I made the nicest bramble and plum jam in the summer from our plums and brambles from the side of the road. We don't have any brambles growing on our land and i wanted to take cuttings to plant along our fence to make a hedgerow from then.
So how do you take bramble cuttings?
The ones growing on the road are pretty sparse and get all dusty from the road and probably contaminated from car fumes and dog pee. So I'd rather be picking them from my land rather than from the side of the road. I'v read they can be very prolific when managed properly and well pruned and i think they'll make a grate hedge, along with the grapes and raspberries
'If you just close your eyes and block your ears, to the acumulated knowlage of the last 2000 years,
then morally guess what your off the hook, and thank Christ you only have to read one book'
I'm watching this with interest as we want to create a hedge inside the perimeter of our allotment site to deter the blinking robbers and arsonists that have started frequenting of an eve.... Bramble hedge would be perfect and we can harvest from it!
Be careful what you wish for! They do make a pretty effective hedge and I'm sure they would discourage thieves but you would need to manage them or it would get out of control really quickly. Raspberries might be a better option as they are not quite so invasive.
We spend a lot of time hacking back brambles and in my experience they root very easily when ever a "whip" touches the ground. I suppose you'd call that propagation by layering!
We've also had bramble rootlings in our guttering - obviously from bird droppings.
If there is a way to stop brambles - I'd be very interested in that.
Just peg down a branch where it touches the ground, let it root and then cut it off, lift and replant - the same works for the hybrids such as Tayberries. It should root quickly in the spring. This is the way that brambles naturally spread, big arching branches that form domed bushes as they touch the ground and then take-off again.. Make sure the bush you choose is a good fruiter as it will be a clone of the original.
Bramble is an odd "species", in that it's really a collection of microspecies. That's one of the reasons that the fruit quality is so variable between bushes. So do your best to propogate from a good'un.
Curently collecting recipes for The Little Book of Liqueurs..
Hmm maybe you're right... We've been looking at other 'anti burglar' plants online but its a pricey option so I just figured this would be free, but may less managable... Worth a thought I guess!
Teadrinking wrote:Hmm maybe you're right... We've been looking at other 'anti burglar' plants online but its a pricey option so I just figured this would be free, but may less managable... Worth a thought I guess!
Try Rosa canina, you get a double harvest if you use the petals and the hips. Or Mahonia, I'm sure I've seen that in foraging books as edible (berries). Or mix and match with OJ's suggestions.
Curently collecting recipes for The Little Book of Liqueurs..
If you're content to go non-native,pyracantha is cheap,easy and the birds will take the berries when there's nothing else,but if you're feeling really vengeful,check out Colletia Hystrix,never seen thorns like them!!
GeorgeSalt wrote:
Try Rosa canina, you get a double harvest if you use the petals and the hips. Or Mahonia, I'm sure I've seen that in foraging books as edible (berries). Or mix and match with OJ's suggestions.
I've seen jam recipes using oregon grapes = mahonia
Terri x
“I'd rather be a little weird than all boring.”
― Rebecca McKinsey
Wow thanks folks, some excellent suggestions there.
Colletia hystrix looks particularly vengeful!
We've sorted the front our our site with some new high fencing and gates so this is the next step.
Fort knox here we come.
Slightly off topic but there were a series of thefts at our allotments. Cultivators and the like taken. Some sharp eyed allotmenteer spotted one for sale at the local scrapyard. And fortuitously they had been concientious and taken down the details of the guy who sold the cultivators to them. The police are doing him for handling stolen goods.
Malc
High in the sky, what do you see ?
Come down to Earth, a cup of tea
Flying saucer, flying teacup
From outer space, Flying Teapot
Well done him / her. In our case it's def' just kids ( we know because someone has seen them climbing over the gate) 3 sheds and a greenhouse set fire to in one night
Makes you fume.
One of the sheds had a can of petrol in for a strimmer so they're lucky they didn't cause themselves some damage.
