[eco-friendly]

Probably a silly question but what should i buy to chop down the brambles which are growing along one edge of my plot? shears of scythe? theres not enough to justify buying a strimmer probably about 2 hours work with the right hand tool.any suggestions?

[WG.]

A mattock will do a great job on the roots.  Very useful for other tasks too.

[eco-friendly]

sorry wg i have no idea what a mattock is :oops:

[WG.]

See here : http://www.chat.allotment-garden.org/viewtopic.php?p=116098#116098

Strong thick handle (like a pick) would be fitted.

[jack russell]

A thick pair of gloves and your spade will do the job nicely and i am guessing you got one of those so it wont cost you owt

[seadart]

Cordite        

[Sally A]

If I didnt have the brush cutter, I'd probably go for a snip around the base with the longest handled shears you have, rake out the now loose growth, then you can get stuck in to the bits in the ground with a fork or spade.

using a rake or pitchfork you can collect a lot of the snipped off brambles by using the long spaghetti round a fork technique, and dump them on the bonfire.

[eco-friendly]

Thanx for responses just one quick question.Am not allowed to have fires on site so was thinking of chopping them up and leaving them to die in an old bin i've got. any other suggestions?

[Sally A]

I don't know how big your bin is or how many brambles you have, but they are a right pain.  I'd say get rid, even putting into say a builders 1 ton gravel bag, or hippo bag and taking to the local council tip (hopefully you have a council compost tip near you)

[SkipRat]

Buy yourself or borrow an azada, them brambles will have no chance, simply cut brambles down to ground level, burn al prunings then go around with an azada and whip them roots out. Job done  

[gobs]

I have to echo Sally on this, a looper is appropriate to cut down brambles and then most likely you want to get rid of. They would take ages to rot down, if you have only a few, it won't be a problem, of course.

[mushroom]

Probably a silly question but what should i buy to chop down the brambles which are growing along one edge of my plot? shears of scythe? theres not enough to justify buying a strimmer probably about 2 hours work with the right hand tool.any suggestions?

Before using a mattock, try loosening the roots with a fork. Some bramble types have the roots growing way deep, but I was pleasantly surprised, and loosening with a fork made simple work of digging them up. I think the roots of all types go deeper in sand, but i'm on clay, near to a brook.