Alicia Sandz

I didn't know that cattle don't eat brambles, i should've guessed since i believe this piece of land was at some point part of a farmers cooperative who were taking their cattle to the diferent pieces of land in the cooperative, and apparently the cows didn't go any further than 6 sq meters into my place...
I had heard about the cardboard/plastic option before but i am not sure how it would affect my soil, there are some young oaks growing here and there among the brambles and they have been covering the soil with nice leaves for at least the past 10 years. The land hasn't been irrigated but it is kind of moist, so i feel very optimistic about the soil quality/microorganisms. There are some small wild greens growing there as well (i found some asparagus too). My location is in the iberian peninsula (Spain) in the mountains located in the central plateau (Gredos) at 1200 m height. Hot and dry summers, with chilly nights, and cold and not too rainy winters, but frost and the rare occasional snow.
Considering how that pile of organic matter would disintegrate, i was thinking about piling it along the outer walls/limits of the plot to contribute to the already existing "bramble walls" and avoid the entrance of what i believe may be a boar from the adjacent lands.
I will keep on my search for goats and maybe a wood chipper in my area!

Morfydd St. Clair wrote:Ugh, that sounds like a lot of work and you will have to keep clearing it as both will regrow from the roots left in the ground for a long time.

Quick answer:  Rent a goat!  (No really, they will clear it nicely.  Not sure what they'd do to your apples, though.)

Rose and blackberry brambles shouldn't regrow after being dried.  For my much smaller infestation I pull a large barrel's worth, chopped a few inches long, leave it in the barrel for a week or so, then dump it in the compost heap.  If anything's sprouting it goes back in the barrel until it dies.  It would probably be much better as mulch than compost.

I think the consensus of the forum is that there's no such thing as too much mulch, especially as you're wanting to suppress the roses and blackberries.  Also, the smaller it's chopped up, a) the smaller the pile will be and b) the faster it will break down to an even smaller pile.  I'd even rent a wood chipper if feasible.  If not, IIRC Dale Hodgins uses a machete to whack his piles down smaller.

What's your plan with the land?  Do you want to restore the orchard?  Grow annuals?  Something else?

Good luck!

Thank you! Yes, i see it is a lot of work and not very efficient... I was planning to contact some neighbours that have cattle to see if they would like to spend some time in there.
There are two old apple trees that have some sprouts, but the rest are fallen and dry. My plan is to experiment with agroforestry, plant different types of fruit trees and annuals. I am in no hurry.
While I find some cattle to clear the orchard, i need to do something with the canes, i agree that having the ground fully covered with thorns is not my idea, so i will try to make compost out of them somehow. I need to make some space so animals can at least enter the place...
I dont know why i was hoping that there would be some other way to transform all that material in an easy way. I am a dreamer... Any idea about how much it would take to decompose if i just chop and make a huge pile?
Thanks a lot for your answers!!

Hi! I recently started working on an old piece of land that used to be an apple orchard but was abandoned for 25 years. It is 1000 square meters big and it is completely covered by blackberry bushes and wild roses (rosa canina), some of them 2 meters high. One cannot even enter the place, that is the density.
I started clearing it and found myself with a huge pile of thorny branches and leftovers that i really dont know what to do with. As you mentioned in this post, i dont want them to re-green, and i feel the ammount is to much to mulch it (i may be wrong).
Have you got any idea about what i could do, or maybe know a better post to ask this question?
Thank you!!