Friday saw the spell of cold and dull weather continuing after some overnight rain.
Last autumn we decided it was time to tidy up our old blackberry cane which must have been growing in the current spot for around the last 20 years.
So what looked like this at the beginning of November……
…....looked like this by the end of the month.
I dug as much of the old spreading blackberry roots and wick grass out as I could manage but left the main root system in the ground in one position to regrow. We didn't want to get rid of the blackberry altogether just do a major tidying up operation.
Since then the bed has been covered with weed control fabric with a hole cut in it around the old blackberry root allowing it some light. As I suspected the blackberry is as tough as old boots and despite all the hacking about it received last autumn with spade, fork and axe it’s decided now is the time for it to make a reappearance.
The first tiny shoots are starting to grow from the old stump left in the ground. I obviously didn't get all the wick grass out of the root as that’s starting to grow too. I’ll have to see if I can get some more grass out before the shoots develop their vicious thorns. I'm not expecting any blackberries this year but I am hoping that we (by ‘we’ I mean Sue), can keep this beast under a bit better control.
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Great to see that it's shooting again. Cultivated blackberries are delicious, maybe you'll get a few this year.
ReplyDeleteWe've at least got our thornless variety Loch Ness to fall back on. I suspect letting the old root regrow is an easier option than trying to dig it out.
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