by little 😁👍
This a Grass Snake - totally harmless and beautiful. Adders are largely absent from London apart from a very few peripheral sites (none in Central London). Hope this helps!
NO WAY!! I was hoping that this was a countryside thing… and was going to ask where Gardeners Tale is located so that I can avoid that are. I dont do snakes… and now I’ve realised that finding rats in the allotment is not the worse thing
Good on you. Not too many folks that are still willing to deal with the manual labor route. Looks great! Where I live we have acres upon acres of Scotch Broom and Himalayan Blackberries to deal with. Never-ending! Still, I prefer the look of hand work versus tractor work, let alone poison work. We are lucky to be able to do "prescribed" burns on certain areas. But, you're right, digging it out makes the biggest dent with the least footprint.
Hey mate thanks it's much appreciated! Yeah definitely agree with you a lot of people want a "quick fix" but end up with a worse job with more work on their hands long term. That sounds great the ash from burning the brush must make your soil super fertile. Yeah then it's a case of planting something to take over the area that you actually like ( in this case wildflowers) or keep cutting it if it's a grass area to stop it coming back via seeds in the soil or brought in from animals. 👍
Get an Oregon Mulching blade for the strimmer and you won't need to pick anything up, it pulverises briars, nettles and saplings, absolutely fantastic blade to have and plenty of video demos on youtube.
@@gardenerstale your welcome. I uploaded a video today of an area I done on my land and you can see how effective it is. Take care. Here the link ua-cam.com/video/gywnnD44xS4/v-deo.html
please, please be careful of wildlife when you use it. Especially hedgehogs. Undergrowth like this shouldn't be cleared during bird nesting season. It's much better to do it in winter, but you need to take care not to hurt hibernating hedgehogs. So many poor little hedgehogs are killed and maimed each year by careless use of strimmers. They don't have a fight or flight response, their instinct is to curl up and stay put because of their prickles.
It is really good, I agree, but not for the novice and those who aren't very physically strong on their legs or arms because it has a really powerful " kick back." Also, you have to be really careful when using it. Before use, I recommend locking away children, pets, and people who dont have any common sense as well as those who do not understand the basics of health and safety. It's a sharp powerful blade that can get through brambles and probably bone too, if you have stones,rocks,brickwork close to your brush or hidden underneath, do not use the blade, as I mentioned it has a powerful kickback and could have devastating consequences. Take care people.
Hello thanks for the comment. Absolutely it's a regular question I get asked, the best gloves I find are suede welding gauntlets which can be picked up relatively cheaply and are very tough 😁👍
Don't see any tv gardening programs dealing with huge areas of high brambles. Once cleared are there any plants/bushes you can put in to prevent The gambles from reinvading. I've been looking at getting a couple of snake-handlers gloves.
Hey John thanks for the comment I try to do videos on "gaps" in the horticultural world that they don't show or don't show in depth to help enable a deeper understanding on the subject so everyone has the knowledge to do it themselves. I wouldn't say anything specific would be better than something else I would say evergreen shrubs would be a good idea as would block out light below and you could mulch it to keep weeds down. What I would go for is a plant that thrives in your growing conditions so in your soil type climate etc so then it can out complete the bramble if any brambles try to come back after clearing them. I would make sure all the brambles are cleared and left for a few months to make sure you haven't missed any before planting. Hope this info helps 👍
Hey thanks for the comment, it's a Stihl KM 131 with the hedge cutter attachment a great bit of kit but you certainly don't need something that powerful for this. You can do this sort of job with a smaller engine long handle hedge cutter just needs to be sharp 👍
What gloves do you use to simply grab handfuls of brambles and NOT end up with hands sliced to ribbons by thorns?! I've got to clear out my back garden which brambles have completely taken over (like over 6ft tall ... killed every other plant and all the grass ... taken over) but the thickest gloves I found in the garden centre STILL let the thorns just stab their way through!! :( Also ... I didn't know you can use a hedge trimmer to cut down brambles? I assumed their stems are far too thick for such a tool??
Hey David I have used so many gloves over the years and found for plants like brambles, pyrocanther, hawthorn etc suede leather welding/fire proof gloves are the best you can pick them up for under £10 online and are way cheaper and better than the overpriced rose gauntlets they sell! Ah you have your work cut out as well I managed to get this done in a morning, once you get stuck in it doesn't take as long as you would think so don't be put off by the overwhelming task even just set goals and do it in sections. 👍 Yes the hedge cutter certainly speeds up the process it does need to be a powerful one or you can use a brush cutter/blade on a strimmer but I have done it before without power tools and just used loppers and secateurs the main issue is usually bagging up the waste but I would recommend a small fire while you work. Good luck with your project 😁👍
Hello Cosyhome yes this is in UK in England don't worry they are more scared of you. My advice would be to work in a sweeping fashion over the area so any animals are able to escape in the opposite direction. Do bare in mind this was done in a very rural location and the rest of the garden around there is very wild! 😁
@@gardenerstale this would happen to me, I live in the Highlands. What brand is your hedge trimmer, what would you recommend. Don’t want to really get a petrol one though..
Thanks for the video, did you use an cordless hedge cutter? Could you let me know which one? I have to cut lots of brambles to clear my new allotment and not sure which one to get. Thank you!
