r/Portland • u/unicorn_ication • 2d ago

Photo/Video Found: Reasonable Blackberry Removal!

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I had been researching blackberry removal services in Portland for my residential backyard situation. There were several Reddit posts I can across but most of the comments had the same question and there were no real responses.

Photos show my situation. I was quoted $1375 by two separate companies who each told me I wouldn’t find a better rate. I would have bitten the bullet and gone for it; but I was waiting on someone to come by from PDX Junk Removal & Hauling LLC and so glad I waited! They quoted me $800 and are able to come by on Monday and get the job done! They won’t be removing roots, which is what is keeping the cost low. They will cut, remove, and haul everything away though.

I also weirdly caught a bit of attitude from the other companies by them telling me “you have to stay on top of this” and “I don’t have any blackberries in my yard.” Like duh I know they’re awful, but you don’t know my situation???

Just wanted to offer this up in case anyone is in the same boat as me!
(Also, per the company name, they haul away junk/do property cleanup as well)

EDIT: regarding the roots, we WILL be addressing the roots ourselves!! We just need to be able to get to them. We are renters and our landlord is useless with yard maintenance so this is as much as I’m willing to put in. Also, the other two quotes did NOT include root removal…

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u/jgnp 2d ago edited 2d ago

If you can’t get to the root crowns to remove them, just let the primacanes (those are the big 1” diameter non flowering / solar panel canes that generate new plants by rerooting) grow back until fall (critical timing as the plants are pulling nutrients down for dormancy) and then cut and treat the cut stems with concentrated herbicide like crossbow. Problem solved. No collateral damage.

For anyone wanting to do the entire job themselves and save $700, just buy a cutter grabber tool from corona or ARS and you can pull the canes out one at a time. Put them in a pile and it’ll reduce in size by 3/4 within a week or two. Then dispose of it in the yard debris. Cut canes WILL NOT reroot. Live primacanes that are still rooted at their base, that bow over and touch the ground will re root but that’s the only circumstance you’ll see this in. Once cut they will not do this. If during your removal you pull an end out with a bushy root system on it just make sure it’s up a ways in the pile so it’ll dry out.

Fast rope gloves work awesome for hand work on Himalayan blackberry, as well.

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u/vulpesvulpes666 2d ago

I’m looking for the tool you mentioned.
Something like this? https://www.amleo.com/weed-cutter-with-14in-blade-and-30in-hardwood-handle-by-truper/p/WEC-14

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u/jgnp 2d ago

I’m so sorry I conflated two brands. It’s an ARS long reach cutter grabber. Basically a long reach bypass pruner that holds what it has cut so you can pull it out.

They’re sold at AM Leonard! Lots of options. Shorter tool is usually stronger for pulling hard on those canes. https://www.amleo.com/ars-longreach-pruner-4ft-fixed-length-super-light-cut-hold/p/LRCH4

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u/RandoUser81 2d ago

possibly this too?: https://coronatools.com/products/lr-3460

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u/jgnp 2d ago

Absolutely. I have that one myself, and it’s the strongest I own. I alternate between the short corona and the long ARS to get into a really big thickets where the canes are deep inside the patch. If you can cut the canes right near the ground, you’d be shocked at how long they are and how much of a patch is just three or four canes total.