Oh, no. Someone should have told you.

I believe that the chemical sprays only work on leaves that are photosynthesizing. So early spring is the best time. Persistence will eventually win.

Copper nails will do nothing. I would stick with the brush killer and reapply at least once a week and after every rain. Get the foliage. The roots do not photosynthesize, so it probably will not help to paint the roots.

I feel so bad for you. Don't ever trust the people at the nursery. Ask here first. We'll give you the straight truth about these things.

Renee

as you probably have discovered by now, raspberries are invasive and they invade thru their roots. I don't use herbicides here because they have been banned in Ontario. in anycase they are not as effective as you would wish. It kills part of the plant and the root portion that survives will grow a new cane.

May I suggest that you do not use a shovel to dig out the roots? Instead use a garden fork. First wet the soil to soften it and then stab the soil to lift out the roots. Dig out all of it. I use a fork as it gets into the soil easily. it helps find all those tiny roots. As the plant reappears, you will need to do the same. it will struggle but the more you do this, the less the plant can survive. Be patient. IT will happen.

If the root went underneath the grass, remove the grass but set it aside. Dig out the roots and replace the grass.

I dont expect hair roots to be able to grow back. Its' the tough roots to look out for. If they break, find it all. Don't leave a piece behind.

I feel your pain, this is my "main weed" that I spend time fighting. You have my sympathy and I wanted to tell you how I enjoyed your writing even though it tells an awful tale of woe, and admire your sense of humor and determination in the face of adversity.

We are organic here at my house but I admit, there have been a few times when I have succumbed to borrowing Mom's chems to killing something. Right now, there's a Nandina that really needs killing, I mean who does it think it is trying to crowd the gardenia? Anyway... Are you using a glyphosate product? If so, it sounds counter-intuitive, but you do want to wait until it's a sunny warm day, 80 or over, and the plant has significant foliage. It's the foliage that takes the poison to the roots. If you're going to try chems again, I would say to stop digging since any roots still connected to the sprayed foliage will get a shot'o'poison. It may take several strategic applications but just remember anything more than a coating on the leaves is ineffective and unnecessary.

There's also the jar method where you have a jar of chem and stick the growth tips into it. Secure it by digging a little hole for the jar to sit in to make sure it doesn't spill and use a clear zip baggie to enclose it except for a small gap where the vine is entering the bag. If I didn't explain that well enough to give you a mental picture, please say so. Glass jar and clear bag will allow photosynthesis to continue in the doomed shoot, so it "drinks" the chem.

Buy a Mattock, its sort of a a blunt axe with a pick one side, however its a serious tool, I can chop through about a 4 inch root with it, ive used it to remove some serious stuff, I orginally bought the 2.5 pound lighter version, but returned that for the 5 pound one. Becuase I chop through so many roots in my woodland setting its my most used tool.

{{gwi:269134}}

Purpleinopp, thanks for the 'procedure'. I think I understand. I'm trying to remember though if the leafed-out 'stalks' of these buggers are flexible enough to bend and secure without snapping? I honestly forget? It makes me nervous to just let the buggers sprout and leaf out and wait to spray, but I'm going to swallow my fears and give this one a try. I DID notice that 6 inches of the root tip of one of them seemed to discolor and shrivel with the application of the full-strength brush killer to the tip of the freshly cut root, but the rest of it was laughing at me, completely unaffected.

Silverkelt, that's actually what I've been using - a mattock - I've been calling it a 'pick'. It does work wonders, but evidently not enough for my black raspberries.

I have an even bigger dilemma now too. Yesterday I discovered that some of the roots of these buggers are snaking under my driveway, and I mean UNDER. Obviously those roots 'snap' on me because even a mattock can't get at them. I'm having nightmares that these buggers will travel the width of my driveway and start popping up on the other side. (I hope I didn't give it any ideas by saying this out loud.)

The product I've been using though contains Triclopyr - I believe 8% Triclopyr. Should I be usin Glyphosate instead? Or a higher concentration of Triclopyr perhaps? I'm desperate.

Use Trimec, it'll kill it. U may have to order it online but it lasts forever! Just spray the leaves on a non-windy sunny day. Be careful not to get it on anything else. This is the product most golf courses use, it kills everthing except grass.

