"Glenna Rose" wrote in message
news:fc.003d094101d3566b3b9aca00751d5aac.1d35732@p mug.org...
writes:

Part of the reason why I have to deal with blackberries to the extent
that I
do is because our next door neighbor's little girl died about nine years
ago. After she passed on, they quit doing any yard work, and blackberries
completely engulfed their back yard.

Tragically, when a parent loses a child, there is a horribly long
adjustment time. I know from experience.

Glenna, you have lost a child, and I convey my condolences to you and the
rest of your family.

I hope you
were kind to them and understanding that they could not function normally
in a world that was shattered beyond repair for them.

Without asking, I did things like pruning their shrubs and pulling weeds. I
didn't want to embarrass them. I trimmed back the blackberries on their
property for a couple of years to a limited extent. Eventually the
blackberries got to be too much, and I gave it up and the berries took over.

If there was anyone who really suffered the most from this infestation, it
was the grandmother. She lived upstairs, and could not get down the stairs
on her own to the front door to unlock it if someone were to come calling.
However, there was a stairway up to the second floor from the back yard.
Before the blackberries took over, I could get through their back yard and
up the back steps to help her out, fetch her the mail and bring it in to
her. After the blackberries, she was imprisoned in her own house, with no
way for anyone other than family to come in.

The method works if you are diligent and, unlike sprays designed to kill
them, causes no harm to any surrounding vegetation or to the soil or air.
You do, of course, need to repeat the method on all new growth whether it
be from a sprout from a root or from a seed dropped by birds.

Exactly, which is why I mentioned my need for patroling our yard on a
continuing basis to keep the blackberries at bay. I do not use a commercial
poison.

The people who purchased the home were also a multi-generational family.
Grandma stayed at home and cared for her grandchildren while the parents
worked. Grandpa's occupation was vegetable growing. He turned that vacant
patch into a lovingly-tended garden.

Now, they've moved out, too, and there's a commercial gardening service that
comes by and maintains the property. But grandpa's garden has grassed over,
and no one's growing vegetables there now.


--
Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky
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