Hey Muguntu thanks for the comment I used a petrol hedge cutter for this however there are some fantastic cordless battery hedge cutters out there which I have used before and really liked. Have a look at Stihl and Husqvarnas range both very powerful and have a great battery life if I could swap my petrol for these battery powered units I would. Hope this helps 👍
Hey Danny that would be ideal wouldn't it! On this job because they were so mature they needed to be dug out. You could cut them down then put some cardboard and a lot of mulch or bar chippings etc on top of that about 15cm to totally suppress them but it does depend on the size of the area situation etc. Tbh take it section by section day by day this large area took me a mornings work to do so give it a go 👍
Lovely view of the snake. My sons dug a 4 foot wide by 3foot deep hole, and the following year, the bramble was back. Can't see how the light digging you're doing is going to clear them permanently, unless you keep mowing the area and don't fill it with plants again
Hey Recovery 1994 thanks for your comment did you leave the ground bare for the year or did other plants re grow/did you re plant? So looking at the area last month the grass varieties have grown into a meadow and no brambles have re grown as I dug the centre of the bramble out with the roots. The meadow then can take over blocking light out for future brambles to germinate/grow. Hope this helps 👍
I agree with you on this, I have a bramble patch in a farmer's grassy meadow right up against my fence line and covering about 1/4 acre, with permission I cut down and dug out the brambles making sure to get the root balls completely, the next year they were back again and super vigorous. In the end, again with permission, I had to resort to SBK weed killer to eradicate the stuff.
Hey Tom thanks for the comment, ha ha well hopefully in future I won't be finding snakes when I am working 😂 although I find it quite common in overgrown areas once found a striped red white and black snake once that was obviously someone's pet that had got lost 👍
I’ve just watched this again and I wonder, is there a correlation between the "Snakeshead flower" and the actual Snake? or was that just a happy coincidence?🤔
I have a garden that was taken over by brambles. Roots are very deep is there any spay that would kill the roots off before I start hacking the ground?
Hey Jasmine sorry to hear that they are very invasive once they get going. There certainly are lots of commercial sprays on the market that would kill the brambles down to the root although I am not a fan of chemical use. My advice would be if you are going down that route is to cut the brambles down to the ground then wait for them to re shoot so you are spraying their new leaves with the systemic weed killer and wear the appropriate PPE to prevent contact with you. 👍
Just subbed. My problem is I have bramble in my new home/garden coming up and taking over through other flowers and plants. It's a 'mare'! Any advice appreciated.
Hey Donna thank you for your comment and sub. It can be a bit of a brute when it gets hold of a garden there are only a few options really which are to cut it down and cover it, weed spray it, or get a strong fork and dig it out. I do find digging it out the best method the area in this video has not had any brambles return as the grass and wild flowers have taken over. My advice would be to focus on one area at a time digging it out you can cut them down to access them but follow the stems to find where they root and loosen the soil with a fork and get a thick leather pair of gloves to pull them out. Step by step you can do it 👍
Tall stands of brambles like this shouldn't be cleared during bird nesting and fledging season. It's much better to do it in winter, but you need to take care not to hurt hibernating hedgehogs who won't run away but will curl up into a ball.
Hey Claire thanks for your comment very useful information. It is always hard to find the right time to change a habitat for the wildlife as in the winter a lot of animals would use this to hibernate and take shelter in the harsh weather. With any clearing it is best to assess the area for animals and work from one side to the other so they are able to move away from the noise to a safe place. 👍
Hey Lashes 35 thanks for your comment I believe it was a common grass snake. Yes we have a few different species of wild snakes but they are rare to see in gardens! 😁👍
Hey Jeff thick leather gloves are the best I highly recommend welding gauntlet gloves for this sort of task as I have found them to be a lot thicker and better than any gardening gloves! Hope this helps 👍
Q: will a Stirrup/Action hoe work on clearing roots? Have a smaller patch that's growing (3mx3 only 5" off ground) but disability stops me digging. But use my action hoe clearing everything else weedy. Many thanks 👍 Loads of Snakes on York Moors. .
Hello, yes that would work as long as you can hook the crown (the point where the brambles canes meet and grow from) of the bramble out it won't be able to re-grow. Might be easier on a wet day to do this hope this helps. That's brilliant to hear I don't see them as often as I used to 👍
hi what gloves are you using - ive got to clear brambles tomorrow - so was looking to know whats best gloves - and how best to cut them into smaller size to fit in bags
Hey Micheal I use suede welding gauntlets on all spikey plants as have used so many other gloves and found these work the best. As far as cutting the brambles smaller to bag up you could lay the bramble canes on the grass and cut them up with a hedge cutter being careful not to dig the cutter into the soil or what I sometimes do is roll them up into a ball and put it into the bag like that. They also burn really well so could burn them in the garden then mix the ash into your compost pile. Hope this helps 👍
Hey UML it was a grass snake that was hiding there, ha ha yeah you do sometimes think why not get some machinery in to clear it but long term it damages the soil structure and the wildlife that you need to create a good ecosystem for the garden, so the old fashioned way is sometimes the best way. 😁👍
Hey Andy I usually use welding gloves as they are thick gauntlets and the suede leather helps with grip rather than the waxy ones! Also they are pretty cheap for the quality you get can pick them up for under £10 and my first pair lasted a fair few years. 😁👍
@@binky4185 I don't unfortunately they are all very similar (mine are red) as have to be of a standard to withstand welding damage so thorns are not problem for them 👍
Yeah well buddy at least they’re not taller than you😂😂. My grandfather went at the ones in his garden with a hedge cutter and a few years later they are at least 7ft tall and more have grown in from the forest at the back of the garden. I’m honestly considering a controlled burn because there are nettles growing in there to make it worse. If there’s a dry cold spell this winter I’m clearing a fire break and lighting them up. I’ll get the roots out then probably with more ease. Im going to buy my grandfather new grass anyways as a present because his garden is ruined with weed overgrowth and moss. I need to get the brambles out to save an apple tree. It was planted the year I was born and it produces at least 100 apples every year. The bramble invasion is threatening it now.
