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junotheuno

Thorny Vine of DEATH

junotheuno
9 years ago

Hi all! Hope the title got your attention. :P

We just moved into our new house this past year. It's zone 7, in Tennessee. The back quarter of our acre property is absolutely infested with these thorny vines! I look like I got into a passionate tango with a moody cat by the time I finish clipping 30 of them back.

Sorry for the quality of the picture. Got a webcam to work with, so I had to wrestle one of the beasties in the house to show you. :P

Comments (11)

  • carol23_gw
    9 years ago

    Some kind of Rubus,, not a vine, but a problem with stickers.

  • junotheuno
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Thanks for the quick reply!

    The stem of it grows several feet. In a clump, they all sort of create mixed up arches. One big ol' happy McDonald's patch. :P Probably 6+ feet for each. They are EVERYWHERE!

    So far as I can remember from before this past cold, there weren't any flowers. Then again, I could have completely missed them and not paid attention.

  • carol23_gw
    9 years ago

    The arching canes catch onto everything. It's not pleasant trying to go through a patch of these plants.

  • junotheuno
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Indeed. There's a huge patch right next to the chicken coop. The girls like to run under it to hide. (Smart chickies!)

    So, possibly wild raspberries? Guess I'll find out once the canes thicken out a bit, if they produce anything. Would they be okay to eat if they do?

  • Kippy
    9 years ago

    Those look like my blackberry canes, the raspberries have smaller prickles and are not the beasts like the blackberries.

    Now that you cut them back and assuming you do not use herbicides around chickens, they spread under ground. If you dig out the big clumps, you might not have to cut those back again. And it makes it much easier to see when the next root runner pops its ugly head up. The chickens will eat the berries, but usually leave the leaves alone. This might be why you did not see any fruit

  • catherinet
    9 years ago

    We have those "bramble bushes" all over our property too. I believe they are from the blackberries that the guy we bought the house from planted many years ago.
    I call them our security system. haha

  • junotheuno
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Yeah, you're right, I refuse to spray anything near them. (Or anywhere else, if I can get around it.)

    Methinks I shall have to employ the hubby and make a day of murdering these beasts. Two weeks ago I cut it back like crazy, with a stack of canes three feet high and wide. Today, it looks almost back to the way it was. :P

    Thank you for your replies, guys! It's good to finally know what that stuff is. I might post a few other "found" plants around the property in time.

    You guys are great!

  • Iris GW
    9 years ago

    They bloom on second year wood is what I've heard. So the ones you cut back will grow again this year but not bloom (or fruit).

  • ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
    9 years ago

    if you want raspberry.. blackberry.. etc ... go buy named varieties ..and plant elsewhere ...

    in the mean time.. get some thick leather gloves .. shears.. and roundup in a drip bottle... and kill this stuff ...

    there are very few wild bramble.. that have a berry worthy of the nightmare they provide ...

    in case you need be told.. DO NOT WALK THRU THEM .. [no help, eh] ...

    start at the edge.. snip to the ground.. one drip of RU on each snip ... repeat ad nauseum until you rid yourself of this hell on earth ... might take all year.. and part of next ...

    and then burn the snipping in a bonfire approaching 1500 degrees .. not because you have to.. but because you want to ...

    and if you send me a nickle.. i will tell you how i really feel about them ..

    ken

  • Desirai
    9 years ago

    this looks like the blackberries that grow on my property. :)

  • princessgrace79
    9 years ago

    Probably Himalaya blackberry, a nasty scourge around here. Shudder. Dig the rootball out bc if it is that, you'll never get rid of it

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