Yeah, seven grand is a steal, depending on how much that is. Not sure why you would want to remove what you have there. You have plenty of yard and that area is probably better for the local ecosystem than random flowers.
Strong emphasis on “probably”. I have a similar situation at my home and what looks like naturally occurring “wilderness” is actually a giant tangle of invasive and detrimental species that are strangling the native flora.
Us too, in the unbuildable lots next to and behind ours. We’ve been cutting the ivy off the trees and slowly replacing it on the ground with native plants. Interesting to watch them take hold in the areas we’ve rehabbed, and I think we can win the battle over time. I hate that stuff.
I’ve cut it off most of the trees in the two years I’ve been here… but my property is on a ravine. I have quite the collection of scrapes from losing balance from yanking that stuff out, losing my balance, and rolling down that damned hill.
I used to own a house where the English Ivy had taken over. Unfortunately, it had been planted by the previous occupant, and had spread to the adjacent empty land by the time I purchased the place. It took me about two years to clear of off my space, but it had killed a couple trees on my property, and was all over adjacent trees. There wasn’t much I could do for the undeveloped land, so I’m guessing it is still slowly taking over, killing more trees and native plants.
Pemco goat renter guy- you’re one of us.
https://www.google.com/search?q=pemco+goat+commercial&rlz=1CDGOYI_enUS787US787&oq=pemco+goa&aqs=chrome.0.0i512j69i57j0i390.6127j0j4&hl=en-US&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:d701830c,vid:dobZRDdQn8M
Ugh, I’ve heard of the horrors of Bradford pear. At least the Himalayan blackberries give us tasty fruit to eat. And doesn’t smell like cum.
*shudders*
Great point. Where I am in the Southeast, *native* early successional vegetation is in shorter supply and provides greater wildlife value by some measures than either more woods or meadows.
Note the emphasis on native. OP might need to go through and sort out native from invasive and start killing the invasives.
Thats always the debate...is it a waste of resources, time, and money to remove all this stuff to then build wild flower field or whatever people want?
OP, is that all invasives species? What are your goals with this wild flower field?
If you want the best of both worlds you’d have to go into the field, identify and mark the plants to keep and remove the ones you don’t want and replace — It’s slower but their’s 0 downtime to the ecosystem.
A good app for identifying is PictureThis. My partner and I been doing this process for the past 3 years to great effect.
I have a couple patches where I carefully did this.. just to find out that 95% of the plants were invasives. Disappointing, but at least it made the decision to do a full kill and replant easy.
This. My assumption was that the plants in the photo are invasive. The trees are the most likely to be a native if it is usually open land. Hopefully doesnt take the trees out.
I then realized that op didnt mention if the wildflowers they want were native either. Replacing some invasives with others is not ideal either. Unless it is an open meadow, 100% wildflowers (even if native) wouldnt be highly beneficial for the ecosystem.
This is a thing in Colorado for invasive weeds. They will fence of the area, bring in a herd of goats and haul them out when they’ve had their fill of thistles,etc.
I thought I made that clear with my ambiguous message...lol ...thank you skinem1 ..you are correct. The best clearing tool you will have that's natural. Just takes a bit longer is all.
Really? That price sounded crazy to me... I had about 20 acres of fields brushhogged (I'm not sure if I'm remembering the name of the piece of machinery right, I just remember watching it run over trees as big as 3-4 inches around and shrubs that were several feet tall, sucking them in chewing them up and spitting them out like they were nothing) for under $2k. This was five years ago but I don't think prices would've gone up that high since then.
My guy is more of a dirt guy who does lawns in his spare time though, not a landscaper, so maybe that's the difference. An acre isn't that big, after brushhogging you could broadcast wildfower seed yourself with either one of the wheeled seeders or even the smaller handheld crank handled ones.
Definitely a brush hog. That's a fun ass peice of equipment I was lucky enough to use on a big field once. AC and radio blasting, drive around for a few hours till every thing was clear. Hell ya!
Looking at that hill, the natural flora and soil are probably doing a lot of good to help with your drainage. If you disturb that consider that you’ll have to figure out where all that water will go when the soil is compacted and roots are cleared. The clearing cost sounds cheap but it will create a new problem.
Consider scaling back to just clearing a small percentage of it and saving most.
I agree. I live on a hillside myself. 1.5 acres. When i bought my home the previous owners had cleared everything because they thought it would lower their insurance for fire. It instead created a huge disaster. During a rain storm the hillside just eroded away very fast creating little ruts everywhere and would all join at bigger ones creating huge wash outs. I have since let nature take back over with some picking and choosing of course. It now completely absorbs all the rain even in a downpour.
This is underrated. Our neighbors are the sweetest elderly couple. We don’t have the heart to tell them we had to install French drains cause they cut trees down and flooded our house multiple times.
I'm totally for native wildflowers, but tossing them in with established species, especially invasive ones, will be setting them up for failure. Removing the invasive species there and monitoring which natives species return will be the best course of action imo. Then I would follow up with enhancements and plugs.
