Clearing Brush, Best Time to do it?

[Liberty]

I live in Mid South TN. I need to cut some blackberry
bushes, buckle bushes, cedars, locust. On a grown up
farm that I have purchased. I was told by an older
farmer that there are two days in early April that
if the brush is cut it will not come back! I know this
sounds like an old wives tale, it probably is. But I know
a man who knew the person who used to say it and
he said he had done it on the dates when he cleared
his place and it did work amazingly well. The old
farmer has been dead nearly 20 years, my friend
thinks it was 4-4 to 4-6 or 4-10 to 4-12. Has anyone
ever heard this, and if so why might it work?
Thanks, Liberty

 

[Buck]

April 1st.

 

[sneaky_pete]

Save yourself a big headache and hire a shrubber to find out if your brush recognizes Daylight savings Time or not first.

 

[rebelmedic]

Spring is the best time. Different areas may change the dates a little.The blackberry bushes will require spraying with brush killer,digging,pulling them up or numerous mowings in summer when green to kill them. Brush and tree`s are best cutt just before or as the sap begins to rise in the spring.As the elders would say causes them to bleed to death as sap rises from roots to open wound not limbs and leaves.The farmers almanac has listings for the best days discouraging growth or promoting it .

 

[Soundguy]

I can tell you from personal experience about blackberies. Cut them befor ethe berry pops out. In fact.. preferable right as they begin to flower. The plant ties up lots of energy into flow and seed. Often you can hit them just right, and then they will try to flower and go to seed a couple weeks later.. You simply hit them again. That usually makes them miss thier seed/bloom window. Also.. you can hit them as they get ready for winter.

I had 10 ac of blackberry and weeds. The first year I owned the property, I tried sprays.. it killed everything for about a month. By the end of the 2nd month.. everything was back. i disked it, and it came back. I payed someone to disc it again.. this time with a big ag disc. That knocked the population down a bit but they still came back almost as bad.

The last couple of years I have simply mowed the heck out of it. I have pensacola bahia on it.. and it grows tall, and grows faste rthan the weeds. As soon as I see the weeds catching up.. i hog it again.. then the grass shoots back up.

I'd guess inthe last 2 years I have cut the BB population down to about 15% of what it used to be... in other words.. less than 1.5 ac of land is covered in BB. if you looked at it like a pie chart distribution.. etc.

Soundguy

 

[PineRidge]

As long as we don't have snow, we cut. A week ago we were lucky enough to see 50 temps and we had the brush hog and a grapple working in the woods clearing and cutting. If we get a chance to jump on the New Holland and get some work done then that's a plus.

TC-40D SS web pictures click here

 

[rich_ncal]

In my part of California, central valley sierra foothills, I only need to cut once in the late spring. The best time is a few weeks after the last rain in late April or early May. If we get a large late rain storm after cutting then I get a little more growth. Elevation and rain fall are big factors in the best time to cut.

On my property I consider it too risky to mow after mid June. Sparks from the mower can start fires in the dry brush.

 

[cfoxmd]

Nothing kills blackberries. I have a house on the water in Louisiana--the road is called Blackberry Lane--go figure. We let the yard go for a couple of years--it was entirely blackberries. I cut it down, poisoned it etc. Finally I got out a hammer and used the claw to dig out the roots. It took about 40 hours per acre. Dig, dig, dig. Mow mow mow. After several years, its better, but not gone.

We asked a nursery what to use to poison them--they said "yeah, blackberries, good luck".

 

[challengertn]

I too live in southern middle Tenn. and just started on a place my son has bought that is exactly as you described. I'm in the process of bushogging it right now. I didn't want to wait and give the plants any chance to get more established. I plan on doing this now and once about May or June then again late next fall. After that I plan on doing it twice the following year then once a year after that hopefully. It's been my experience that if you keep after it you will make progress on ridding the worst of the plants. Luckily there is some pasture grass under all the mess at my son's place.

 

[rdbrumfield]

Personally I like to mow blackberries when the berry is red and they are pumping to ripen. With winter coming on it seems to knock them back better. They are hard to get rid of, but they won't last long if you keep the mowing going. They don't do well in areas that are maintained. As far as the wives tales, I believe in them. My grandmother swore by the almanac and she planted by the moon and other mistic things. I once saw her plant, actually a limb from a western red cedar, by just sticking it in the ground and she said it would grow because of the moon. It is now a fair size tree. Amazing what we have lost due to "science."

 

[Glenn9643]

I can't advise you regarding when to do it by the almanac, but I prefer doing this type of work in winter. The leaves are off and you can see what's hidden in the brush easier. It's also more pleasant than in the heat of summer. There's no telling what kind of scrapiron you might find around here on an old farm place.

 

[Soundguy]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I plan on doing this now and once about May or June then again late next fall. After that I plan on doing it twice the following year then once a year after that hopefully )</font>

You'd better plan on mowing more than that if you are getting rid of blackberies. I can almost mow once a month during growing season if there is rain...

Soundguy

 

[MMM]

Cut them in spring and hit with roundup when the reshoot. Regular cutting will eliminate them also. There are selective herbicides that work also if you have grass established.
"May take more than one applicatio"

 

[sdunston]

Those berry bushes are like barbed wire for mother nature, They seem to stay around until the canopy blocks the sun. I have a lot that was logged about 2 years ago I now brush hog rows, Make it nice to pick them berries, Might as well eat them because ya cant get rid of them

Sam

 

[Charolais]

If you can spray, you can kill those blackberry bushes with Roundup WeatherMAX. Mix 1 quart to 15 gal. of water. Cover all the foliage and they'll die. I also use the same on cedar, sweetgum and most any other type of tree. I've used WeatherMAX for 3 years now and haven't seen any regrowth.

WeatherMAX is water proof once it's on the plant so you don't have to worry about it being washed off from a rain shower.

 

[Bowhunter]

Like Glenn9643 I also time my clearing jobs for early spring when all the leaves are off. Not only does this make it easier to see through the brush, there are NO BUGS. A big plus in my book. As for them coming back, one ounce of brush killer or Crossbow per one gallon of water will cure that.

 

[Soundguy]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( so you don't have to worry about it being washed off from a rain shower )</font>

Rain? what's that.. I think I've heard that word before. Isn't that the stuff that happens during hurricanes?

All joking aside... her ein florida.. many of us havn't seen any rain since the hurricanes... which is pretty rough on our pastures.

Soundguy

 

[have_blue]

Yes, that's just old wive's tales.

Best time is when the ground is firm. Otherwise you make a hella' lotta' ruts. Pile the brush up tightly, let dry for 2 weeks, and burn. Make sure the wind is right and the ground is not dangerously dry.

 

[Liberty]

There lots of good information here thanks for all
of the replys. Liberty

 

[bigtater]

I would look at spraying with a roundup & arsenal mix or if you dont have any trees nearby worth saving I would hit it with Spike 20P. Beware of spike it stays in the ground for up to 3 years and continues to work like a champ.
http://www.cdms.net/ldat/ld0B7005.pdf