This won't help you a bit, but it's a good story if you live in the country. My raspberries got away and invaded my vege garden. In the fall my husband turned the hogs loose in there and they rooted them all out.

Thanks! I'll look for the Trimec. Wish I could rent some hogs though...sounds a lot easier!

Ladies,

I want you to be aware of what has been known as persistent types of herbicides. There are products out there that are so deadly to plants that even when the plants were digested by animals like horses, cattle, etc, traces of this stuff appeared in their manure. Their manure got recycled for compost usage and they still managed to kill off the new plants. So do not throw your dead plants into the compost pile. In fact, throw them out as garbage.

There's been so many news about the use of herbicides and health concerns that here in Ontario, Canada- the stuff has been banned. There are alternative 'green' products to use but it's not as effective.

Ianna

Just thought I'd update you guys. I 'think' I finally got rid of the invasive black raspberry. No new canes for about a month now, and back in April new canes were appearing every 7-10 days after I 'hacked'. (I used a mattock.) Herbicides did nothing. All they ever did was kill the leaves; the roots lived on. What it took was digging...digging...digging...digging...(hacking)...searching for roots...carefully prying them up with a shovel to learn their direction, and then hacking them with a mattock and removing them...immediately and every time I saw some new canes popping through. When I say 'hacking', I mean hacking as if you're trying to break cement. I think starting this process as soon as I saw the first canes in spring helped.

What also helped, if anybody else ever faces this same nightmare, is carefully fishing around in the soil with your hands and following the lateral roots after you've pryed them up a little with a shovel, looking for all 'mother roots' (tap roots) that these connect to, trying not to snap any - and some of these 'mother roots' run deep. If several canes popped up and even one mother root snapped or got lost in the soil, a new cane always appeared, but not always directly over the mother root...so search around. Sometimes the 'mother root' is a foot or two away from the cane it's feeding, and removing these is CRUCIAL. If a mother root did snap or get lost, I tried to set a rock there so that when the next cane would appear I'd have a general idea of where it was. Another tip is to examine the roots you pull out...if the root doesn't come to a point, you didn't get it all, so examine it carefully.

I have an even bigger problem now though - two actually -invasives again. I'm going to post a new thread about these new nightmares.

Goodness, that sounds like a lot of hard labor. Congratulations on a job well done. I have been pulling and digging locust tree suckers all over my yard this year. I'm tired.
Renee

That's one huge job and well done. I hope I never get to experience that situation. The problem is garden centres will never tell you the nature of each plant. They don't say if they are invasives or poisonous. I spotted such things as creeping jenny, goutweed, chinese lanterns, artemesia silver king on sale. Should come with a warning.

Ianna

I must've jinxed myself. I found a new black raspberry cane today. I really don't know what to do anymore. I have a feeling this new cane might be coming from a root that still runs under my driveway, and there's no way to get at that one.

Can I use vinegar? Salt? Boiling water?

I have been hacking for at least a year now , relentlessly back in the summer/fall of last year and then again this spring as the new canes appeared. My sidewalk is full of perennials I want to plant in this bed, but I'm afraid to plant anything else...the one shrub left in that bed that I haven't already had to move because of this nightmare plant is still at risk - why put others at risk too? Am I doomed?

Also, anybody know how to get rid of invasive primrose and leadwort? I must be an invasive 'magnet'.

Oh no I wonder if this is the same thing invading my yard. Just put in a new 6' fence 6' and trying to reestablish the star jasmine and ivy geraniums that completely covered a section by my patio. Have a long way to go before that happens, but a couple of weeks ago I discovered a 2' stem of something that seemed to grow overnight. Leaves look like giant mint leaves and the stems is covered in bristles. Yanked it out thinking it was a strange weed, but it's back with 2 other stems in the same area. Thought maybe it was growing under the fence (solid vinyl), but it seems to be popping up from underground. Today husband said he overheard our neighbor say he planted rasberries (or blackberries?) along the fence! OH no. We each only have about a foot of ground on either side of the fence before our sidewalks. If this stuff is as invasive as it seems, we'll be overrun in no time? If I don't yank it every day it gets so long it tangles in the geraniums and they break off. Sucks.