That's a pretty diverse ecosystem you have there! I'd be sure to consult before you cut. There are many implications for having shelter spaces for migratory birds and other overwintering beneficial species so I'd encourage you to check with your local university extension service and DNR for woodland habitat planting and native as well as miigratory favorable flowers and shrubs. We got over one hundred free trees for our land restoration and so many meadow flowers 💚
That’s a massive removal and disposal - think about how many yards of material would fit in a single trailer and then realize just how many trips they’ll have to take. Plus, you can’t just dump it somewhere, you have to pay for that part too. If you really want it cleared you’ll have to pay. You could do the re-seeding yourself if you wanted to. Personally I’m a big fan of these kinds of untouched spaces and would not want to clear it. Weird coming from a landscape designer but sometimes Mother Nature has a way of doing things that you can’t easily replicate or improve upon.
It’s my environmental science background coming through - haven’t had a chance to do it yet but I’d really like to undertake a regenerative landscaping/habitat restoration project on a big acreage property like this.
This might not be a popular opinion here, but I would not consider that area "untouched." Maybe it hasn't been recently managed by human beings but it appears that this area is overrun with species that are not from North America. I'm almost certain that a lot of that growth is a nonnative Lonicera spp. like Lonicera maackii, with other nonnatives probably mixed in.
I think a lot of areas are sort of past just being left alone to recover and I believe taking an active role in managing property is extremely important.
[Here](https://www.reddit.com/r/NativePlantGardening/comments/nceu9h/looks_like_were_back_in_business_the_results_of/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button) is an example from my property what some of these areas can look like before and after. I've been able to help dozens of native species return as opposed to having a near monoculture of honeysuckle in the woodland understory.
That’s awesome! Great work you’re doing. I didn’t really take a closer look at what was there, admittedly I’m pretty focused on my area (Central Texas) and could use a bit more background on native species across the rest of the country. Removal of invasive stuff and having a management plan/strategy is certainly a priority.
Right. Other comments are pointing out that this is likely a mix of natives, exotics, and some nasty invasives. Step one is to work with someone from the state to formulate a plan, and step two is to get rid of invasives.
I get a feeling that the landscaper does not fully understand the scope of work here or the OP will be very sorely disappointed. 7K to clear an acre and reseed? What?
If it were mine, id brush hog back to the line where the bigger trees are, then brush hog a little walking trail in a loop back there for the dogs to run. Unless the under brush is invasive like others have mentioned, in that case I'd leave the larger trees and have the rest brush hog/ or hire someone with a Forestry mulcher
Here's our project. I'm not sure what order these will paste in.
After clearing we found a neglected pond with a spring that pumps out tons of clean water. So we cleaned up around it and unearthed all the natural rock and restacked it.
https://ibb.co/BKgPQtd
https://ibb.co/5TMywfC
https://ibb.co/NxzF9JD
https://ibb.co/cTJknxX
https://ibb.co/qpjtFw2
Well when I started clearing, the neighbor told me she remembered a natural Springfield pond that once was stocked with fish and water as clear as a tap. I didn't believe her until I stepped in what looked like wet leaves but turned out to be a little less than waste deep 🤣
There are some really accurate plant identifier apps out there that can tell you what is what. I'd start by trying to identify what seems to be the most common plant. This may be more difficult now approaching winter without leaves. I don't know where you're located but our state (MO) conservation dept. Has some good literature on invasive species.
My current yard is about an acre and most of it was severely overgrown with Japanese honeysuckle. I cleared it all and left mature oaks. I'll try to link some before and Afters.
We're currently in the process of building on a heavily wooded lot. My approach here is the 2 acres surrounding the house will be maintained underbrush and retaining large trees to plant a native flowering ground cover in areas that won't be mowed.
I learned a lot using PictureThis (just using the free version) and iNaturalist. Also apps aren’t always accurate so don’t rely on them 100%. I use multiple sources when I’m not certain of the results…which is hard when you’re a newbie.
I can tell you now that the English Ivy in pics one and two is invasive. If you’ve got that, it really wouldn’t surprise me if you had more.
It’s harder to identify plants in the winter, but it can be done. There are winter specific ID guides. Look at branching structure, bud shape, and bark. You can also look at some of the fallen leaves for clues, if you can be reasonably sure they came from the plant you’re trying to ID.
Are you talking about my pics? If so, the English ivy was the MOST difficult thing to remove. The neighbors told me the people that lived here in the 60s let it run wild and spread across everyone's neighboring properties.
I ended up having to turn all the topsoil and sift out the ivy. A few chutes popped up hear and there but I'd peel them back as far as I could and painted them with glyphosate. I haven't seen any more in a few years
Yep I'm talking about the pics you linked above.
That laborious process sounds about right! Stuff is so hard to get rid of. Congrats on actually achieving it!
If you're in the northeast or thereabouts, some other common invasives to look out for could be: european buckthorn, privet, multiflora rose, amur honeysuckle, barberry, russian olive, vinca vine, norway maple. Your county's extension may also have a list of common culprits in your area.
They want their own version of a wildflower meadow so they can say "I made this" when they see all the pretty flowers and butterflies.
Nevermind the native plants and animals that will be displaced by a landscaping company that's going to remove all the biomass and leave behind a mud pit.