Hey thanks for the comment, wow yeah that doesn't sound a fun job I bet they are really thick as well so the hedge cutter struggles? I have never tried a controlled burn on them I'm sure (if it's safe) it would do a good job as that's what people did before power tools (or get a goat lol). Yeah definitely the trick is digging the roots out to prevent them coming back and then it's just keeping on top of them or put some turf down and cutting the grass regularly will stop the brambles growing. Sounds really nice I do love a good apple tree. Let me know how you get on 👍
I have a bad back(bulging discs) any other idea or tool other than a fork to make my life easier please? I heard from some people there’s a strong spray that kills bramble quickly but I’m sceptical
Hello, sorry to hear that, a draw hoe/azada digging hoe can certainly be a useful tool to prevent bending over or long handled loppers to cut the bramble stalks. You can use like I did in the video a long handled hedge cutter at an angle to cut the brambles as well. I am not a fan of using chemicals in the garden however sometimes it is needed and there are certainly strong commercial weedkillers out there that would kill off brambles. I would recommend cutting the brambles down first then spraying off the bramble leaves when they re-grow so you are spraying fresh growth as it will get the chemical to the root quicker. Hope this helps 👍
Hey Bonny very well thanks how are you getting on? Best tool is hard to narrow down to as it depends on the area you are clearing. You need a few tools, one to cut them back and one to dig out the crown (main growth part of the plant) to make sure they don't come back. My preference is a pair of secateurs and a fork but on a very large area this may not be practical. Hope this helps 👍
Hey Ky I wouldn't recommend a chainsaw for nettles best tool for that job would be a Strimmer (weed wacker) with a thick corded head or a blade head. Or a long handled hedge cutter works great as well as less messy and easy to clear the nettles up after. If you want to go old school you can get a scythe however with all these options the roots of the nettle will still remain so would need either digging up, spraying, covering with a very thick mulch or tarpooling sheet (for about a year) to kill off the nettles for good. Hope this helps 👍
I have brambles out my back !!!!! ....and they just laugh at me !!!!!!!! . I leave the curtains drawn but they,ve even crept in there !!!!!! ......... 🙂 . My mates gave me a 2-stoke hedge trimmer .....but i have a hedgehog hiding somewhere .... who i love. 🙂 . But .............. gardens are lovely as i hate bricks and blocks
Hey Steve, thanks for the comment that's brilliant I can imagine brambles can taunt us. I'm glad to hear you look after the wildlife and don't have a concrete garden. A bit of cutting back of the brambles is a natural cycle, similar to when deer or other grazing animals would do it we sometimes need to recreate that so we can use the garden and prevent things taking over. 👍
@@gardenerstale Many Thanks for the reply 🙂........ (it's easy... i've closed the curtains) lol . Yeh a mate gave me a 2-stroke hedge cutters ....... but i love hedgehogs.... so i will never cut to the ground . Wow they are beautiful little creatures 🙂
Haha grass snakes make me laugh making big boy huffy noises then 3 seconds later eject foul smelling liquid while they try play dead 😂😂 As with much wildlife a much rarer sight than they used to be which is very sad
Hey Andrew they always seem to be in an unexpected area to. I haven't seen any play dead for a long time I wonder if those ones get caught out and don't survive, maybe gets bread out of them? Yeah it's a real shame in any area I can I try to create log piles and leave overgrown areas otherwise the only areas they can live will be very rural areas and national parks.
What if you just use a brush cutter to whack them back to the ground and then in spring spray them with a systemic herbicide like Pastor which will kill them right down to the roots ?
Hello The Truth, that would certainly work spraying the spring when it has new shoots coming through. In this situation we wanted to keep the wild meadow and spraying would risk killing the plants below the brambles 👍
Hey That British Homestead, this method is hard work but pays off and no need for chemicals. If you establish something else in its place it won't come back 👍
Hey Goldena Medina, yes they do always seems to be depicted as "bad" or "evil" in fairy tales however in the right setting in a garden they are a great protective boundary, free fruit and fantastic for wildlife 😁👍
Good to know.😊 I did not realize that brambles had fruit. I found a presentation on brambles by Home is where the heart is (youtube). Wonderful blackberries! To me the word bramble was a painful prickly bush and I did not know that they grow blackberries and is the blackberry bush. The word brambles is also in the American song .... 1814 Battle of New Orleans by Johnny Horton....
@@sueme1954 A lot of people do think exactly what you said, a painful prickly bush. Yes its where all our cultivated blackberry varieties come from these wild, sometimes sweet sometimes tart blackberries. Brilliant stuff 👍
I totally understand you it can be a real challenge to get on top of them but little and often and you will get there. It's also worth thinking about what to turn the area into once the brambles are clear so that they don't come back 👍
@@gardenerstale Grass snakes (like the one here) are harmless, but adders can give one a nasty bite. Very rare for an adder to do that instead of scarpering though!
Hey Richard a chipper does a fantastic job of cutting it into mulch to use on the garden, however I would have struggled to get it to that location so the next best option was to burn it 👍
@gardenerstale I am just a terrible at gardening. Also starts my asthma and hay fever badly. It's my overgrown prickly brambles bushes i can't seem to sort . But at the end of the day I've got to do them . I can't afford gardeners . Thanks anyway
Hey Joswanlauwkung thank you much appreciated. Once you get going doing the job time certainly flies by and you look back and realise how much has been cleared😁👍
Hey Jdlc yes that is a option they would certainly clear the area but would need to be there a while to stop the brambles from coming back! Goats and keeping them in is not an option everyone can use unfortunately but if you have them certainly use them to keep brambles away 👍
Hey Tahirabmed they can be a bit of a pain when they get out of control but the removal method shown in this video is transferable to bigger and smalled bramble patches. I would certainly advise getting a hedge cutter or strimmer (with a blade attachment) to cut them up to make them more manageable, good luck 😁👍
Hey Grandma's stories sorry for the late reply this comment didn't show up in my feed. No I would not kill the snake as in the UK snakes and all reptile are not very common anymore so the more they can reproduce the better for the ecosystem 👍
@@gardenerstale But it's no fun when they multiply to the point that they are a danger to people, getting into houses, gardens and other places. It's "funny" that animals are considered more important than humans, nowadays.... If I saw a dangerous animal in my property or near humans you can be sure I would kill it before it killed me. Cats are a lot more useful than snakes at catching rodents anyway. What use are snakes for the eco-system? Educate me, if you have the time.... They sure make me appreciate all the other useful and beautiful animals, that's the only use I see in them....
