.....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. Now there are mice near a waterfall (which I
don't want to poison - cat and barn owls), coypu coming and going, the
dog has joined in the digging trying to get at the mice and the whole
thing is becoming more and more of a mess! I've just cleaned it all up
again as well as I can. Trying to keep membrane/polythene in place would
be a nightmare, the bank is steep and the dog and various wildlife will
root it up. So...either I plant some very aggressive ground-cover or I
think I'm going to have to resort to Roundup for as long as necessary.
Any ideas please anyone? East facing bank, mostly sunny, never dries
out, floods half way up a couple of times a year.
TIA

--
Holly, in France
Gite to let in Dordogne, now with pool.
http://la-plaine.chez-alice.fr

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. Now there are mice near a waterfall (which I
don't want to poison - cat and barn owls), coypu coming and going, the
dog has joined in the digging trying to get at the mice and the whole
thing is becoming more and more of a mess! I've just cleaned it all up
again as well as I can. Trying to keep membrane/polythene in place would
be a nightmare, the bank is steep and the dog and various wildlife will
root it up. So...either I plant some very aggressive ground-cover or I
think I'm going to have to resort to Roundup for as long as necessary.
Any ideas please anyone? East facing bank, mostly sunny, never dries
out, floods half way up a couple of times a year.
TIA

Can you put the tips of brambles into either tins filled with weedkiller or
safely sealed into plastic bags ditto? It's a problem with animals around,
I know but this should do it, though it will take some time. Of course,
some nettles are desirable because of butterflies and I was told once that
they are an indication of good, fertile soil!
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
)

Sacha 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. Now there are mice near a waterfall
(which I don't want to poison - cat and barn owls), coypu coming and
going, the dog has joined in the digging trying to get at the mice
and the whole thing is becoming more and more of a mess! I've just
cleaned it all up again as well as I can. Trying to keep
membrane/polythene in place would be a nightmare, the bank is steep
and the dog and various wildlife will root it up. So...either I
plant some very aggressive ground-cover or I think I'm going to have
to resort to Roundup for as long as necessary. Any ideas please
anyone? East facing bank, mostly sunny, never dries out, floods half
way up a couple of times a year.
TIA

Can you put the tips of brambles into either tins filled with
weedkiller or safely sealed into plastic bags ditto? It's a problem
with animals around, I know but this should do it, though it will
take some time.

Yes, good idea, that would be a better start than doing the whole lot,
and the brambles are much more of a problem than the nettles.

Of course, some nettles are desirable because of butterflies

Aaargh! :-) Yes, but see my reply to Puce, I have enough nettles to feed
an army or insert appropriate collective noun for butterflies of
butterflies!

and I was told once that they are an indication of good,
fertile soil!

Well, this particular soil is good and fertile, but IME they seem to
thrive absolutely everywhere.

--
Holly, in France
Gite to let in Dordogne, now with pool.
http://la-plaine.chez-alice.fr

On 14/3/06 11:21 am, in article , "Holly, in
France" wrote:

snip

Re nettles:

Well, this particular soil is good and fertile, but IME they seem to
thrive absolutely everywhere.

Try the same thing with weedkiller in a plastic bag and secure the neck of
the bag tightly. Wear gloves - but you'd already thought of that, hadn't
you?! ;-)
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
)

If you have so many nettles you could sell them after cutting and
drying to a local flower shop they seem to be used both as a fertiliser
and a fungicide (in mixtures with other plants or in teas).

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. Now there are mice near a waterfall (which I
don't want to poison - cat and barn owls), coypu coming and going, the
dog has joined in the digging trying to get at the mice and the whole
thing is becoming more and more of a mess! I've just cleaned it all up
again as well as I can. Trying to keep membrane/polythene in place would
be a nightmare, the bank is steep and the dog and various wildlife will
root it up. So...either I plant some very aggressive ground-cover or I
think I'm going to have to resort to Roundup for as long as necessary.
Any ideas please anyone? East facing bank, mostly sunny, never dries
out, floods half way up a couple of times a year.

Going at it, cutting them and digging them out will eventually kill
them off. It seems you've done this with no results. I am horrified to
read that you would result in using chemicals on the banks of a stream,
with owls, mice and other animals living near by. Why do you want to
get the nettles out? Doesn't this help the banks to stay put,
minimising erosion, contributing to the ecological habitat of all the
creetures around you?

Now, if you were to dig it all out to plant a salix say, perhaps that
would very much stop the brambles and nettles - clear all that site
once and for all and you would end up with a very nice area. But don't
use the chemicals please Holly )

La Puce wrote:
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. Now there are mice near a waterfall
(which I don't want to poison - cat and barn owls), coypu coming and
going, the dog has joined in the digging trying to get at the mice
and the whole thing is becoming more and more of a mess! I've just
cleaned it all up again as well as I can. Trying to keep
membrane/polythene in place would be a nightmare, the bank is steep
and the dog and various wildlife will root it up. So...either I
plant some very aggressive ground-cover or I think I'm going to have
to resort to Roundup for as long as necessary. Any ideas please
anyone? East facing bank, mostly sunny, never dries out, floods half
way up a couple of times a year.

