Liz Crain of Leafhopper Farm describes how she uses her Goats to assist in clearing land which has been overgrown with Blackberry Bushes.
GOATS CLEARING LAND
- Goats are browsers which means they prefer to eat the greens from bushes and trees elevated up off the ground. This makes them excellent for clearing land which has been taken over by things like Blackberry Bushes. Once they've gone through and eaten all the leaves someone can come through with clippers to cut the exposed cane.
SCOTCH BROOM
- This plant is a non-native that was brought in from Scotland to make brooms. A lot of people consider it an invasive. It's in the Pea family so it's a wonderful nitrogen fixer. It comes up for 5 to 6 years and then it will begin to die back making room for the next species.
TRAILING BLACKBERRY
- This is the Pacific Northwest's native blackberry. It stays low to the ground, has small berries and is very prolific, It is more of an edge species preferring to come in on the fringes.
ARMENIAN BLACKBERRY
- This is a non-native that is very prolific because it arcs its canes up over other things and sends them back down to reroot. This strategy allows it to quickly cover an entire clearing. It can be seen as a protector the exposed ground by mitigating erosion, UV rays and heavy rain like a scab a damaged piece of land.
CUTLEAF BLACKBERRY
- Also know as Evergreen Blackberry, this is another non-native plant. It can be distinguished from Armenian Blackery because it has very a dramatic tooth cut in its leaves. Some people say it has sweeter berries.
TRANSITION ZONES
- A Transition Zone is a space where the sun can get down to the ground and you have the starting of a wall of vegetation. Hedges made of various plants can be grown up and trimmed to make natural fence lines that animals will avoid crossing. Dead brush can be used as a foundation or to fill holes for a hedgerow.
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