Removing Blackberries and Other Noxious Plants

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The city of Bellingham granted the association approval to remove Himalayan blackberries and other noxious invasive species from the wetland buffers (the area beyond the split rail fence). However the permit does have conditions.

According to the City of Bellingham, residents are allowed to remove plants listed on the Whatcom County Noxious Weed Fact Sheet, providing that replanting guidelines are followed afterwards where necessary.  

 All work is to be done with hand tools and herbicide is not permitted. Afterwards, all material must be hauled offsite. You may cut blackberries as far back as necessary, as long as plants are replaced with native plantings.  

•     Start with cutting back blackberry canes by hand to access the root 
•     Pile canes on a tarp or other means of easily transporting them offsite
•     Remove as much of the root as possible - digging is allowed
•     Shake off the soil from the root to ensure no soil leaves the site.
•     Repeat cutting back canes and digging roots as they grow during the year
•     All invasive plants removed must be hauled offsite

Where the weed removal has left large gaps in the landscape, suitable native plant species need to be planted, unless "natural recruitment" is anticipated. Also, you should apply wood chip mulch to areas left bare by root removal.  Mulch must be low-phosphorus and must NOT include beauty bark or colored bark. Use wood chips from tree limbs instead. 

There is a silver lining about proper replanting, there are over two hundred plants you can use to spruce up the area that are considered "native" by the City of Bellingham. Consider snowberry, ocean spray, red-flowering currant, service berry, and black twinberry among others.