@@grandmasstories3418 I totally agree with you if there was an infestation but this just doesn't happen with snakes in the UK. This was a grass snake as well which is not poisonous and because of all the farm land and urban areas there are not many habitats for them to live in. They eat all types of small mammals and frogs toads etc and also get eaten by lots of our larger birds of prey so are really needed within the ecosystem. Cats however are fine on a farm for rodent issues but in an urban environment are detrimental to the bird population and the only wild cats are found mainly in Scotland. I think it's very situational with these sorts of issues but in the UK snakes are not common so need to be looked after. 👍
glad to see a way that does not use chemicals thanks im old but I have time so thanks for a good video Joe
Hey Joe thanks so much for the comment much appreciated. That's absolutely it great attitude bit by bit you can get any area sorted. All the best 😁👍
Well done my friend!! That is no easy task!!! I will be 67 this July...I am on my hands and knees now...just taking a break. I am located in southwestern ontario and still battling nasties the old way...just as you are doing in this video. Every summer I spend 6 to 8 weeks with a stick in one hand and a pot of soapy water knocking off Japanese beetles...the bulk of which are drawn here to a rows of wild raspberries along the fence line that my neighbour brought from the woods. WILD RASPBERRIES being number one on the snack menus for these horrible beetles. Every year I dream of going next door...ripping out and burning. Sorry I digress. Hats off to you and again well done!
Hey Joanne thank you! Sounds like you have fantastic determination as well to keep your garden under control well done! Yes I always find the old ways are usually the best ways unfortunately with modern transportation we do get invasive species that seem to desimate areas with no preditors we have to be the preditors to keep the numbers down! Keep up the good work 😁👍
i've been battling virginia for 10 years which my next door refuses to maintain, it's already killed a cherry tree and honeysuckle
Nice to see brambles being cleared correctly! The initial time and elbow grease investment to get out the roots pays off tenfold in the long run.
I see so many gardeners grab the power tools, do a quick once over, and just leave the roots... only for them to grow back even thicker the following year...
Hey difirkins thanks very much for your comment it's appreciated. Your absolutely right most people end up pruning them rather than removing them which only stimulates more growth! Hard work certainly pays off 😁👍
If you have a few goats or pigs.
You were so lucky to see the beautiful grass snake! I've seen only one wild snake in England and that was a young adder. Always a privilege to see our wildlife up close 🙂
By the way, you can make some excellent cordage out of bramble canes, and you can also use cut lengths of spiky bramble around the edges of garden beds to stop some slugs and snails from getting to them.
Hey Jacqueline, they certainly are getting less and less of a common sight which is a shame. It was nice to see such a healthy one in the wild.
I have never made cordage from brambles will have to give it a go thanks for the tip. I have used it as protection for plants it's great stuff and when it's brittle and old you can compost it and harvest some new canes. Thanks for the comment 😊👍
Lots of snakes in Dover in the long grass but I would say be careful as there not friendly 😅
I feel very encouraged by this video! Thank you
Hey Nao thanks so much for your comment really brings me joy that you found this encouraging 😁👍
Pleasing difference! Great job! 👍👍
Thanks so much glad you enjoyed 😁👍
Bravo. The trees thank you. I think you are proud of your task and should be.
Hey, thank you the trees are certainly a lot happier and less restricted. It's always a nice feeling transforming an area like this 😁👍
Omg that poor oak!!! Well done on clearing such a large area so fast!!
Hey Rebecca, yes that oak certainly was suffering being smothered like that but is now thriving with all the new light available. Thank you once you get started clearing these sort of areas you get into a good motion with hard work it is surprising how quickly it can be done 😁👍
One of those jobs that’s physically demanding and psychologically rewarding in equal measure! P.s. I love a snake! I was at a clients house last week and he had a 4 ft grass snake in his office, which was a great opportunity for me to play hero ☺️
Absolutely! I found my second job of the day a lot harder after completing this one in the morning! But is is always very rewarding transforming an area. Yes amazing creatures it's a shame I disturbed him enjoying the sun. Ah that's great snakes in the office sounds like a cut throat novel.....
Be mindful of Hedgehog 🦔 x
Wow you did this on a morning! Amazing it really is labour intensive if your a novice. I know myself from trying over the weekend. Where about a was this? Surprised to see a snake in there!!!
Excellent. And even better was seeing the adder. Now I know what to look out for.
Oh was it a grass snake. I saw a snake once whilst walking over some wetlands and it didn't look like that Think I'd better go look on google. :)
Hello HerhiNess V thanks for your comment. Yes your right it's a grass snake sometimes their markings can differ from animal to animal 😁👍
Wow that's A lot of thorny work! Good job🙂
Thanks so much always very rewarding clearing a large area like this 😁👍
God bless you, it's looks Hard work, I have got waist land behind my Work shop
Hey Paul thanks for the comment, certainly hard work but hard work forever pays off in the long run always worth tackling a challenge even just little by little 😁👍
I just been clearing half my overgrown garden, and found an adder also - and I live in central London.
