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The problem, of course, is that nothing else works: no other animal eats the darn stuff*, and cutting back and digging the burls is a yearly life-time job, because anywhere blackberries have grown for more than a year or two is full of viable seeds (they have this in common with Scotch Broom, BTW). Burning in February and digging the burls only has to be done about every three years, and is best for fruit production but is highly illegal; I've yet to find a non-organic control that works with less effort than burning, or half as well. Goats are da bomb for blackberry control, wethers are great pets, but there's two problems: they'll eat anything if you don't protect it by fences so tight you can't see in, they can climb like cats (and the pygmies are worst for that, followed by Cashmeres). Oh, and they have really unfortunate senses of humor. Wethers are great pets, but there's three problems...
* well, Jacob sheep, when there's no green grass. Which is not my current condition. I will have photos of my new lamb and the sheep tractor by this time tomorrow.
I was told that pigs do the best job on blackberries. They eat all of it even the roots after they snout them out. Don't know though, never had one.
Pigs are GREAT on Blackberries...
The problem, of course, is that nothing else works: no other animal eats the darn stuff*, and cutting back and digging the burls is a yearly life-time job, because anywhere blackberries have grown for more than a year or two is full of viable seeds (they have this in common with Scotch Broom, BTW). Burning in February and digging the burls only has to be done about every three years, and is best for fruit production but is highly illegal; I've yet to find a non-organic control that works with less effort than burning, or half as well. Goats are da bomb for blackberry control, wethers are great pets, but there's two problems: they'll eat anything if you don't protect it by fences so tight you can't see in, they can climb like cats (and the pygmies are worst for that, followed by Cashmeres). Oh, and they have really unfortunate senses of humor. Wethers are great pets, but there's three problems...
* well, Jacob sheep, when there's no green grass. Which is not my current condition. I will have photos of my new lamb and the sheep tractor by this time tomorrow.
I was told that pigs do the best job on blackberries. They eat all of it even the roots after they snout them out. Don't know though, never had one.
Pigs are GREAT on Blackberries...