GardenBanter.co.uk - View Single Post

14-03-2006, 12:44 PM posted to uk.rec.gardening

On 14/3/06 11:52 am, in article ,
"Janet Baraclough" wrote:

On 14/3/06 10:20 am, in article , "Holly, in
France" wrote:

....anything at all that will out-compete brambles and nettles?! I have
battled with a bank next to a stream for four years, trying to dig them
out and keep them cut.
snip
In your shoes I would be very, very wary of destabilising that bank
by clearing the plantlife with roundup. When banks crumble, rivers can
change direction very fast and very unpredicatably with immensely
expensive and inconvenient results for yourself, and maybe others (for
which you might be liable). With climate change, some people here who
have enjoyed their harmless little garden waterway for decades are now
suffering chaos from flashfloods.

Before any DIY alterations to that fragile balance, I'd get some
expert, specialist local advice.

Very good points there. Maybe Holly has to live with the brambles at least
for a while longer, just keeping them cut right back. And think of the old
saying "when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade", applying the words
'bramble' and 'jelly' where appropriate! In more serious vein, it might be
worth her while investigating whether the bank could be stabilised in some
other way, using grasses etc. There, though, the problem is going to be
introducing them without removing the brambles and destabilsing the bank.
Hmmmm.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
)