Hey Caerleon wow that's fantastic to hear that Adders live in gardens in central London great work thanks for the comment 👍
This a Grass Snake - totally harmless and beautiful. Adders are largely absent from London apart from a very few peripheral sites (none in Central London). Hope this helps!
Hello Chris interesting about the Adders in London. 👍
NO WAY!! I was hoping that this was a countryside thing… and was going to ask where Gardeners Tale is located so that I can avoid that are. I dont do snakes… and now I’ve realised that finding rats in the allotment is not the worse thing
Good on you. Not too many folks that are still willing to deal with the manual labor route. Looks great!
Where I live we have acres upon acres of Scotch Broom and Himalayan Blackberries to deal with. Never-ending!
Still, I prefer the look of hand work versus tractor work, let alone poison work. We are lucky to be able to do "prescribed" burns on certain areas. But, you're right, digging it out makes the biggest dent with the least footprint.
Hey mate thanks it's much appreciated! Yeah definitely agree with you a lot of people want a "quick fix" but end up with a worse job with more work on their hands long term. That sounds great the ash from burning the brush must make your soil super fertile. Yeah then it's a case of planting something to take over the area that you actually like ( in this case wildflowers) or keep cutting it if it's a grass area to stop it coming back via seeds in the soil or brought in from animals. 👍
Get an Oregon Mulching blade for the strimmer and you won't need to pick anything up, it pulverises briars, nettles and saplings, absolutely fantastic blade to have and plenty of video demos on youtube.
Hey Holloepoint thanks for the tip will check it out 👍
@@gardenerstale your welcome. I uploaded a video today of an area I done on my land and you can see how effective it is. Take care. Here the link
ua-cam.com/video/gywnnD44xS4/v-deo.html
@@hollowpoint8800 fantastic work looking really good! Certainly one to add to the Christmas list 👍
please, please be careful of wildlife when you use it. Especially hedgehogs. Undergrowth like this shouldn't be cleared during bird nesting season. It's much better to do it in winter, but you need to take care not to hurt hibernating hedgehogs. So many poor little hedgehogs are killed and maimed each year by careless use of strimmers. They don't have a fight or flight response, their instinct is to curl up and stay put because of their prickles.
It is really good, I agree, but not for the novice and those who aren't very physically strong on their legs or arms because it has a really powerful " kick back." Also, you have to be really careful when using it. Before use, I recommend locking away children, pets, and people who dont have any common sense as well as those who do not understand the basics of health and safety. It's a sharp powerful blade that can get through brambles and probably bone too, if you have stones,rocks,brickwork close to your brush or hidden underneath, do not use the blade, as I mentioned it has a powerful kickback and could have devastating consequences. Take care people.
Wonderful job Thañks for sharing! 😊
Hey Jenny thanks so much for the comment 😁👍
Thanks for the video. Could you please let me know what gloves you're wearing? I keep getting thorns piercing my standard old leather gloves!
Hello thanks for the comment. Absolutely it's a regular question I get asked, the best gloves I find are suede welding gauntlets which can be picked up relatively cheaply and are very tough 😁👍
Don't see any tv gardening programs dealing with huge areas of high brambles.
Once cleared are there any plants/bushes you can put in to prevent The gambles from reinvading.
I've been looking at getting a couple of snake-handlers gloves.
Hey John thanks for the comment I try to do videos on "gaps" in the horticultural world that they don't show or don't show in depth to help enable a deeper understanding on the subject so everyone has the knowledge to do it themselves.
I wouldn't say anything specific would be better than something else I would say evergreen shrubs would be a good idea as would block out light below and you could mulch it to keep weeds down. What I would go for is a plant that thrives in your growing conditions so in your soil type climate etc so then it can out complete the bramble if any brambles try to come back after clearing them. I would make sure all the brambles are cleared and left for a few months to make sure you haven't missed any before planting. Hope this info helps 👍
Great video 👏🏾 what is the tool you used to clear the bramble? The hedge trimmer?
Hey thanks for the comment, it's a Stihl KM 131 with the hedge cutter attachment a great bit of kit but you certainly don't need something that powerful for this. You can do this sort of job with a smaller engine long handle hedge cutter just needs to be sharp 👍
What gloves do you use to simply grab handfuls of brambles and NOT end up with hands sliced to ribbons by thorns?! I've got to clear out my back garden which brambles have completely taken over (like over 6ft tall ... killed every other plant and all the grass ... taken over) but the thickest gloves I found in the garden centre STILL let the thorns just stab their way through!! :(
Also ... I didn't know you can use a hedge trimmer to cut down brambles? I assumed their stems are far too thick for such a tool??
Rubber garden gloves
Hey David I have used so many gloves over the years and found for plants like brambles, pyrocanther, hawthorn etc suede leather welding/fire proof gloves are the best you can pick them up for under £10 online and are way cheaper and better than the overpriced rose gauntlets they sell! Ah you have your work cut out as well I managed to get this done in a morning, once you get stuck in it doesn't take as long as you would think so don't be put off by the overwhelming task even just set goals and do it in sections. 👍
Yes the hedge cutter certainly speeds up the process it does need to be a powerful one or you can use a brush cutter/blade on a strimmer but I have done it before without power tools and just used loppers and secateurs the main issue is usually bagging up the waste but I would recommend a small fire while you work. Good luck with your project 😁👍
@@gardenerstale I second the leather gloves, much better when you're able to confidently grab the brambles and tug.
@@frugalfifer Absolutely makes the job a lot easier! 😁👍
Is this in uk? Now I’m scared to clear out our brambles 😬
Hello Cosyhome yes this is in UK in England don't worry they are more scared of you. My advice would be to work in a sweeping fashion over the area so any animals are able to escape in the opposite direction. Do bare in mind this was done in a very rural location and the rest of the garden around there is very wild! 😁
@@gardenerstale this would happen to me, I live in the Highlands. What brand is your hedge trimmer, what would you recommend. Don’t want to really get a petrol one though..