Going at it, cutting them and digging them out will eventually kill
them off. It seems you've done this with no results.

The reason it hasn't worked is that I can't get all the roots out
because the bank is so steep and just falls apart, the topsoil falling
down the bank. Elsewhere it has worked, in smallish areas.

I am horrified to
read that you would result in using chemicals on the banks of a
stream, with owls, mice and other animals living near by.

I don't want to, hence having tried to do it manually first.

Why do you want to
get the nettles out? Doesn't this help the banks to stay put,
minimising erosion, contributing to the ecological habitat of all the
creetures around you?

Yes, it does, I agree completely. But I have literally acres of nettles,
brambles and excellent wildlife habitat, lots more banks of lakes,
streams and river which are left completely wild up and downstream of
here. This bit of bank is just alongside the house. The bit I would
prefer to look 'pretty', or at least not desperately untidy, is only
about 15m long and about 2m high. There is another smaller area of
'rockery' opposite it with which I am also fighting an ongoing losing
battle, but will continue with that because there are nice plants in
there too.

Now, if you were to dig it all out to plant a salix say, perhaps that
would very much stop the brambles and nettles - clear all that site
once and for all and you would end up with a very nice area.

Mmm. Yes, a few small weeping salix might be OK there and would probably
grow and fill out quickly enough for me to keep on top of the
undergrowth in the short term. But I don't think there are any short
enough. If they were too tall they would block the view of the lake, a
peninsula with nice shrubs and the flood plain across the river. Planted
half way up though, possibly, I'll think about that one.

--
Holly, in France
Gite to let in Dordogne, now with pool.
http://la-plaine.chez-alice.fr

Holly, in France wrote:
Yes, it does, I agree completely. But I have literally acres of nettles,
brambles and excellent wildlife habitat, lots more banks of lakes,
streams and river which are left completely wild up and downstream of
here. This bit of bank is just alongside the house. The bit I would
prefer to look 'pretty', or at least not desperately untidy, is only
about 15m long and about 2m high. There is another smaller area of
'rockery' opposite it with which I am also fighting an ongoing losing
battle, but will continue with that because there are nice plants in
there too.
Mmm. Yes, a few small weeping salix might be OK there and would probably
grow and fill out quickly enough for me to keep on top of the
undergrowth in the short term. But I don't think there are any short
enough. If they were too tall they would block the view of the lake, a
peninsula with nice shrubs and the flood plain across the river. Planted
half way up though, possibly, I'll think about that one.

HOoooo ... this sound like a reocuring dream of mine, a nice one, one
of those I don't want to ever stop ))

Lucky you. Beside the nettles off course. Mulch thickly, around
anything new you plant. Little bits of roots will always stay behind
from the brambles and nettles, but eventually, with the lack of lights
they will go. Coppice the salix? Make baskets? A new business!! ;o)

"Holly, in France" wrote in message
...
....anything at all that will out-compete brambles and nettles?!

Yes. Japanese knotweed.

Good luck.

Steve

shazzbat wrote:
"Holly, in France" wrote in message
...
....anything at all that will out-compete brambles and nettles?!

Yes. Japanese knotweed.

I have never actually seen this, but I think I'll give it a miss :-)

--
Holly, in France
Gite to let in Dordogne, now with pool.
http://la-plaine.chez-alice.fr

"Holly, in France" wrote in message
...

....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.

Bearing in mind something I was reading the other day. You're
quite certain are you that all these various - unwelcome
though they may be - roots aren't contributing to the structural
integrity of the bank ? That they're not the only things that are
preventing the bank from crumbling away into the stream ?

Now there are mice near a waterfall (which I
don't want to poison - cat and barn owls), coypu coming and going, the
dog has joined in the digging trying to get at the mice and the whole
thing is becoming more and more of a mess! I've just cleaned it all up
again as well as I can. Trying to keep membrane/polythene in place would
be a nightmare, the bank is steep and the dog and various wildlife will
root it up. So...either I plant some very aggressive ground-cover or I
think I'm going to have to resort to Roundup for as long as necessary.
Any ideas please anyone?
East facing bank, mostly sunny, never dries out,

floods half way up a couple of times a year.

I'm not an expert, but possibly see above? Would more of the bank be being
washed away with each successive flood, without these roots there to provide
solidity ?


michael adams

....


TIA

--
Holly, in France
Gite to let in Dordogne, now with pool.
http://la-plaine.chez-alice.fr

Nettles are used as a fungicide in teas or after cutting and drying for
storage in fermented liquids along with garlic cloves...

Nettles are used as a fungicide in teas or after cutting and drying for
storage in fermented liquids along with garlic cloves...