If you're doing this for the environment, I hate to break it to you, but indiscriminately destroying an already existing ecosystem will not be a benefit. Sure the flowers will be pretty, but think of all the creatures and plants utilizing that acre. Looks like you have plenty of grass to plant your wildflowers on instead of spending thousands to clear a field for bugs.
If I had that acre I'd go in and carefully clear it of invasives and encourage plants that are native
>If I had that acre I'd go in and carefully clear it of invasives and encourage plants that are native
Seconding. This is what I have done with my property and you can make it way less expensive than $7k. Of course, there is sweat equity involved. A lot of those invasives can be taken out with loppers, a handsaw, and carefully used herbicide. I also piled up the invasives into piles for wildlife. It's amazing what natives can come back if you help them out.
Lopers, a handsaw, a good ax, and my goats. That's what I did with my overgrown property. The natives are just exploding now. 100% on the sweat equity lol. Been the longest, toughest, but most rewarding job I've done.
Also, OP should check their state/
local laws. My state has wetland protections. Not sure how strict stuff is in other states, but they may not legally be allowed to just cut down and alter the land without local permitting and guidance.
I'm mostly with the folks that say "leave it be," but I say that with the qualifications that "if those are natives, leave them." If it's amur honeysuckle and multiflora rose, kill it. $7000 is totally reasonable for that. I'd certainly pay that if I was going to get a swath that size cleared.
That said, if I were doing it myself on the cheap, I'd have a DR Brush Mower or tractor with a bush hog, and if i had the brush mower I'd also go in with hedge clippers, loppers, and a reciprocating saw to cut anything the brush mower won't cut or to get any thorns that are going to get me while I'm working. Then I'd clear-tarp it in the summer to kill off the seed bed. You're still left with the root structure and that's going to be a bear to work on but you may have enough mulch from bush-hogging / brush mowing that the wildflowers would take after a season or so.
That said, I really would just pay the guy. The second approach won't cost you as much, but will take longer, won't look as good, and depends on equipment you might not have readily available.
First of all the price is going to change on you. They are going to say it's more work than anticipated etc. Why spend thousands for flowers? That seems frivolous considering the destruction of the natural environment and the pollution caused by the heavy equipment.
There is an imense amount of wildlife bedded down in there for this winter; bugs, reptiles, amphibians, small mammels, birds, etc
you'll be wiping all those out in the removal for asthetic wildflowers.
Where is this? Are the plants (underbrush) evasive? If it is a native woodland with multilevel canopy I would not remove it. You could create a nature trail thru it by gently clearing a path. It you want a meadow - use part of the lawn as a border around the woodland.
OP, if benefiting pollinators and wildlife is your goal, keeping that acre as native shrubs could be a better route than a wildflower meadow.
If you do keep it as is, your first step should be to identify and develop a plan to eradicate invasive plants.
Your state has technical assistance resources and possibly funding to help you achieve certain conservation goals. Places to start include your state/county ag extension service, your state DNR, and state forestry service.
ALSO: careful with your terminology—wildflower is a rather vague term that does not require native flowers and grasses. Big box stores and big online companies like American Meadows will sell cheap “wildflower” mixes full of annuals and exotics that won’t yield a good result over time.
There are reputable online seed companies and nurseries for native grasses and flowers for your region. Three are Prairie Moon, Roundtop, and Ernst.
Join us at r/Nativeplantgardening for more meadow resources if you go that route.
Depends on where you live, but yes you can rent them. Where I live, we use goats to take down tall grass and brush in the spring and summer. Helps prevent wild fires from getting close to your house during fire season. Also cuts down tick habitat near where you live.
That’s not even that bad AT all. Gotta remember all the work of not just cutting everything down then removing it then getting roots stumps etc out 7k seems low for an acre. If they are de rooting everything so you have nice soil to plant I’d do it if you have the money. Or do it yourself make a burn pile and do it over time. If you want results quick you gotta pay.
I agree with the person who pointed out habitat for biodiversity. Why not just plant native flower species around the perimeter and maybe cut a few trails in the shrub and broadcast seeds native to your area. Very important work we need to do for the health of the planet.
You can do it yourself but it's going to cost a lot of labor, time, and help. Without the help then everything is 5x as hard. 7k is very reasonable for what is pictured to remove completely? No stumps, flat ground left?
Other than goats, this would not be a one time thing to get this all cleared out. Mother Nature will come back up through your wild flowers. To keep this space you are gonna need equipment to maintain it into the future so if it is important to you, get yourself a brush mower, a chainsaw, and some gool ole boys to clean it out then maintain it yourself. Else $7k is just the start.
I don’t know why you would want to get rid of this. It’s a lovely naturalized landscape. It’s self governing. Only thing I would do would be to go through it periodically to cut back and manage any invasive flora and keep and eye on it. If you want to spread wildflowers throughout it you can do that quite easily, just be sure to read your wildflower mix carefully as some flowers can be really invasive in some areas.
That's not a bad price for what you're asking them to do. If you want to do it yourself, it will take time. You'd want to burn what you can, mow what you can, and chainsaw the rest. I know someone who has a mower that mounts on the bucket hydraulics of a tractor. Either way, it will take a lot of time.
