Best Way to Permanently Remove BLK Berry Bushes???

[Newaygo1]

Been trying to remove large areas of Blk Berry Bushes, they seem to be taking over my hunting land. I have tried Round Up, Round Up Tough Brush as well as mowing, weed whacker and though the spray kills off the plants they regrow again right underneath. It would not be so bad but they get to be 6 ft high and some areas are 40 by 40 feet and hard to navigate. WOuld like to permanently remove them. When I add lime to these for food plots it just seems to help them grow quicker and taller faster. The only info on removing them is to pour hot water on the roots but that is no simple and being these are so large I am looking for a better solution.

Anyone know?

I don't have any farm equipment to till under the areas but might be able to get some to come in and so it if it is a one or 2 time deal. They have taken over about 1.5 acres of 20 acres. And just continue to spread. Being they have tube root system it only kills off the plant above the ground but not the root system or maybe the seed from the plants drop and regrow???

Any information would be welcome.

Thanks,
Newaygo1

welcome to the club.

i don't think i'd kill them. food and cover for the critters. i think i'd just use a brush saw /weed whacker thing and trim some zig zag trails through them.

if your really set on getting rid of them the only thing that i know of that will work is pigs. fence of the patch and put pigs in there. then when they got it cleaned up, eat the pigs and plant a food plot.

[Newaygo1]

Thanks but when they are 6 feet high and as thick as a corn field is you can barely walk without getting caught in the thorns tearing holes in hunting fleece and clothing as well as just when scouting. I would turn these areas in to food plots but like this spring I planted 8 CrabApple Trees with in a month I could not get to 2 of them because the Blk Berry's over grown the area and I removed everything within 4 ft of these two locations. I now have them grown through the fencing around these trees as well as the areas I have started Food Plots and when I added any lime or fertilizer they just go crazy. When they are so tall they just are a pain to navigate through and cutting a path is just a repeat several times a year. I guess I will just have to pay someone to come in and brushhog them down then till the areas a couple of times and then add some Ground Clear for a while and keep these areas vacant of any growth till there is no signs of any Blk Berries once that happens I will then plant some PLots and hope that they won't return. I continue to enhance my property with fruit trees & plots. I have ferns that take over in the summer which is almost as bad you can't walk throygh them without getting soaked and then the Sweet ferns are a year round bush that is also a tube root that just returns . Guess it is time for some serious land rework Tilling and retilling and so on... To get it better...

Newago1

check with the your county______________ can't think of the agency right now but the guys at the feed store should be able to point you in the right direction.

[Newaygo1]

Thanks but I live 3.25 hrs away from there and the county has limited resources to get anything from them plus the fact when I am at work I am unable to make any kind of phone calls except emergencies. So that limits me to what kind of resources are available. Since I have tried many things none have worked long term. As time goes on they just keep spreading and if it was slow it would not be such a concern but they just crop up being the birds spread the seeds and they quickly grow. I guess I will just have to search out someone that does brush hogging and tilling in the area and see what they charge. But again limited resources might take a bit.

Thanks though just hoping to find a way to remove them. Guess it is not a simple / easy means to do it.

Mike / Newaygo1

[delbert]

We spray stuff called crossbow,, You can get it at most farm stores
When you spray it on trees or brush it wont be long and the its dead
the wood will turn white and you can kick it over

[Newaygo1]

Any idea what brand or name is on the "Crossbow" stuff. I have not heard of it before and been to many places including Tractor Supply. Maybe I can do a search and find the maker and then see if they have any retailers here in Michigan.

Thanks,
Newaygo1

[Hunting Man]

Just curious, are the deer using the berry bush area for safety core area? If so you might be getting rid of a valuable habitat. I too would just get a brush hog in there and plow through a few run ways or just trim it up some. Black berry pie, jam, jelly??

[Newaygo1]

the Blk Berries have taken over areas the Deer seem to avoid these as time has gone over the last 10 years. The deer trails around my property never pass thru these at all. Yet if I mow a path to cut down the sweet fern bushes, tall grass, regular ferns and other vegatation the deer use them more because the Blk Berries get again 6 ft high and thicker than a field of corn but not in "rows" as if some just tossed out corn seed just add the thorns like a Rose Bush. As stated before when I have added lime that jump starts them when it was suggested that adding lime would up the ph in the soil and supposedly the blk berries liked a acidic soil yet just the opposite happened they just grow fast with the lime and fertilizer I use near them, on my small plots. So I would not say the deer venture in or near them except as an escape route. I have never seen a deer in them or coming from that direction either.

Next time I am there I will take a picture and you will see that you would not even think of walking thru them and when mowing them down they seem to return triple what was there starting out low and within a month or 2 they are tall and thick.

Thanks but soon they will have taken over have of my property. Just looking for a way to remove them but sounds like some like them, I know the bears do... and maybe the birds...

Newaygo1

[delbert]

My bottle say formulated for Loveland products .Greeley,Colorado
I did get this at Tractor supply