@@gardenerstale I really need to do this, to get rid of all sorts, bramble, gorse, bindweed, bracken.
Thanks for the video, did you use an cordless hedge cutter? Could you let me know which one? I have to cut lots of brambles to clear my new allotment and not sure which one to get. Thank you!
Hey Muguntu thanks for the comment I used a petrol hedge cutter for this however there are some fantastic cordless battery hedge cutters out there which I have used before and really liked. Have a look at Stihl and Husqvarnas range both very powerful and have a great battery life if I could swap my petrol for these battery powered units I would. Hope this helps 👍
And here I was hoping for a no-dig cardboard method to get rid of those brambles
Hey Danny that would be ideal wouldn't it! On this job because they were so mature they needed to be dug out. You could cut them down then put some cardboard and a lot of mulch or bar chippings etc on top of that about 15cm to totally suppress them but it does depend on the size of the area situation etc. Tbh take it section by section day by day this large area took me a mornings work to do so give it a go 👍
Not going to happen!
4:08 A grumpy Grass Snake cool :)
Hey Hobo uk it certainly was grumpy! I don't blame him though as I disturbed him 👍
Lovely view of the snake. My sons dug a 4 foot wide by 3foot deep hole, and the following year, the bramble was back. Can't see how the light digging you're doing is going to clear them permanently, unless you keep mowing the area and don't fill it with plants again
Hey Recovery 1994 thanks for your comment did you leave the ground bare for the year or did other plants re grow/did you re plant? So looking at the area last month the grass varieties have grown into a meadow and no brambles have re grown as I dug the centre of the bramble out with the roots. The meadow then can take over blocking light out for future brambles to germinate/grow. Hope this helps 👍
I agree with you on this, I have a bramble patch in a farmer's grassy meadow right up against my fence line and covering about 1/4 acre, with permission I cut down and dug out the brambles making sure to get the root balls completely, the next year they were back again and super vigorous. In the end, again with permission, I had to resort to SBK weed killer to eradicate the stuff.
This was great...that snake!!!
Thanks Geoff and Deb was a hard job but worthwhile! You never know what your going to find when clearing an area 🐍 👍
Great job man🫡 But please stop playing hide n seek with the Snakes!🐍😆
Hey Tom thanks for the comment, ha ha well hopefully in future I won't be finding snakes when I am working 😂 although I find it quite common in overgrown areas once found a striped red white and black snake once that was obviously someone's pet that had got lost 👍
I’ve just watched this again and I wonder, is there a correlation between the "Snakeshead flower" and the actual Snake? or was that just a happy coincidence?🤔
@@tomhart5465that's a really good point I didn't realise. Yeah I guess it was a happy coincidence but you never know 😅👍
I have a garden that was taken over by brambles. Roots are very deep is there any spay that would kill the roots off before I start hacking the ground?
Hey Jasmine sorry to hear that they are very invasive once they get going. There certainly are lots of commercial sprays on the market that would kill the brambles down to the root although I am not a fan of chemical use. My advice would be if you are going down that route is to cut the brambles down to the ground then wait for them to re shoot so you are spraying their new leaves with the systemic weed killer and wear the appropriate PPE to prevent contact with you. 👍
Just subbed. My problem is I have bramble in my new home/garden coming up and taking over through other flowers and plants. It's a 'mare'! Any advice appreciated.
Hey Donna thank you for your comment and sub. It can be a bit of a brute when it gets hold of a garden there are only a few options really which are to cut it down and cover it, weed spray it, or get a strong fork and dig it out. I do find digging it out the best method the area in this video has not had any brambles return as the grass and wild flowers have taken over. My advice would be to focus on one area at a time digging it out you can cut them down to access them but follow the stems to find where they root and loosen the soil with a fork and get a thick leather pair of gloves to pull them out. Step by step you can do it 👍
@@gardenerstale can you recommend any gloves? Got me about half an acre to remove! 😬
@@drjonbear7517 best gloves to go for are welding gloves as they are very thick leather and are the long gauntlet style 👍
Thanks for this video!
Your very welcome Ma Bel 😁👍
Tall stands of brambles like this shouldn't be cleared during bird nesting and fledging season. It's much better to do it in winter, but you need to take care not to hurt hibernating hedgehogs who won't run away but will curl up into a ball.
Hey Claire thanks for your comment very useful information. It is always hard to find the right time to change a habitat for the wildlife as in the winter a lot of animals would use this to hibernate and take shelter in the harsh weather. With any clearing it is best to assess the area for animals and work from one side to the other so they are able to move away from the noise to a safe place. 👍
What was that snake? I didn’t think we had wild snakes in the uk
Hey Lashes 35 thanks for your comment I believe it was a common grass snake. Yes we have a few different species of wild snakes but they are rare to see in gardens! 😁👍
thanks sm T_T, every day they seem to sprout back & I now know I need gloves & a shovel of sorts
Hey yorukaadams your very welcome thanks for taking the time to comment. Yeah absolutely dig that crown of the plant out and it won't come back 👍
ey up whats the best gloves for this type ( thorns-nettles ) of task ? Thanks in advance good Folk
Hey Jeff thick leather gloves are the best I highly recommend welding gauntlet gloves for this sort of task as I have found them to be a lot thicker and better than any gardening gloves! Hope this helps 👍
Q: will a Stirrup/Action hoe work on clearing roots?
Have a smaller patch that's growing (3mx3 only 5" off ground) but disability stops me digging.
But use my action hoe clearing everything else weedy.
Many thanks 👍
Loads of Snakes on York Moors. .