I'll probably talk to our neighbor, but don't think he'll do anything since he plants a lot of stuff with no regard to how big or spreading it gets.

Any other suggestions? Anything I can put down to stop the roots...easily without digging out my plants?

Thanks.

Raspberries really can and do run amok,..i recently came across a person asking how to get rid of Bindweed,..the weedkiller named Roundup was recommended,..but the warning given was to be careful where her Raspberries were concerned as Roundup would kill her Raspberries.

any broad herbicides will kill and it will take a long time to remove from that spot. So meaning, you will have problems growing anything in that spot again.

Problem is, herbicides will kill part of the runners but not entirely and so the results would be more raspberry runners and canes coming out to the portions that survive. . The only way to control them is to dig them up where you find them. Don't let it get to the stage leaves develop so you will cut off it's access to sunlight. In time, it will die because it can't photosynthesize. Just a lot of work but in time it will be over. This seems to be your only way to tackle a widespread problem like this.

I am currently faced with a very similar issue!! We moved into a house that had an entire 100ft garden full of black raspberry bushes. We didn't care much for the, as they would scratch the heck out of my husbands arms and legs as he mowed. So we decided to start ripping them up as they started to go dormant in the fall. We managed about 10ft lol. Figured we'd continue in the spring. WELL, weren't they ALL back with a vengeance. I have since learned of they're insane hardiness and am now looking for the best way to get rid of them. There are SOOOO many!! I was thinking a roto tiller? I really would rather plant a nice vegetable garden instead.

no not rototillers. Worst. you'd cut them up in tiny pieces and these will grow new plants. I suggest tackling portions at a time. Dig a deep trench around the area you want to clean up. This would prevent roots from jumping barriers. Then start cleaning up the area. Remove as much roots as you can and also block off sunlight with black plastic sheets and leave it that way for a long time. It would kill of regrowth. Inspect every now and then. Do the same with the other areas. Repeat until its no more.

Thank you Ianna. That makes sense. I have to admit, I'm dreading it but it needs to go!

I agree with Ianna ... I had a long rectangle garden that was filled with Bishops Weed that I removed in very similar fashion. I sifted through that soil almost by hand to get every piece of root and then covered for a while. And then the few that returned, I'd remove again. Took several years to clear it all out, but it's gone now :) Good luck!!

I discovered a black raspberry last year, coming up in the middle of one of my rose bushes. No idea where it came from (I don't have any raspberries) but it tasted ok lol. I wasn't sure what to do about it, but after reading this thread, it will be coming out this Spring as soon as I can get out into the garden. I don't need another time-consuming invasive to deal with!

shifting soil is actually a great idea. Thanks for that Cziga. re the raspberry - probably an errant bird was the culprit.

I feel your pain as I had a long fence line that they took over. I finally had had it, they always seemed to bite me while on my riding lawnmower. I did some research and decided to try salt. I bought a bunch of bags (rock salt I think) and salted the whole fence line..both sides. I had read that it ruins the soil and nothing else will grow there. I found this to be untrue as I planted many perennials (the following year) and they are doing just fine. Unfortunately in your case it will kill anything near it, so you will want to use with caution. It killed all but my grapevine! I'm still working on that :/

Good luck, I sure hope you can get rid of them...

Great article and very informative. Unfortunately the information is dreadful, because the house my mother and I bought last year is surrounded with raspberry thickets. Oh boy....

A substantial part of our yard is very shallow soil over bedrock (3" to 5" soil depth for the most part). Will this be on my side or against me fighting these little thorny bundles of joy cropping up in our landscaping? @Silverkelt, I appreciate the recommendation of the mattock, as I think that will be far better suited to these soil conditions than anything meant to bite deeply. And I'll be getting some thicker leather gloves. I've already noticed the roots are every bit as spiny as the bushes.

Thanks for all the great info here. I rarely sign up for forums, but this seemed worthwhile.

