When you take over an established garden, you also have legacy issues to deal with. Alongside beautiful rhododendrons, we also had lots of blackberry bushes proliferating. We had considerable blackberry harvests, but the tendrils got out of hand and overgrew everything. The stems of the blackberry can easily become 2 cm thick and the thorns, not only of fully grown blackberry bushes, are extremely unpleasant and dangerous.
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Once you’ve cut through the bushes, which is easiest and safest with long loppers, the tendrils are usually still hanging in other plants. Instead of buying special thorn-proof gloves , which usually cost over 25 euros per pair, I resorted to an alternative from my workshop.
Welding gloves as a thorn-proof alternative
Since I started welding two years ago, I already had welding gloves with long cuffs . Since these gloves also withstand steel splinters, they are also excellently suited for working with blackberries, roses and other thorny plants.
A pair of lined welding gloves made of cowhide leather is available for a good 10 euros and they are almost indestructible. I have these welding gloves from Hase , but other models also serve their purpose. They are made of thick cowhide leather and are additionally lined.
With these gloves, you can boldly and without hesitation grab and pull out the long tendrils. So far, not a single thorn has penetrated the glove. Of course, you should also wear appropriate footwear (rubber boots are better than sneakers), long trousers and long-sleeved but smooth clothing. Cut protection trousers and forestry jackets , as worn when handling chainsaws, are ideal here.
Removing blackberry roots
If you want to completely remove the blackberry, it makes sense not to cut it too close to the ground. Leave it sticking out half a meter and then dig it out with a spade. A targeted, spade-deep stab about 10 cm away from the shoot is usually sufficient. The root of the blackberry can then be levered out quite easily and completely.
The roots of the blackberry are comparatively short and can be removed easily. With a small garden shears , you can cut the often more than 3 meter long growths into more manageable pieces for garden waste.
With the welding gloves, even large thorns and spines lose their terror. Since you can safely grab the shoots, removing the blackberry bushes is done much faster.
Don’t dispose of blackberry tendrils on the compost
By the way, you shouldn’t put the cut blackberry tendrils or even their roots on the compost. That would be the ideal food base and the blackberries would feel right at home there. The blackberry remains should be put in the household waste or burned. A composting site with hot composting is also a good place to go.
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