Land overgrown with Brambles.

dandelionclock30

Hi Could anyone offer me any advise about this problem I have?
At the back of my garden lies a railway embankment, owned by National Railways. Lots of people round me have taken some of this and extended their gardens.
At the back of my garden, this land is basically like the jungle with brambles, nettles and every type of big weed going. Its the railways responsibility to maintain this and keep it cut down to a reasonable level. The brambles are now coming into my garden all the time.
I've phoned them 3 times and they keep saying someone will come round and assess it then cut it down. Nobody has come upto date.

I dont know whether to get onto my M.P about it or hire a brushcutter myself and trim it down. The brambles and weeds are beyond the remit of a normal strimmer/shears.
Has anyone had any experience of using a brushcutter and is it fairly straightforward for the average person to use without having an accident?

skivenov

I'd strongly recommend against going on Network Rail's land, even with good intentions, as this is criminal tresspass.

dandelionclock30

skivenov wrote: »

I'd strongly recommend against going on Network Rail's land, even with good intentions, as this is criminal tresspass.

.

The majority of my street may end up in court then! as they have taken the land for themselves.

peter_the_piper

Personally I would have an accident with some roundup.

Davesnave

If you brushcut brambles, they will just come back and you may find it hard to get a powerful enough machine at a reasonable price when hiring, as you'd need one with a blade.

As Peter says, glyphosate (Round Up, or generics which are cheaper) will stop the brambles in their tracks and eventually kill them, though this might take several years. Better then to spend the money on a good sprayer and weedkiller. (Google Rosate 36)

MollyDolly

National Railways won't be in a hurry to clear the brambles as long as they are not impacting on the railway itself - also the brambles are a good deterrent as regards keeping people away from the tracks.

In my experience, I would be inclined to cut all the brambles to ground level then dig them out otherwise they will be coming back for years, but then I garden organically.:D

heydean

Ye Old Garden Trick :beer:

How to get rid of any Brambles/Weeds/ Grass/ Leylandi Conifers

1. Brambles/any Weeds they all must be killed by digging or removing the roots completely or they will just re-grow.

2. Best instant Weed killer (best kept secret) and safe to use if you are not in Intellectual Challenged creosote:j

3. Say when you decided to Paint/Spray any of your Fences use Creosote .

4. When Creosote come into any contact with any plant of any type, Creosote causes a chemical reaction to plants and within 48hrs they will start dying, within a month they will be completely dead as Dodo.


5. Best time to kill any plant is now (Autumn) as they are all starting to slow down due the light levels, the Creosote you use now will have been washed away by spring.

6. Soil can be used after Creosote has been washed away.

7. Lots of people have problem with Leylandi loving people when there not on their property, Creosote cause the Branches/Leaves to go a lovely burnt colour, another secret I will tell you is, when a Leylandi loses its Branches/Leaves, they never re-grow.

6. P.S remember the excuse to use

"I was just painting my property I didn't know that would happen, who do you think we are, the R.H.S Society.:rotfl:

8. I know this post may seem a bit over the top, but Councils have very little money and the Railway Companies don't really care, its up to you what is allowed to grow on your land.

Another good weed killer is Rock Salt.

Davesnave

I've just spent the morning burning leylandii.

Should I have creosoted them first?

Yorkie1

Creosote is no longer legally available to the amateur market, and is illegal to use by anyone except in very limited circumstances. It is highly carcinogenic so the advice that soil is safe to use afterwards is risky.

Rosate 36 is a professional product so unless the OP is a licensed professional in the use of such chemicals, that too will be illegal.

Standard amateur glyphosate products are unlikely to be strong enough. A brushwood killer on the amateur market would be better. It may still require more than one application but it's designed for things like brambles.

Davesnave

Yorkie1 wrote: »

Creosote is no longer legally available to the amateur market, and is illegal to use by anyone except in very limited circumstances. It is highly carcinogenic so the advice that soil is safe to use afterwards is risky.

Rosate 36 is a professional product so unless the OP is a licensed professional in the use of such chemicals, that too will be illegal.

Standard amateur glyphosate products are unlikely to be strong enough. A brushwood killer on the amateur market would be better. It may still require more than one application but it's designed for things like brambles.

I think Rosate 36 is less strong than Round Up Biactive, but I don't particularly want to promote the more expensive Monsanto product. It's not 'illegal' for an amateur to buy and use either on their own land, only on someone else's land. Both are freely available.

I realise that this is not the OP's own land, but it sounds as if they have been given responsibility for it by default. I think it's up to them what they choose to do, but yes, they could try a "brushwood killer."

Digging brambles is effective, but it is very labour-intensive and there is still the distinct possibility of leaving sections of root behind to re-grow. Having inherited lots of brambles, I know glyphosate will kill them, but several applications will be needed. The strength & fitness of the person concerned, and the amount of time available will surely determine the most appropriate course of action.

torbrex

Gardening is not an exact science and in spite of what you see on TV, there are very few instant solutions to this kind of problem.
The advice given on here to apply weedkiller and wait is about as good as you will get. Just cut back to ground level first then apply the chosen chemical to any new growth that appears as it is less resistant than old growth and the weedkiller will be more effective.

The main problem with brambles is that they don't know when to stop and will even put on growth during the winter months, you need to hit hard first then persist with the weedkiller for a number of years afterwards.