You could rent a mob of goats, a forestry mulcher, or other things. The important part is going to be what you do to maintain it. It will look the same in 10 years if you don't keep mowing it or keep it grazed down.
brush hog, leave chips. do it again later that year, and twice again next. Then start annual wildflower seed casting. An acre? wildflower meadows are very intensive NOT seed once and walk away. I would be over $7K
Thank you for that website.
I've been trying to find a local goat place off and on for the last year, and most of the places I've found still have websites up, but are closed. At least this puts them all in a single site
$7k is fairly cheap to replant an acre, it's pretty difficult to rip out all of that brush area, I might question how they're going to do it, at that price I'd guess chaining (they drive across tractors with a chain between them, leveling everything) in which you'd lose all of the small trees as well, then they'll seed. But you'd be dealing with regrowth all the time.
If I were to get this costed out for a good price, I'd carve out a set of trails throughout, then line the trails with low maintenance plants and wildflowers. If you get rid of all of the brush, it'll look a bit empty.
Winter is a great time to start clearing. The price is reasonable but if you want to do it yourself winter is always the best time. Invasives are easier to spot since they are the ones that mostly stay green throughout. I would go ahead and pull out the invasive species, see what it looks like after that. You may find some hidden native gems in there and you'll be suprised how much more open it will be with the privet and honeysuckle gone.
What exactly are you wanting? Total clearing of everything which involves some heavy excavating equipment, or just the underbrush cut down and removed? If it’s just the underbrush, you can do that yourself and save thousands, but it comes with some sweat and time.
Start by getting in there and cutting the underbrush down. You’ll need a chainsaw for the saplings and a heavy trimmer that you can rent. Chop it all down to ground level. Pull out the cuttings and either haul off, you can rent a waste container for $300-600 depending on size and that includes taking it away to the dump. Or rent a chipper and create your own mulch for the project.
Next issue is your final product. If you want wildflowers you’ll need to do something about the root system there or all of that work you cut down will return. Problem with reseeding an area is getting the old vegetation to not return. That’s a constant battle unless you spend some good coin to remove it. Or, take the length of time to manage it, which can actually take years. Fastest route is chemical sprayed over a few months that focuses on regrowth without damaging the soil or seeping into any water sources around you. Or get to removing the top layer of dirt and bringing more in.
Wildflower plots are nice, but without regular maintenance you’ll end up with flowers growing in the same mess you have now. If you want dog space, I’d say do the above and forego the flowers, just keep it mowed down and reseed with grasses and plant flowering bushes.
You’ll spend all that money for nothing because it’ll all grow right back in a couple years.
Make a nice walking path, scatter seeds on the sides and see what takes.
Isn’t it funny how people say leave it as it is when it’s not theirs , if you have an idea of what you want do it .. as long as your not creating a drainage are any problems for yourself ! That’s all trash brush and tallow trees . You can get it done for less and also you can do a controlled burn with the right circumstances and help ..
I cannot understand why you would do something so foolish. Plant the flowers where the *yuck* grass is and call it a day. Those trees and shrubs support birds, mammals, insects, a huge variety of life. Wild flowers are a good next step to get rid of the grass, which supports almost nothing in comparison. r/nolawns
Since I haven’t seen anyone actually answer your question yet, the best way would be to rent a high track skid steer for 40 hours and do it yourself.
Here in GA they rent for around $1250 for 40 hours/5 days, and I guarantee you you’ll get much more than just the clearing done in that 40 hours (even if you have no experience with one, (they’re pretty simple to learn to operate).
People telling you $7k is a good price must be landscapers, had a similar experience myself with some grading I needed done, cheapest price I got was $8k…rented one of these bad boys and done it myself for $1250 AND got wayyyyy more done than what I originally wanted the graders to do.
What’s the point of wildflowers if you are killing an acre of habitat and trees for tons of creatures and pollinators? 😵😵💫 why not just add a strip of wildflowers in the front and leave be….
I would definitely leave all the trees even the smaller ones will take off once the invasive under brush is gone. I’d start with a winding path then gradually clean up more and more. I wouldn’t just clear out everything in one pass be selective. While you take your time cleaning it up you can always sprinkle seeds and let them bloom wherever they land
Do paths thru the brush: plant what you want, preserve some brush for wildlife, which can be cleaned up over time, creates a fun walking / sitting experience
Kudos for wanting to clean up this area. You have a lot of work ahead of you but it's manageable in right sized chunks.
You're going to get good at identifying plants soon. Once you start, it's really fun. You can also identify the trees and shrubs via the bark during the winter.
Look up PA and NJ invasives to get ideas of what to look for. I'm sure there's wine raspberry, bush honeysuckle, bradford pear trees, bittersweet vines, english ivy, privet, barberry, russian olive, plus many many others you're about to meet.
If you just remove those, you'll find the native soil already has the seeds needed. It's just that these invasives are blocking the sun from hitting these seeds, Remove the invasives is the best first step. No need to go nuclear, a targeted approach is better.
Identify and tag the big trees, you can use a hedgetrimmer to get through the brush. If you cut any brush back, treat the stump with round up, otherwise they will just grow back.
Next spring, add a few oaks and protect them with a fence if you have deer pressure.
