While blackberries bred for cultivation in the garden usually only reproduce moderately via root runners, wild blackberry plants can become a pest in a garden.
How do I effectively remove blackberry roots from the garden?
To permanently remove blackberry roots from the garden, you must dig deeply to remove all root strands. The ground should then be covered with a thick, black tarpaulin for at least two years to prevent new sprouts.
The power from the depths
Blackberry roots also produce new shoots and tendrils in the garden bed year after year, on which aromatic, black fruits form. As long as this is desired in a garden, there is no problem with the incredible vitality that comes from the roots of blackberries even if they are completely pruned. However, the whole thing can become a problem for you if you want to end the Blackberries' guest appearance at one location. Especially when it comes to wild blackberries.
Removal requires digging
Blackberry roots are true survivors and, especially with wild blackberry varieties, there is usually a very widely branched network of thin and thick root strands beneath the surface of the earth. This can still sprout again even after several years of vegetation break, so that superficial destruction of the visible parts of the plant using chemical and mechanical means has little success. If you really want to permanently ban blackberries from the garden, you have to get to the root of the problem. Dig for the roots at the ends of the blackberry vines and pull them out to a depth of about three feet. In an old blackberry stand, you may well come across rhizomes whose roots can be as thick as an arm in diameter.
Grateful material for herbal witches and artists
Some herbalists swear by the use of blackberry roots in certain recipes for kidney disease. However, it is even more obvious to use it as a handicraft object. If thick rhizomes of blackberry roots are first sanded and then glazed, they can be processed into the following objects, for example:
- Jewelry stand
- floor lamp
- Table base
The combined elimination of blackberry roots
A combination of two techniques offers the most success in permanently removing blackberry plants. To do this, the ground is first dug up deeply so that any blackberry roots that can be found can be removed with a hoe. Then the ground is covered with a thick, black tarpaulin (€13.00 on Amazon) for at least two years so that no new blackberry tendrils can sprout underneath.
Tips & Tricks
If blackberries are grown in a pot on the balcony, the planter should provide enough space for the rapidly growing roots.