On 4/26/2011 7:29 AM, CluelessWilson wrote:
Hi, I've moved into a new house which is riddled with brambles :@ I know
they are hard to get rid of and I'm after a quick and easy solution to
have the garden ready for my kids top play in this summer.

I have a few ideas on what to do but I would really like a pro's
feedback to these ideas, some may seem stupid but I'm new to this so
take it easy on my outlandish ideas please

Our garden is covered in loads of little stones (probably a whack idea
from the previous tenant to rid them of brambles) but it makes it hard
to dig the whole of the 22sqm area I want to work on.

My ideas are to cover the area with plastic and maybe some chip wood on
top of that but I hear brambles can also grow through things like that
and chip wood isn't exactly ideal for my clumsy 4 yr old boy as he'd be
in an out every 5 minutes with a new cut I'd imagine but I may be wrong.


My other idea was to lay some plastics down in 2 or 3 layers to make a
little harder for it to come through maybe get some top soil on top of
that and turf it.

I'm at a dead end with the garden as digging seems to be impossible due
to the stones, is there anything I can do and will the above work?

P.S I'm not keen on the idea of using weed killer either as these
brambles are coming all the way through next doors garden and I am
worried if I use a strong enough weed killer it will effect her garden
too.

Help please!! CluessWilson


How serious are you? Serious enough to part with a bit of money? If so,
equipment exists which will neatly remove brush and brambles and and
heather and gorse and almost anything else up to the size of small trees.
There also exist 'power rakes' which specialize in breaking up soil and
plucking out stones. Both of these items are usually seen as attachments to
skid-steer loaders (we would generically call these Bobcat loaders in the
US since that is the most prevalent maker). I know that the loaders are
popular in the UK since I've seen them at various construction sites and
farms in the northern counties and I suspect that a bit of searching will
turn up a contractor who either owns or can temporarily rent the proper
attachments to clear your problem.

Of course, what you will end up with after the machine is done is tilled
soil and this will need to be graded and rolled a bit and then seeded with
grass and then tended to make sure that the grass germinates and grows well
before weeds can take over the bare soil.