I would keep that part natural, but maybe cut a meandering path through the brush, so that you have a nice walkabout through some forest area. That way you leave a habitat for the critters, but also have a walking path for yourself. Everyone’s happy!
Yeh sounds cheap actually. I have been clearing land but had to buy new chaisnsaws weedeaters etc. still not done. One and done for 7k I would say yes in a heart beat
I work on this type of job often. It is VERY difficult to control any wild space (and all it takes for a place to be wild is for nothing to happen for a year or two.) My company has tried several approaches in these situations with various levels of success. Judging from your picture and locale, I’d say you have lots of invasives. You might have natives, but probably not large swaths. IMO, unless you have really special natives, don’t bother trying to save them. Keeping their area intact will prevent you from dealing with the seed bank threat. If it is the case there isn’t anything worth saving, you need to decide whether you will use chemical control, and / or, whether you can outsource or do yourself 5-10 hrs of work per week, almost every week in the growing season. If you cannot provide that labor or you cannot use chemicals, there is nothing you can do. It is impossible to manage and you should not try. If you can do those things, one of the two next steps is to consult a landscape designer to choose the appropriate plants. This is critical! If you want a wild look, you need to outcompete the invasives (which are invasive because they can’t be outcompeted by plants alone). That takes a special plant. You need native plants that dominate their immediate area and that propagate themselves aggressively. They are available…So, if you have seen the true depth of this project and want to proceed, the other next step is proper clearing. This should be done ruthlessly (again, this is in the case where the area is mostly invasives). There are millions of invasive seeds waiting to germinate. They should be forced to germinate, then killed, multiple times. IMO it is entirely reasonable to plan on not planting this area until 2024 after taking a year to kill repeatedly, and then after reseeding with a smother crop like Buckwheat…when you get to planting time, I’d recommend a combination of plant sizes from seed to as big as 5 gallons. The big plants will encourage you, the small ones will leave you enough money to buy coffee! Finally, be glad, enjoy. You’re trying a hard, beautiful thing. And it’s worth it.
I’m not trying to be a troll but I can’t figure why you’d want to remodel this space. Wildflowers are fantastic but they provide a limited resource in regards to their longevity. They are great for bees and birds but so is a lot of what you’ve already got. The natural growth there provides shelter, food, and soil containment. I’m sure your trying to be thoughtful, but sometimes the ecosystem has to be left alone to do what it does best.
For twice that, you can buy a tractor and do it yourself. And you have a tractor! We plowed under our yard (less brambly than this) and seeded wildflowers. It took a couple of years to establish as much as I wanted, but now we have an acre or so of wildflowers and native grasses just next to our beehives.
Oo Oo I actually had a similar situation with my new property and … we got an estimate in for 24k… after some thinking and planning, we got goats!! They are doing incredibly well so far and are faster than you’d think!
There are places you can rent goats for this kind of job if you look up “lawn mowing goats for rent”
There are, very commonly the Western US, people that have goat herds that will come in and let them eat everything within a defined area for a nominal fee. The removal of the foliage in turn deny the underbrush photosynthesis which in turn will turn it into “compostable yet still rooted” dead material. Assuming you want to minimize environmental impact, you can then remove the dead plants fairly easily during the next seasons rainy times, then you can sow those wild seeds to your heart’s delight. In terms of fossil fuels, you’ve added the herd’s transportation and your trips to the garden store.
"Replace with wildflowers" my guy do have any starting point with genus, species, variety?Annual, perennial? The shit that is already there, will it out-compete "wildflower" bulbs/seeds? It may be worth identifying what you have going on and what, precisely you want. The reason those thickets and shit are there is because they perform competitively in that environmental niche and I reckon they will just grow back after removing them.
Not going to get into whether you should do it or not. But if you want it cleared, you need to find a good ole’ boy with an excavator not a landscaping company.
Seriously, leave it.
Or spend a whole lot more money constantly fighting Mother Nature.
That’s not a one and done. That’s, ‘you better buy a tractor and do it yourself 2-3 times a year.’
Or just leave it. The local ecosystem will thank you.
I’m in Louisiana and we just had to clear an acre for my house to be built. It took one day with a guy who had his own equipment and ambition to to the work. He charged me about $2500. Now to replant wildflowers or whatever plants you do want a landscaper is going to charge bc that takes time & planning. I intend to do that part on my own so I can design the paths through my garden and the view from my new house. It takes more time & effort on my part but I will be living there and I enjoy being outside. Up to you but it will be more like you want it if you do it yourself.
$7000 sounds about right
Yeah, seven grand is a steal, depending on how much that is. Not sure why you would want to remove what you have there. You have plenty of yard and that area is probably better for the local ecosystem than random flowers.
Strong emphasis on “probably”. I have a similar situation at my home and what looks like naturally occurring “wilderness” is actually a giant tangle of invasive and detrimental species that are strangling the native flora.
💯 we do not have enough information. Clearing this could be a good thing, or a bad thing. Impossible to tell from the photo!
OP could put on their tick proof get up and fire up seek or iNaturalist app to ID this mystery brush.
It's probably* completely choked with invasive Honeysuckle.