I just posted this on another forum. This is how I got rid of mine:

I know the feeling of dispair as I had
thorny blackberry vines to contend with. I don't know if they
originally came from a neighbor or were planted by the prior owner or by
a bird but they spread everywhere by underground runners. After many
battles with them, I finally bought a small container of Brush Killer,
put on double protective gloves, poured some Brush Killer into a
disposable container, dipped cotton balls in the liquid, then put one
cotton ball on top of each freshly cut vine stub, put a plastic sandwich
bag over the cotton ball and secured tightly with a rubber band. The
covered cotton ball allowed the brush killer to remain on the stub,
where the brush killer was drawn down into the runners and roots. That
eradicated those awful spreading vines without damaging anything else. I
had tried to cut them down, dig them out, sprayed them with Round UP, etc. and nothing worked. Eventually, they
were coming up in my garden beds and even in my lawn! I like this
method as there was no over spray, nothing getting out into the air or
into my lungs and nothing else getting against the poison, as it was covered
tightly with the plastic bag. If you ever get a hankering to go after a
few of those unwanted plants, you might consider giving this a try. You
can work at it as time permits as the preparations are simple. Nothing
gave me such satisfaction as to see those horrible thorny vines die and
wither away.

Mary

Some herbicides are so persistent that you need to be fully aware of how it works. If there's a way to kill off plants organically, that would be the safer route. However its your choice really. http://www.pcs.agriculture.gov.ie/media/pesticides/content/products/labels/91291%20-%20Spray%20Chem%20Brushkiller%20-%202008%20to%20date.pdf

I think any responsible person would be open to a safe, organic way to kill off rampant blackberry vines but I've yet to learn of one that works. Digging and stripping out roots for years 'might' work but some cannot maintain that type of work load. The roots in my property would go down a good 2+ foot and then grow horizontally. If left unchecked, these particular vines can take over and ruin a property. Sometimes homeowners are left with no good choice.

Mary

Again...salt worked for me!

Im on a well and won't use pesticides.....

Resurrecting an old, yet very informative string...what is the best advice on how to dispose of the removed vines (with roots attached!!!). Our town dump has an area for brush, but this ends up being "composted" with the leaves from the fall, and I don't think it gets really hot to kill anything off. Can I simply leave the vines in the drvieway until they dry out to a complete crisp and then dump into the woodlands? I do not wamt to risk this stuff resprouting in my own pseudo-compost piles!! It is so full of thorns that I want to have minimal handling....as I already look like I lost a fight to a cat on my arms after pulling it up today!! ;-)

@tailzzz24 you are funny!! Thank you for sharing your story. You sound like me!! Haha

Mary I want to thank you for the cotton ball trick. I am going to try that. I just have to pick up some weed killer. Do you have any suggestions? I saw someone say Roundup works.

I think a squirrel dropped a seed off in my hedges last year. I didn't realize how invasive they really were till they were growing like bamboo shoots all over my lawn. Just yesterday I was removing the roots and realized this is bigger than I was able to handle on my own. So I thank you all for the great advice on this thread.

It is raining today so I will go to the store and pick up some supplies to tackle this problem tomorrow!

Rachel, I used Brush Killer, undiluted. There are different brands but it will say 'Brush Killer' on the container. I believe Basic RoundUp is a different product. I see RoundUp now offers a combined mixture that supposedly kills brush, ivy, etc. too. I don't know how well it might work on stem cuttings. When I googled Brush Killer, several items popped up; Bayer Advanced Brush Killer Plus Concentrate, Southern Ag Brush Killer, etc. I think the product I used was made by Bayer.

Remember not to dilute the product, just pour a bit of the product into a throw a way cup or something with a broad flat bottom where you can set it down without fear of it overturning, like an empty plastic milk container with the top cut out, anything that will work for you and can be disposed of following your work session. Soak the cotton balls and apply one cotton ball to each freshly cut stem, cover with a plastic sandwich baggie, secure tightly with a strong rubber band and you're done. Be safe. Secure the pets while you're working. Wear good hand and eye protection. I usually doubled the gloves I wore and then threw them away after each work session. Be careful when handling the product.

When the weather is warm, I usually noticed wilting within a day and then over time, the plant dies and dries out. I had such a mess of these vines coming up out in my lawn and coming up in my garden beds. Nothing I tried worked until I used the cotton balls. The vines had created a garden nightmare for me. Good luck. You will be so relieved when these things die off.

Mary