How to remove berry vines & amend sandy soil?

Question

What's the best way to remove berry vines from the backyard? I want to clear a section of the yard to plant flowers and shrubs however, the sandy is too sandy. Does anyone have any advice on how to amend the soil for planting? Also, the length of time this will take. Thanks.

Answer 1

A general recommendation is: Add as much composted (rotted) organic material as you can afford. It is almost impossible to add too much.

You can do a visual soil survey by digging a small hole. First look at the hole and take some soil in hand. Check your soil's texture by picking up a handful and squeeze gently: If it feels sticky and stays in a tight mass, your soil is likely too high in clay. If it feels harsh or gritty and won't hold any shape or crumbles it is likely too high in sand. If it feels smooth or floury and won't hold any shape, it's likely too high in silt. If it molds into your hand yet crumbles apart when squeezed, it has the perfect texture. It is loam.
If it formed a sticky ball try to squeeze it upward to form a ribbon. Measure the length of the ribbon. Now wet the soil in your palm til muddy. Rub the soil against your palm with your other fingertips. Is it smooth, gritty or both?

1 inch gritty ribbon is sandy loam
1 inch smooth ribbon is silty loam
1 inch both is loam

1-2 inch gritty ribbon is sandy clay loam
1-2 inch smooth ribbon is silty clay loam
1-2 inch both is clay loam

GT 2 inch gritty ribbon is sandy clay
GT 2 inch smooth ribbon is silty clay
GT 2 inch both is clay

Black color indicates high organic matter; gray indicates medium organic matter. Red, tan or blue color indicates little organic matter and high clay. Blue color indicates that there is no oxygen in the clay. Therefore, no roots will grow in blue clay. Normally, the organic matter is mainly in the topsoil. Forest soils have a one to four inch thick layer of dark organic matter on top of mineral soil.

SEPARATING SOIL IN WATER TEST
Fill a glass jar about half full with soil. Fill to the top with water. Add one small drop soap. Shake the jar, but do not swirl. Let stand. Sand will settle in about ten seconds. Silt will settle in two minutes. Clay will take hours to settle. Organic matter will float for a while. The thickness of the layers indicates the proportions of sand, silt, clay and organic matter.

Loam is roughly equal part clay, silt and sand. That though is just part of the soil. Good soil consists of 93% mineral and 7% bio-organic substances. The bio-organic parts are 85% humus, 10% roots, and 5% edaphon. The Edaphon consists of: fungi/algae 40%, bacteria/actinomycetes 40%, Earthworms 12%, Macrofauna 5%, and micro/mesofauna 3%

Amending sandy soil is an ongoing process as every year the rains leach soluble nutrients away and the organics continually break down. It will depend on the soil specifics of your site.
Amending sandy soil texture: Sandy soil is easier to amend then clay. The goal in amending sandy soil is to add sponge like organic matter in the form of peat, composted bark dust, manure and/or compost to help it to retain more water as well as provide nutrients.
* 4 to 8 inches of organic material dug in 12 to 24 inches
Optional and expensive
* Vermiculite 5-25% of amendment
* Hydrosource 1-4 lb/100 square feet

Stable humus is the crucial center, the focal point of the life cycle. The goal in amending is to encourage the plants and animals to achieve a good balance with less future effort in maintenance.

Fertilizer - the type and amount of fertilizer to use can be determined by an N-P-K soil test.
Depending on the results of your soil test you will want to add varying quantities of Nitrogen, Potassium, Phosphorus and trace minerals. This applies to either sand or clay soils. Although chemical methods can do this effectively the following is an organic approach.

For Nitrogen add Cottonseed meal; for Phosphorus add Rock Phosphate and for Potassium, Kelp meal (kelp also contains helpful trace minerals). To adjust your pH use dolomite lime if soil is too acid or Ferrous sulfate to raise acidity. Amendments are best applied by evenly covering the surface of the area to amend and tilling in as deeply as possible.

N-P-K values to mix and match into your custom fertilizer
Nitrogen:
(For producing leaf growth and greener leaves)
Compost manure 0.5
Dried blood 12-15
Cottonseed meal 7
Cocoa bean and peanut shells 1
Bone meal 4
Weeds and grass clippings 0.9

Phosphorus:
(For proper seed development; hastens maturity; increased seed yield and flower production; fruit and vitamin content; increased resistance to winter kill and diseases)
Phosphate rock 30-32
Bone meal 21
Dried blood 3
Cottonseed meal 2.5

Potassium:
(For promoting early growth; improves stem strength and cold hardiness; better color, flavor and keeping quality of fruits and vegetables; good for root system)
Potash, plant residues 0.5
Manures and compost 2.7
Granite dust 5
Greensand 5
Basalt rock; wood ashes 7
Hay 2
Leaves 0.6
Seaweed (kelp) 5

Example N-P-K:
2-4-2
4 parts coffee ground
1 part bone meal
1 part wood ashes
Coffee is acidic while wood ashes are basic so this is a balanced use of the two.

Treat the vines by cutting off most of the above ground length.
Now double glove and hand apply herbicide to the vine stumps. Apply herbicide directly to cross section and edges of freshly cut stems. This should be full strength not diluted. Use the cut stump treatment within 15-20 minutes of cutting in late spring. (Glyphosate, triclopyr and 2,4-D are effective against blackberries.) Basal sprays work best in fall, pellets are effective in fall and spring but will effect other plants.
By double gloving I mean two pair of gloves in case the outer one gets torn.

Answer 2

To remove the berry bushes, use Round-up. After the vines die off, remove them. Then water the area REALLY well. Wait a couple of weeks. If there are new berry sprouts, spray them with Round up also. You may need to repeat this several times to remove all the berry bushes. Berry bushes are VERY hard to get rid of!! You must be persistent!!

After you are sure that all the berry bushes are gone, then you can add compost to your sandy soil.

However, you should consider creating raised planting boxes that you fill with GOOD soil. Then you don't need to struggle with your poor soil!

Answer 3

Best way to amend sandy soil is get a bunch of composted organic material, and add as much as you can. I'd lay down a 3" layer and rototill it in as deep as you can. You may want to try double digging and using an additional 3" of compost. The compost helps the soil retain moisture, and adds organic material that provides nutrients for the plants.

Answer 4

keep it mulched with leaves. you should use grass clippings in case you enable them sit down in a pile lengthy adequate to kill the seeds that would properly be in them. flowers spikes are strong for non everlasting help until eventually the leaves initiate breaking down. i imagine the guy helping you merely did not prefer to be afflicted with it.