Blackberries Versus Roundup
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arcatamarcia
Location: Oregon, Southern Coast
Posted: Jun-10-2009 at 3:10pm
I'm seriously considering using Roundup to kill wild blackberries that keep invading my native garden. I am generally not a user of chemicals, but I'm getting desperate and sick of trying to keep the berries at bay. I'm thinking I would "paint" the roundup on the berry leaves. My question is, assuming I am very careful in my painting, whether the Roundup will leach into the soil around the roots of the berries under ground. I don't want to damage otherwise healthy, desirable plants whose roots may be in contact with the roots of the berries.
Or, does anyone have a good, less toxic solution for my berry infestation?
greenmann
Location: Washington, Puget Sound Corridor
Posted: Jun-10-2009 at 6:16pm
Honestly digging them up by the roots is the safest, least toxic method of erradication.
Barring that, painting the leaves should help, but remember that the canes and especially the crowns of blackberries are woody, and woody tissue resists the effects of round-up and other systemic herbicides. It will still do a generally decent job, but you will probably have to reapply at least once, and likely several times.
Again, grubbing out the roots is more effective, and less toxic.
Green Man Gardens
design and consulting with a focus on native plants and wildlife habitat
silver_ creek
Location: Washington, Western Cascade Foothills
Posted: Jun-10-2009 at 7:42pm
If you are going to use roundup, the most effective time is in the fall when the berries are shutting down.
Terry M.
Silver Creek Garden
Zone 8a, Sunset Zone 4
Guests
Posted: Jun-11-2009 at 8:28am
Roundup deactivates when it comes in contact with soil. Since Roundup's patent has expired, you can buy a generic such as Buckaneer at about half price. To make it more effective, add a surfactant, such as D-foam and a squirt of liquid dish soap. Sprays are most effective when the plant is young.
DebbieTT
Location: Washington, Kitsap Peninsula
Posted: Jun-11-2009 at 10:53am
Please let me remind everyone that this is an organic, chem-free web site, so although you are being helpful, this is a gentle friendly reminder about what we are about.
Also, it is a good idea to always tell people to read and follow the labels of these products. This not only helps keep them safe, but protects you from any liability. This advice also goes for organic products, some of them can be very dangerous to use, if not done properly.
Thanks!
Fern
Location: Washington, Western Cascade Foothills
Posted: Jun-11-2009 at 8:26pm
I do know someone who used Round-up on an old, large blackberry among an old rose, she was very careful but still the rose was damaged. Our guess is had the roots had grafted together. They are in the same plant family. So that is another caution to have when using it, along with what Debbie said above. It usually only kills the plant it touches.
Fern
growest
Location: Western British Columbia
Posted: Jun-12-2009 at 7:04am
Just adding my 1.5 cents worth...I can certainly understand the temptation to use nuclear weapons against the real baddies like himalayan blackberry, and bindweed...sigh...so no judging from this corner!
The downside of roundup/glyphosate...it has not proved to be as innocuous as advertised. A large tree grower in the Fraser Valley stopped using it for weeds because it was killing the japanese maples...moving thru the soil and into the maple roots just like it's not supposed to do. Also, the Botanical Garden at UBC has eliminated glyphosate (a few years back now) as they have concluded that it was a major contributor to root diseases, due to it's disruptive effect on the soil biology. The university uses a lot of propane weeders now, along with hand weeding, and are happy with the improvement.
Painting the chemical onto leaves is how I would use it also, rather than spraying...to try and minimize the crossovers into other plants and soil. Either way, you would want to use a brushcutter once or twice beforehand to force newer softer growth, and like Terry mentioned, apply the herbicide in fall when there is more movement of "juices" downward.
Debbie, thanks for the organic re-emphasis...I think we all want to avoid hurting the only home planet we've got. It's been years since I've resorted to any herbicide here and it looks like that will continue to be the case. It does require a change in philosophy, mainly in putting up with a certain amount of imperfection in the yard...if only I had boundless energy and spare time to get at all those encroaching bad guys
greenmann
Location: Washington, Puget Sound Corridor
Posted: Jun-13-2009 at 12:18am
Thanks Debbie, for the reminder... and sorry for going further with the discussion anyway :P
I would strongly discourage ever using any herbicide as a spray if you can help it. These are POISON and even on the stillest day, the surfactant is designed to keep the product airborne as long as possible, making chemical drift not only possible but likely to some extent or other. Spray is also MUCH more difficult to control exactly where it is going. Painting the chemical on the leaf you want to damage is the best option. Spray is almost impossible to get to that level of control for most gardeners.
Another warning about glyphosphates in general and round-up in particular- while the active chemical has been studied as much as the various alphabet soups of governmental controls involved have forced the companies involved to study them, round-up breaks down quickly in the soil (or in water, for that matter) into a dozen or so major chemicals and a few other minor ones. Some of these are known to be innocuous, but none of them have been studied as to what they do either alone or in combination once the main herbicide breaks down.
In other words, we have no idea if the chemicals it turns into are good, bad or indifferent either alone or in combination with each other, or any of the other chemicals both natural and man made that are out in the environment.
Currently in Lake Washington in the middle of the greater Seattle area, all of the soluble chemicals related to Round-up are found at fairly high levels in the lake water. These and similar herbicide residues have been linked, inconclusively, to the algae blooms in the lake. The theory (untested) is that the chemicals inhibit some of the higher plant growth, in favor of the algae growth, particularly planctonic algaes such as red tide types.
Of course, part of this is the higher than natural levels of phosphates and other fertilizers as well... but that is another story.
Green Man Gardens
design and consulting with a focus on native plants and wildlife habitat
silver_ creek
Location: Washington, Western Cascade Foothills
Posted: Jun-13-2009 at 6:33am
In fact, blackberries can be eradicated by repeated (over several years) mowing. We had more than an acre near our creek that was overgrown by blackberries; DH mowed them down with a weedeater, and continues to mow resprouts. After several years, most of the resprouts are new seedlings (darn birds!). Long term, we've planted native conifers to shade the area, knowing that is the ultimate blackberry control.
Terry M.
Silver Creek Garden
Zone 8a, Sunset Zone 4
Gardening for the Homebrewer: Grow and Process Plants for Making Beer, Wine, Gruit, Cider, Perry, and More
By co-authors Debbie Teashon (Rainy Side Gardeners) and Wendy Tweton