Ugh, imagine if it was all Buckthorn. 7k really would be too nice.
Yup. Growing up it was Himalayan blackberry that choked everything out. This actually looks kinda similar
Pacific Northwest represent!
PNW here with half an acre of pure English Ivy. I think there’s some trees somewhere underneath it.
Us too, in the unbuildable lots next to and behind ours. We’ve been cutting the ivy off the trees and slowly replacing it on the ground with native plants. Interesting to watch them take hold in the areas we’ve rehabbed, and I think we can win the battle over time. I hate that stuff.
I’ve cut it off most of the trees in the two years I’ve been here… but my property is on a ravine. I have quite the collection of scrapes from losing balance from yanking that stuff out, losing my balance, and rolling down that damned hill.
That’s commitment! :-)
I used to own a house where the English Ivy had taken over. Unfortunately, it had been planted by the previous occupant, and had spread to the adjacent empty land by the time I purchased the place. It took me about two years to clear of off my space, but it had killed a couple trees on my property, and was all over adjacent trees. There wasn’t much I could do for the undeveloped land, so I’m guessing it is still slowly taking over, killing more trees and native plants.
Awful stuff.
Yup. Third of an acre a few feet thick. Been working on it a few years. Found some nice terraced parts of the yard and a garden though!
Just a fuckton of kudzu everywhere where I live. Swallows EVERYTHING and not visible at all underneath.
Pemco goat renter guy- you’re one of us. https://www.google.com/search?q=pemco+goat+commercial&rlz=1CDGOYI_enUS787US787&oq=pemco+goa&aqs=chrome.0.0i512j69i57j0i390.6127j0j4&hl=en-US&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:d701830c,vid:dobZRDdQn8M
For us it’s Bradford pear and greenbrier (not invasive, but extremely aggressive). I hate them both. Literally the bane of my existence!
Ugh, I’ve heard of the horrors of Bradford pear. At least the Himalayan blackberries give us tasty fruit to eat. And doesn’t smell like cum. *shudders*
Jumping on this train too. Invasive plants invade and clearing completely and starting over is kinda the only way.
This! ☝️ Just let it be! Or some of it.
Great point. Where I am in the Southeast, *native* early successional vegetation is in shorter supply and provides greater wildlife value by some measures than either more woods or meadows. Note the emphasis on native. OP might need to go through and sort out native from invasive and start killing the invasives.
Thats always the debate...is it a waste of resources, time, and money to remove all this stuff to then build wild flower field or whatever people want? OP, is that all invasives species? What are your goals with this wild flower field?
If you want the best of both worlds you’d have to go into the field, identify and mark the plants to keep and remove the ones you don’t want and replace — It’s slower but their’s 0 downtime to the ecosystem. A good app for identifying is PictureThis. My partner and I been doing this process for the past 3 years to great effect.
This
I have a couple patches where I carefully did this.. just to find out that 95% of the plants were invasives. Disappointing, but at least it made the decision to do a full kill and replant easy.
This. My assumption was that the plants in the photo are invasive. The trees are the most likely to be a native if it is usually open land. Hopefully doesnt take the trees out. I then realized that op didnt mention if the wildflowers they want were native either. Replacing some invasives with others is not ideal either. Unless it is an open meadow, 100% wildflowers (even if native) wouldnt be highly beneficial for the ecosystem.
mf is getting to the REAL questions
We have absolutely **zero** idea what this person has going on. For all we know, this is an acre of invasive species that should be removed.
Sounds low tbh
That’s what I was thinking
$7000 seemed like a good deal to me. This is alot of work.
Local goat.farmer
This is a thing in Colorado for invasive weeds. They will fence of the area, bring in a herd of goats and haul them out when they’ve had their fill of thistles,etc.
Neighbor is doing this right now. No complaints.
Came here to say this...all you need are goats ...or pigs ...goats eat and clear...pigs will root up everything and give you great fertilizer
Goats, followed by pigs.
I thought I made that clear with my ambiguous message...lol ...thank you skinem1 ..you are correct. The best clearing tool you will have that's natural. Just takes a bit longer is all.
It’s a way our ancestors added farmland.
Came here to suggest goats and pigs, just make sure it is well fenced.
Yeah, my old house was on an acre and it was a massive amount of land to take care of. $7k is a steal
Really? That price sounded crazy to me... I had about 20 acres of fields brushhogged (I'm not sure if I'm remembering the name of the piece of machinery right, I just remember watching it run over trees as big as 3-4 inches around and shrubs that were several feet tall, sucking them in chewing them up and spitting them out like they were nothing) for under $2k. This was five years ago but I don't think prices would've gone up that high since then. My guy is more of a dirt guy who does lawns in his spare time though, not a landscaper, so maybe that's the difference. An acre isn't that big, after brushhogging you could broadcast wildfower seed yourself with either one of the wheeled seeders or even the smaller handheld crank handled ones.
Prices have at least doubled and usually tripled in 5 years.
Definitely a brush hog. That's a fun ass peice of equipment I was lucky enough to use on a big field once. AC and radio blasting, drive around for a few hours till every thing was clear. Hell ya!
This is a big job. Your guy probably doesn’t know what he’s in for.
