Removing Blackberry Bushes Without Chemicals

Blackberry bushes (particularly the Himalayan species) are a horribly invasive plant in the Northwest. Getting rid of these thorny monsters can be difficult, but since their main goal in life is to choke the life out of all of your other plants, it is necessary to remove them.

Perhaps the most common way to get rid of those blackberries is using pesticides. However, using pesticides can cause serious problems with the water supply in your area. Any pesticides you use will end up in the ground in the local watershed. If that contaminated water ends up in a nearby river (the Willamette, for example) can kill fish and other wildlife. It's best to try to kill them without pesticides. You have a few options if you are battling berry bushes in your yard.


You can:

1) Hire a landscaping company to hack them down, particularly in early spring when they start their growth spurt, and have them come back periodically until the bush dies. Make sure they do not use pesticides!

2) Cut them down to the ground in early spring, and then mow over them frequently until they die,

3) Cut them down to the ground and then dig up the "crowns" or clusters of roots, and

4) If you have a lot of room and goats, use the goats! They love to eat blackberries.

The final and most critical step is to plant something where the blackberries are currently residing. Make sure it is a native plant (check our previous blogs for a list, consider a native berry plant) and replace the old with the new. This helps inhibit the invasive species and encourages native plants to thrive!

Check out this article for the whole story: http://www.pesticide.org/pubs/alts/blackberry/blackberries.html

Disconnect Your Downspout!

So what the heck is a downspout and why would I want to disconnect it? First things first: your downspout is the vertical tubing that funnels water from your rain gutters down to the storm drains and sewers. With Portland receiving an average of 37” of rain every year, this equates to a flood of water flowing through thousands of downspouts and into the overburdened storm drains, sewer systems, and eventually into the Willamette River.
So, you might ask, where will the water go if I disconnect my downspout? Through proper disconnection and diversion, the water from your rain gutters can be redirected to flow onto lawns, into rain barrels, or you can even build a rain garden cheaply and easily. Of course disconnection of every one of your downspouts is not always an option. Through careful planning and proper installation of components available at most home and garden shops, demand on sewers and storm drains can be reduced while protecting our streams and river from toxic runoff.

Top Ten Native Plants in the Pacific Northwest

National Wildlife Federation's Top Ten Native Plants in the Pacific Northwest!
(for those that do not live in the Northwest they have a link on the website to find the top ten native plants in your area)

Doug Fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii)

Oregon White Oak (Quercus garryana)


Western Serviceberry (Amelanchier alnifolia)


Holly-leaf Oregon Grape (Mahonia aquifolium)

Blue Elderberry (Sambucus nigra ssp. caerulea)

Sala (Gaultheria shallon)

Salmonberry (Rubus spectabilis)


Hooker's Evening-primrose (Oenothera elata)


Red Columbine (Aquilegia formosa)


Beach Strawberry (Fragaria chiloensis)

For more information on each of these beautiful native plants and to find more native plants visit the National Wildlife Federation Site

FREE Money and a Clean Environment!

By landscaping your backyard with rain loving native plants not only will you be increasing the value and attractiveness of your home, but the city will give you money!

A discount program, Clean River Rewards, available to Portland homeowners – whether they build a rain garden, disconnect their downspouts or employ other storm water management options.

Based on a sliding scale, the incentive could mean a full discount of the on-site storm-water management charge on Portland residential utility bills – currently $5.88 a month. ($70.56 a year!)

Amber Clayton, Clean River Rewards technical assistance program coordinator, says 13,000 Portland residents have signed up for the discount thus far. So why haven't you?

READ MORE ABOUT THE BENEFITS HERE!

Yum! - Hold the pesticides please.

"In a February 2006 Occupational and Environmental Health study, home and garden insecticide use during pregnancy and childhood was associated with an increased risk of childhood leukemia. Homeowners often apply chemicals and then track them indoors, where long-term exposures to children and pets are likely."

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