I move around the world changing farms every few years and have tackled numerous areas such as you describe, sometimes only a few square yards here and there, sometimes a big acreage. The quickest, surest way is glyphosate. You might not like it, and I expect a lot of flack for suggesting it, but it works. Applied properly it will kill your brambles and nettles in one hit - and I mean dead. You could use goats if you have the time, money and patience, but they will only reduce the problem to a short grazed one. You could totally cover it in cadboard, carpets, black plastic etc. and leave it for a year. Take your pick. I use glyphosate because it works within days. I am still a member of HDRA despite many people thinking I should not be if I use glyphosate. I can live with that because I believe that organically is the way to do things if it is REASONABLY possible to do so. Old McDonald.

You have the only real answer above. The only thing left out was a bulldozer to strip it and reseed. Mowing and grazing will take several years to clean it. You might also have to take several grass crops off to lower the fertility, if it is rich soil, before converting to a wild flower meadow.
Brian

We cleared a sizeable patch of rough ground 3 years ago in Co. Cork. It was covered in brambles, nettles, and bracken. The bracken was the most difficult, which surprised me. But the brambles were easy; my preferred method was to use pruners/loppers whatever to cut all the bramble stems, then mattock up the large root clumps. The small off-shoot rooted stems are fairly easy to grub up. It was surprising how large an area can be covered in a massive mound of brambles yet it's just a few large rootstocks each with a satellite of rooted layered stems.

Our neighbour (farmer) from the start wanted to rush round with his Round-Up (glyphosphate I think?), but from when we moved in I really didn't want to use any chemicals. And we have tamed the whole place with only human effort. And it has not been so bad! And the time it takes to do the work gives you the time to formulate ideas, I feel.

Saying that, now that we have had to leave said area for a while I am wondering if Round-Up might have to be deployed to make up for not being there keeping on top of it!

Claire.

I'd side with the poison if I was stuck for time. But sine you want it au naturel why not save some of the weed?

A patch of nettle is an interesting and useful patch. Edible too. And makes a great soda-pop with natural yeast.

If you can hook out the bramble without getting thorns (they are really not worth the injury though, if you can't) you can keep the live growth and even train it up a wall or fence. If the crop is worth having (ie not a wild variety) you will have another good plant.

They only need cutting back yearly, the same as for roses. Feed them plenty of potash next year, if the crop is good. Otherwise grub them all up.

Then it is just a matter of planting other stuff on top. You might get old daffodil bulbs from the council if you know anyone working on their gardens. Their old bedding bulbs just go in the skip.

You can buy old english flower seed or join the HDR Library for "olde" varieties.

It's not a bad idea to keep a nettle patch - some butterflies need nettles to lay their eggs.

Brambles are also excellent for nesting birds, very good protection from cats etc., and rich in food too. If you want a good natural wildlife patch, grow nettles and brambles . . .

Resin

Thanks all.

A varied viewpoint!

I'd happily keep some parts of this patch- if I could manage it. How can I balence -adding wild flowers/meadow grass and not let the 2 main offenders - bramble and nettles dominate.

I'm interested that dispite this 3m by 3m area seems all bramble -it may only be 1 or 2 rootstocks - I've not got that close.

Following up on earlier points. Can meadow/wild flowers be added by seed?

Does this glycosphate (whatever!) stop me adding plants afterwards?

Thanks again

I review my advice. If it is only 3 metres square do it by hand. A spade will do the job if you do not already have pruners and a mattock. Stand on a bramble stem and chop through it with the spade. When you reach the rooted parts slice horizontally just below ground level. The remaining roots will be easy. Deal with the nettles in a similar fashion. Glyphosate (most common brand name is Roundup) will not affect future seeding. In that size of area you cannot have brambles, nettles and flowers. A pure stand of nettles might well be the most ecologically friendly. There are less about than there used to be, due at least in part to the ease of applying glyphosate! Old McDonald.

I think it would be easy enough to balance the nettles & brambles with other things, it's just a question of keeping them in check with a little work a couple of times a year. The brambles would be no problem to contain, in my experience. And nettles not too much more of a difficulty. My own garden is what has been reclaimed from the wilderness, and the maintained part is edged by brambles & bracken & nettles on a few sides; we just have to make sure the wilderness doesn't encroach, and when we have the time & inclination we push back into the wilds and claim a bit more for our cultivation!

I have grown wild flowers before, I've tried gathering seed myself and sprinkling it or even carefully pushing little pinches down into the ground in suitable places, it never worked for me. So I moved on to growing wild flowers from seed in trays/pots etc and then planting them out when sturdy enough. Hopefully then they establish and naturalise by themselves with no further work needed! It's gone pretty well with cowslips, ragged robin, primroses, heartsease, er what else . . . harebells. It's fantastic when they get going!