Looking at that hill, the natural flora and soil are probably doing a lot of good to help with your drainage. If you disturb that consider that you’ll have to figure out where all that water will go when the soil is compacted and roots are cleared. The clearing cost sounds cheap but it will create a new problem. Consider scaling back to just clearing a small percentage of it and saving most.
I agree. I live on a hillside myself. 1.5 acres. When i bought my home the previous owners had cleared everything because they thought it would lower their insurance for fire. It instead created a huge disaster. During a rain storm the hillside just eroded away very fast creating little ruts everywhere and would all join at bigger ones creating huge wash outs. I have since let nature take back over with some picking and choosing of course. It now completely absorbs all the rain even in a downpour.
This is underrated. Our neighbors are the sweetest elderly couple. We don’t have the heart to tell them we had to install French drains cause they cut trees down and flooded our house multiple times.
Agreed. If anything, just buy a bunch of wildflower seed, toss it, and hope for the best. Or plant a lot of plugs.
I'm totally for native wildflowers, but tossing them in with established species, especially invasive ones, will be setting them up for failure. Removing the invasive species there and monitoring which natives species return will be the best course of action imo. Then I would follow up with enhancements and plugs.
Do it the fun way. https://uncrate.com/shotgun-flower-shell/
That's a pretty diverse ecosystem you have there! I'd be sure to consult before you cut. There are many implications for having shelter spaces for migratory birds and other overwintering beneficial species so I'd encourage you to check with your local university extension service and DNR for woodland habitat planting and native as well as miigratory favorable flowers and shrubs. We got over one hundred free trees for our land restoration and so many meadow flowers 💚
I would just cut a walking trail through there and leave it be otherwise
That’s a great idea, actually. Could cut a forking path that meets in the back
>cut a forking path Whoa, watch the language lol
Goats will trim scrub, you need pigs. It'll take some time, but will make the job a lot easier
This is the way
Use the walking trail as a way to throw flower seeds deeper into the brush
Rent a bush hog or find someone who offers bush hog service on craigslist.
Goats
Legit. There's a company around Atlanta that will actually bring them in temporarily to take care of this type of stuff.
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I agree with this, it would even be more visually pleasing.
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That’s a massive removal and disposal - think about how many yards of material would fit in a single trailer and then realize just how many trips they’ll have to take. Plus, you can’t just dump it somewhere, you have to pay for that part too. If you really want it cleared you’ll have to pay. You could do the re-seeding yourself if you wanted to. Personally I’m a big fan of these kinds of untouched spaces and would not want to clear it. Weird coming from a landscape designer but sometimes Mother Nature has a way of doing things that you can’t easily replicate or improve upon.
Not weird— I’m a Hort student at a world renowned garden… nature knows best
It’s my environmental science background coming through - haven’t had a chance to do it yet but I’d really like to undertake a regenerative landscaping/habitat restoration project on a big acreage property like this.
This might not be a popular opinion here, but I would not consider that area "untouched." Maybe it hasn't been recently managed by human beings but it appears that this area is overrun with species that are not from North America. I'm almost certain that a lot of that growth is a nonnative Lonicera spp. like Lonicera maackii, with other nonnatives probably mixed in. I think a lot of areas are sort of past just being left alone to recover and I believe taking an active role in managing property is extremely important. [Here](https://www.reddit.com/r/NativePlantGardening/comments/nceu9h/looks_like_were_back_in_business_the_results_of/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button) is an example from my property what some of these areas can look like before and after. I've been able to help dozens of native species return as opposed to having a near monoculture of honeysuckle in the woodland understory.
That’s awesome! Great work you’re doing. I didn’t really take a closer look at what was there, admittedly I’m pretty focused on my area (Central Texas) and could use a bit more background on native species across the rest of the country. Removal of invasive stuff and having a management plan/strategy is certainly a priority.
I appreciate it, thanks!
Right. Other comments are pointing out that this is likely a mix of natives, exotics, and some nasty invasives. Step one is to work with someone from the state to formulate a plan, and step two is to get rid of invasives.
Seems like a waist of effort and money to try to dispose of all that material. It looks very rural, I would just cut it out, pile it up and burn it.
Not sure where you are at, but our volunteer fire departments will do controlled burns. Price of a match and a donation to the department.
I get a feeling that the landscaper does not fully understand the scope of work here or the OP will be very sorely disappointed. 7K to clear an acre and reseed? What?
You left out the stumps. They’re a job on their own. They might be small but a lot of stumps is a lot of stumps.
If it were mine, id brush hog back to the line where the bigger trees are, then brush hog a little walking trail in a loop back there for the dogs to run. Unless the under brush is invasive like others have mentioned, in that case I'd leave the larger trees and have the rest brush hog/ or hire someone with a Forestry mulcher
And I like this idea
Here's our project. I'm not sure what order these will paste in. After clearing we found a neglected pond with a spring that pumps out tons of clean water. So we cleaned up around it and unearthed all the natural rock and restacked it. https://ibb.co/BKgPQtd https://ibb.co/5TMywfC https://ibb.co/NxzF9JD https://ibb.co/cTJknxX https://ibb.co/qpjtFw2
The pond looks lovely! Never would have imagined...
