Why I gave bramble ln tips a shot?
Been fighting tangled vines in my backyard forever. Tried everything from cheap clippers to fancy electric trimmers last season. Total waste of cash. Saw folks online raving about bramble ln techniques promising less scratch marks faster results. Skeptical but desperate.
Step-by-step disaster zone
First grabbed my crusty old gardening gloves like always. Mistake number one. Those thorns punched right through the fabric like paper. Switched to welding gloves my neighbor lent me – bulky but stopped the bleeding.
Then tried the “parallel branch slicing” method from some forum. Snipped sideways along thick stems like they said. Instead of clean cuts, got jagged tears everywhere. More thorns exposed than before. Nearly speared my ankle when a branch snapped back.
Swore loudly enough birds flew off nearby trees.
Where I stopped being dumb
Finally remembered the expert tip: soak stubborn roots overnight before cutting. Dug trenches around base, flooded them with hose water. Came back next morning expecting miracles.
Reality check: mud soup everywhere. Slipped face-first into sludge pile. Found my glasses dangling from thornbush while wiping muck off. But holy crap – the roots cut like softened butter! Sawed through main taproot in minutes where hours failed before.
Made sharp angled cuts instead of flat chops like before. Pulled deadwood out like loose teeth.
Survival takeaways
- Kevlar sleeves ain’t optional – $18 at hardware store beats hospital bills
- Water soaking works if you remember waterproof boots first
- Cutting towards existing gaps saves your knuckles
- Long-handled pruners let you retreat when bush attacks back
Wound up with three trash bags of thorny hell by sunset. Got scratches deeper than my ex’s drama but at least conquered that patch. Might try again next spring if my arms heal by then.