Hello, yes that would work as long as you can hook the crown (the point where the brambles canes meet and grow from) of the bramble out it won't be able to re-grow. Might be easier on a wet day to do this hope this helps. That's brilliant to hear I don't see them as often as I used to 👍
hi what gloves are you using - ive got to clear brambles tomorrow - so was looking to know whats best gloves - and how best to cut them into smaller size to fit in bags
Hey Micheal I use suede welding gauntlets on all spikey plants as have used so many other gloves and found these work the best. As far as cutting the brambles smaller to bag up you could lay the bramble canes on the grass and cut them up with a hedge cutter being careful not to dig the cutter into the soil or what I sometimes do is roll them up into a ball and put it into the bag like that. They also burn really well so could burn them in the garden then mix the ash into your compost pile. Hope this helps 👍
What type of snake was that?
Also, you could have got someone to drive a tank over the brambles and do a neutral turn on them haha.
Hey UML it was a grass snake that was hiding there, ha ha yeah you do sometimes think why not get some machinery in to clear it but long term it damages the soil structure and the wildlife that you need to create a good ecosystem for the garden, so the old fashioned way is sometimes the best way. 😁👍
Ha Ha anyone from a foreign country watching will be saying zat is not a bunny it's a snake 😂😂
It was a snake I was not expecting to see as well hence the reaction 😅👍
What gloves do you use for this kind of job - I'm after decent bramble proof gloves :)
Hey Andy I usually use welding gloves as they are thick gauntlets and the suede leather helps with grip rather than the waxy ones! Also they are pretty cheap for the quality you get can pick them up for under £10 and my first pair lasted a fair few years. 😁👍
@@gardenerstale do you have a make / model for these? Thanks!
@@binky4185 I don't unfortunately they are all very similar (mine are red) as have to be of a standard to withstand welding damage so thorns are not problem for them 👍
Yeah well buddy at least they’re not taller than you😂😂.
My grandfather went at the ones in his garden with a hedge cutter and a few years later they are at least 7ft tall and more have grown in from the forest at the back of the garden.
I’m honestly considering a controlled burn because there are nettles growing in there to make it worse. If there’s a dry cold spell this winter I’m clearing a fire break and lighting them up.
I’ll get the roots out then probably with more ease. Im going to buy my grandfather new grass anyways as a present because his garden is ruined with weed overgrowth and moss.
I need to get the brambles out to save an apple tree. It was planted the year I was born and it produces at least 100 apples every year. The bramble invasion is threatening it now.
Hey thanks for the comment, wow yeah that doesn't sound a fun job I bet they are really thick as well so the hedge cutter struggles?
I have never tried a controlled burn on them I'm sure (if it's safe) it would do a good job as that's what people did before power tools (or get a goat lol). Yeah definitely the trick is digging the roots out to prevent them coming back and then it's just keeping on top of them or put some turf down and cutting the grass regularly will stop the brambles growing. Sounds really nice I do love a good apple tree. Let me know how you get on 👍
I have a bad back(bulging discs) any other idea or tool other than a fork to make my life easier please? I heard from some people there’s a strong spray that kills bramble quickly but I’m sceptical
Hello, sorry to hear that, a draw hoe/azada digging hoe can certainly be a useful tool to prevent bending over or long handled loppers to cut the bramble stalks. You can use like I did in the video a long handled hedge cutter at an angle to cut the brambles as well. I am not a fan of using chemicals in the garden however sometimes it is needed and there are certainly strong commercial weedkillers out there that would kill off brambles. I would recommend cutting the brambles down first then spraying off the bramble leaves when they re-grow so you are spraying fresh growth as it will get the chemical to the root quicker. Hope this helps 👍
Hi
How you doing
Which is the best gardening tool to use to clear brambles
Hey Bonny very well thanks how are you getting on? Best tool is hard to narrow down to as it depends on the area you are clearing. You need a few tools, one to cut them back and one to dig out the crown (main growth part of the plant) to make sure they don't come back. My preference is a pair of secateurs and a fork but on a very large area this may not be practical. Hope this helps 👍
Thanks 😊
Getting on Great thxs just want to find a solution to stop the regrowth of the brambles which will be hard.
Would you recommend using a chainsaw to get rid of a large area of overgrown nettles?
Hey Ky I wouldn't recommend a chainsaw for nettles best tool for that job would be a Strimmer (weed wacker) with a thick corded head or a blade head. Or a long handled hedge cutter works great as well as less messy and easy to clear the nettles up after. If you want to go old school you can get a scythe however with all these options the roots of the nettle will still remain so would need either digging up, spraying, covering with a very thick mulch or tarpooling sheet (for about a year) to kill off the nettles for good. Hope this helps 👍
@@gardenerstale thank you so much for your help, it's going to make tackling the jungle a lot easier haha
You are welcome good luck 😁👍
I have brambles out my back !!!!! ....and they just laugh at me !!!!!!!!
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I leave the curtains drawn but they,ve even crept in there !!!!!! ......... 🙂
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My mates gave me a 2-stoke hedge trimmer .....but i have a hedgehog hiding somewhere .... who i love. 🙂
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But .............. gardens are lovely as i hate bricks and blocks
Hey Steve, thanks for the comment that's brilliant I can imagine brambles can taunt us. I'm glad to hear you look after the wildlife and don't have a concrete garden. A bit of cutting back of the brambles is a natural cycle, similar to when deer or other grazing animals would do it we sometimes need to recreate that so we can use the garden and prevent things taking over. 👍
@@gardenerstale Many Thanks for the reply 🙂........ (it's easy... i've closed the curtains) lol
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Yeh a mate gave me a 2-stroke hedge cutters ....... but i love hedgehogs.... so i will never cut to the ground
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Wow they are beautiful little creatures 🙂
Haha grass snakes make me laugh making big boy huffy noises then 3 seconds later eject foul smelling liquid while they try play dead 😂😂
As with much wildlife a much rarer sight than they used to be which is very sad
Hey Andrew they always seem to be in an unexpected area to. I haven't seen any play dead for a long time I wonder if those ones get caught out and don't survive, maybe gets bread out of them? Yeah it's a real shame in any area I can I try to create log piles and leave overgrown areas otherwise the only areas they can live will be very rural areas and national parks.
