Really, there is a blackberry festival in Bremerton, Washington. They celebrate blackberries. Fun runs, children’s events, and food and wine made with blackberries. I kind of get it but the Himalayan blackberry is a terribly invasive weed. Much like kudzu in the south, blackberries are attempting to cover the world. They spread by seed, root where they touch the ground and send underground runners. Himalayan blackberry was brought to the PNW by Luther Burbank in 1885. This plant was lauded and sold in nurseries. The plant spread outside the garden and has been a problem ever since. The city of Seattle alone is attempting to eradicate the blackberry from 2500 acres of parkland. They estimate that 20 percent of parkland are covered by the invasive weed and estimate that it will cost $ 25,000.00 per acre to remove it.
Keeping with the spirit of things I had my own blackberry festival this weekend. About 30% of my property is covered with this weed and I have battled them since I moved in. Cutting them down with a bladed weed trimmer, spraying the regrowth with brush killer then finally digging out the node that is just below the ground. Here is a picture of the stems of a plant that I cut down. The vines were climbing up a tree and were well over 30 feet high. Now that’s a weed! What is even more disturbing is that after an area was cleared of blackberry I found Bindweed and yellow archangel growing in the cleared off soil. Both of these are on the noxious weed list too!
All three of these noxious weeds are considered class C noxious weeds by the Washington State Noxious Weed Board. This means individual counties can determine the control measures within the county. Class A noxious weeds are controlled by law. When you get around to it the topic of noxious weeds is very interesting reading. Many gardens in Washington have several of these weeds in their garden beds. Several years ago I found Milk Thistle on a garden center bench for sale and wanted to pitch it. It is good to be aware of what is out there, what you might have in your garden, and what you can do to control weeds in your area. The website has good suggestions for how to eradicate and what the weeds look like. Get out there and start weeding!
Check out this link http://www.nwcb.wa.gov
