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  • Mother Earth Gardener

    ~ Wicked Brambles ~ Himalayan Blackberry

    Jun 09, 2017 4 minutes
    By Lindsay Gasik

    “IT WILL COMPLETELY eat a house, if you let it,” says the receptionist, pausing to let the details sink in. I’ve called a blackberry removal service in Portland, Oregon, eager for horror stories. The receptionist has them. She describes thorn-studded vines reaching 4 inches in diameter, growing under siding, insinuating themselves in electrical wires, cutting off plumbing, and refusing to die. “It’s sweat and tears to get blackberry out,” she laments, “just sweat and tears.”

    It’s also futile. In Oregon, the Himalayan blackberry, , is classified as a noxious weed, and there’s almost no chance of eradicating it. The vigorous vines grow 25 feet or more in a single season, swallowing fences and creek beds and filling abandoned lots with thick, thorny

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