What gloves did you use lol
Hey Rick, ha ha you can see I have been getting that question a lot lol welding gauntlets 👍
Snakes like that in UK?
Hey Moto G4 they certainly do they are very illusive but you do come across them from time to time 🐍👍
What if you just use a brush cutter to whack them back to the ground and then in spring spray them with a systemic herbicide like Pastor which will kill them right down to the roots ?
Hello The Truth, that would certainly work spraying the spring when it has new shoots coming through. In this situation we wanted to keep the wild meadow and spraying would risk killing the plants below the brambles 👍
Wondering try to reduce the amount of chemicals I’m using
Hey That British Homestead, this method is hard work but pays off and no need for chemicals. If you establish something else in its place it won't come back 👍
@@gardenerstale that’s what I’m trying now! I’ve just removed some of them today! Slowly over time wearing them down lol
Brambles... the first time I heard that word was when I heard the story of Sleeping Beauty...☺️
Hey Goldena Medina, yes they do always seems to be depicted as "bad" or "evil" in fairy tales however in the right setting in a garden they are a great protective boundary, free fruit and fantastic for wildlife 😁👍
Good to know.😊
I did not realize that brambles had fruit. I found a presentation on brambles by Home is where the heart is (youtube). Wonderful blackberries! To me the word bramble was a painful prickly bush and I did not know that they grow blackberries and is the blackberry bush.
The word brambles is also in the American song .... 1814 Battle of New Orleans by Johnny Horton....
@@sueme1954 A lot of people do think exactly what you said, a painful prickly bush. Yes its where all our cultivated blackberry varieties come from these wild, sometimes sweet sometimes tart blackberries. Brilliant stuff 👍
I’ve about given up trying to get rid of the damned things.
I totally understand you it can be a real challenge to get on top of them but little and often and you will get there. It's also worth thinking about what to turn the area into once the brambles are clear so that they don't come back 👍
We don’t have snakes here in Ireland, thank f**k.
Hey John ah that's interesting I didn't know that, they are all pretty harmless here but do make you jump if you disturb them.....
@@gardenerstale Grass snakes (like the one here) are harmless, but adders can give one a nasty bite. Very rare for an adder to do that instead of scarpering though!
yes you do....grass snakes. just not adders.
@@clairemcconway6266 Uh, no we don’t.
Snaketastic
Hey Robert thanks for your comment 😁👍
should have got a chipper you would only had a few bags of maltch
Hey Richard a chipper does a fantastic job of cutting it into mulch to use on the garden, however I would have struggled to get it to that location so the next best option was to burn it 👍
best to dry it out first before chipping, or unless your compost heap is very hot you risk spreading bramble cuttings all over the place.
😘😘😘
Thanks for the support 👍
Can please help me .
I need your help.
Hey Teresa what do you need help with? I hope this video helped you in some way 👍
@gardenerstale
I am just a terrible at gardening.
Also starts my asthma and hay fever badly. It's my overgrown prickly brambles bushes i can't seem to sort . But at the end of the day I've got to do them . I can't afford gardeners . Thanks anyway
Please remember that often people have snake fear …can’t watch 😮
Hello, I didn't think of that apologies. I will bear that mind for future videos thanks for bringing it to my attention 😊👍
herculean tasks
Hey Joswanlauwkung thank you much appreciated. Once you get going doing the job time certainly flies by and you look back and realise how much has been cleared😁👍
I'd use goats
Hey Jdlc yes that is a option they would certainly clear the area but would need to be there a while to stop the brambles from coming back! Goats and keeping them in is not an option everyone can use unfortunately but if you have them certainly use them to keep brambles away 👍
I have much worse brambles on my allotment
Hey Tahirabmed they can be a bit of a pain when they get out of control but the removal method shown in this video is transferable to bigger and smalled bramble patches. I would certainly advise getting a hedge cutter or strimmer (with a blade attachment) to cut them up to make them more manageable, good luck 😁👍
Shouldn't you have killed that snake, so it doesn't reproduce?
.... "no comment" ....
Hey Grandma's stories sorry for the late reply this comment didn't show up in my feed. No I would not kill the snake as in the UK snakes and all reptile are not very common anymore so the more they can reproduce the better for the ecosystem 👍
@@gardenerstale But it's no fun when they multiply to the point that they are a danger to people, getting into houses, gardens and other places. It's "funny" that animals are considered more important than humans, nowadays.... If I saw a dangerous animal in my property or near humans you can be sure I would kill it before it killed me. Cats are a lot more useful than snakes at catching rodents anyway. What use are snakes for the eco-system? Educate me, if you have the time.... They sure make me appreciate all the other useful and beautiful animals, that's the only use I see in them....
@@grandmasstories3418 .... "NO COMMENT" ....
@@grandmasstories3418 I totally agree with you if there was an infestation but this just doesn't happen with snakes in the UK. This was a grass snake as well which is not poisonous and because of all the farm land and urban areas there are not many habitats for them to live in. They eat all types of small mammals and frogs toads etc and also get eaten by lots of our larger birds of prey so are really needed within the ecosystem. Cats however are fine on a farm for rodent issues but in an urban environment are detrimental to the bird population and the only wild cats are found mainly in Scotland. I think it's very situational with these sorts of issues but in the UK snakes are not common so need to be looked after. 👍