Sorry, Marymd if I get too chatty, can you tell that I have no 'real life' organic gardening/compost buddies? What do you mean by a root barrier? That sounds interesting to me. Cheryl, we had already dug and pulled and burned in spring of '04....don't know if I could stand to dig everything up and start over as we have built an arbor, planted roses and many things,have a rail fence and rock wall.....maybe I can layer paper between the biggest plants and compost and mulch over that and just keep pulling the vines as they come thru as I am doing now and if that doesn't help in another year or two I may be convinced to start over. Steve, if my husband was more involved in this he would probably be going your route, but I don't feel up to it. If you are in the northern part of NC it wouldn't take you too long to get to central VA and help with this project, whacha think? I have a couple of grandsons who could pitch in. Thanks y'all for your suggestions, Kiki

Hi all, thanks for the info. In the fruit forum someone told me that it's best to let them get really ripe, to let them turn from glossy black to a more dull, muted black. Yes they are definately invasive. LOL. About those beetles.. I remember having read once somewhere that if you have trouble with an insect it may be a good idea to plant something irresistable to them, just for their own use, to keep them from munching on your crops. I don't remember what insect in particular that was about, but it seems to be the situation I have with these blackberries. I have always felt lucky not to have much trouble with my roses. I've seen the jap beetles before, but never in any alarming numbers, and I've never noticed any significant damage from them to any of my plants. I guess now I know why. They really seem to love that patch of brambles. Okay I'm gonna go make a cup of tea now. Blackberry tea...

If they do Larry, I would venture to guess that any new varieties would be GMO's - not good! Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO's) kill off old varieties through breeding and cross pollination. This is happening as we speak with not only plants like corn and soybeans, but also with fish and more animals. I am fighting against ALL GMO's. GMO's are now banned throughout Europe. It is now widespread throughout America. It benefits Big Business, but not the consumers. The ill affects of genetically modified foods on humans, animals, insects, and etc, are not fully known, but it is now looking very bad. Life as we used to know it on this planet may be spiraling out of control to our own destruction. Sad state of things. So, deal with the seeds, please. Just swallow them - they are good roughage for cleansing the gut and colon. ~Annie

Jessaka, First, the blackberry question, because it is the easiest one. Blackberries product best in full sun, but still will produce some berries in some shade. The more shade, the fewer berries. So, I would say they would not produce well in mostly shade unless it is dappled shade that lets quite a bit of sunlight through. Our native blackberries (dewberries) on the pond bank produce berries fairly well with only morning sun, though. Whenever I have planted cultivated varieties of blackberries, I've always planted them in full sun. My brother had some that received only afternoon sun and they produced very well. He did have them in a bed that was heavily amended with manure and got lots of water. Now, the wild wisteria. I assume you are talking about American Wisteria (Wisteria frutescens)? Whether it would kill a tree if it grows up it depends on what kind of tree it is. American Wisteria is significantly less aggressive and more slow-growing than imported forms of wisteria, so if any wisteria could grow up a tree successfully without killing it, the American Wisteria would be the one to do it. It would have to be a very tall, very well-established tree, though, and even then there is no guarantee. If you allow a wisteria to climb a shorter tree (30' tall or less), the odds are that the vine would spread enough within about 10 years after the planting of the vine to shade out the canopy and eventually kill the tree. With a tree taller than 30' tall, you probably could let the wisteria climb the tree with no problem. Theoretically, the tree's growth should outpace the growth of a young American Wisteria. However, if you should notice the vine has gotten up into the canopy of the tree and is threatening to shade out the canopy, you'd have to prune back very aggressively to prevent that. Because the vine would be very tall by that point, you might have to hire a tree service to do the pruning for you using a bucket (cherry-picker) truck to get as high as would be needed. If you are wanting to plant a vine that could climb up through a tree without strangling it to death, you might want to consider American Crossvine, clematis or passionflower vine. All of them are lovely but tend to be less agressive than wisteria and would be a better companion for a tree. If you already have an American Wisteria and want to let it climb the tree, I say "why not try it?" If you feel the wisteria is spreading too agressively, just prune it back severely. And, if you've never grown an American Wisteria before, be advised that it is happiest in moist soil. In its native setting, the American Wisteria grows on the moist banks of streams, creeks, ponds, swamps, etc. and it would be happiest and healthy only where its' moisture needs are met. Dawn