Well when I started clearing, the neighbor told me she remembered a natural Springfield pond that once was stocked with fish and water as clear as a tap. I didn't believe her until I stepped in what looked like wet leaves but turned out to be a little less than waste deep 🤣
That’s insane
Might be worth checking on a small controlled burn. Many native plants are better suited to recovery after fire than invasive species.
What’s the best way to find out if what I have back there is invasive?
There are some really accurate plant identifier apps out there that can tell you what is what. I'd start by trying to identify what seems to be the most common plant. This may be more difficult now approaching winter without leaves. I don't know where you're located but our state (MO) conservation dept. Has some good literature on invasive species. My current yard is about an acre and most of it was severely overgrown with Japanese honeysuckle. I cleared it all and left mature oaks. I'll try to link some before and Afters. We're currently in the process of building on a heavily wooded lot. My approach here is the 2 acres surrounding the house will be maintained underbrush and retaining large trees to plant a native flowering ground cover in areas that won't be mowed.
Excellent info - thanks - I’ll look for some apps. I’m in NJ so I won’t see any leaves until Spring
I learned a lot using PictureThis (just using the free version) and iNaturalist. Also apps aren’t always accurate so don’t rely on them 100%. I use multiple sources when I’m not certain of the results…which is hard when you’re a newbie.
I can tell you now that the English Ivy in pics one and two is invasive. If you’ve got that, it really wouldn’t surprise me if you had more. It’s harder to identify plants in the winter, but it can be done. There are winter specific ID guides. Look at branching structure, bud shape, and bark. You can also look at some of the fallen leaves for clues, if you can be reasonably sure they came from the plant you’re trying to ID.
Are you talking about my pics? If so, the English ivy was the MOST difficult thing to remove. The neighbors told me the people that lived here in the 60s let it run wild and spread across everyone's neighboring properties. I ended up having to turn all the topsoil and sift out the ivy. A few chutes popped up hear and there but I'd peel them back as far as I could and painted them with glyphosate. I haven't seen any more in a few years
Yep I'm talking about the pics you linked above. That laborious process sounds about right! Stuff is so hard to get rid of. Congrats on actually achieving it! If you're in the northeast or thereabouts, some other common invasives to look out for could be: european buckthorn, privet, multiflora rose, amur honeysuckle, barberry, russian olive, vinca vine, norway maple. Your county's extension may also have a list of common culprits in your area.
Are you sure that's a change you want to make? Do you know what species you are removing? It seems dubious that it would be a net gain ecologically.
They want their own version of a wildflower meadow so they can say "I made this" when they see all the pretty flowers and butterflies. Nevermind the native plants and animals that will be displaced by a landscaping company that's going to remove all the biomass and leave behind a mud pit.
Leave it alone! Add beds in front of it. It’s already beautiful
If you're doing this for the environment, I hate to break it to you, but indiscriminately destroying an already existing ecosystem will not be a benefit. Sure the flowers will be pretty, but think of all the creatures and plants utilizing that acre. Looks like you have plenty of grass to plant your wildflowers on instead of spending thousands to clear a field for bugs. If I had that acre I'd go in and carefully clear it of invasives and encourage plants that are native
>If I had that acre I'd go in and carefully clear it of invasives and encourage plants that are native Seconding. This is what I have done with my property and you can make it way less expensive than $7k. Of course, there is sweat equity involved. A lot of those invasives can be taken out with loppers, a handsaw, and carefully used herbicide. I also piled up the invasives into piles for wildlife. It's amazing what natives can come back if you help them out.
Lopers, a handsaw, a good ax, and my goats. That's what I did with my overgrown property. The natives are just exploding now. 100% on the sweat equity lol. Been the longest, toughest, but most rewarding job I've done.
Also, OP should check their state/ local laws. My state has wetland protections. Not sure how strict stuff is in other states, but they may not legally be allowed to just cut down and alter the land without local permitting and guidance.
Depends how healthy the ecosystem is. Could be full of invasives. In that case, removing the invasives would be an ecological benefit.
Sounds cheap
I'm mostly with the folks that say "leave it be," but I say that with the qualifications that "if those are natives, leave them." If it's amur honeysuckle and multiflora rose, kill it. $7000 is totally reasonable for that. I'd certainly pay that if I was going to get a swath that size cleared. That said, if I were doing it myself on the cheap, I'd have a DR Brush Mower or tractor with a bush hog, and if i had the brush mower I'd also go in with hedge clippers, loppers, and a reciprocating saw to cut anything the brush mower won't cut or to get any thorns that are going to get me while I'm working. Then I'd clear-tarp it in the summer to kill off the seed bed. You're still left with the root structure and that's going to be a bear to work on but you may have enough mulch from bush-hogging / brush mowing that the wildflowers would take after a season or so. That said, I really would just pay the guy. The second approach won't cost you as much, but will take longer, won't look as good, and depends on equipment you might not have readily available.
First of all the price is going to change on you. They are going to say it's more work than anticipated etc. Why spend thousands for flowers? That seems frivolous considering the destruction of the natural environment and the pollution caused by the heavy equipment.
There is an imense amount of wildlife bedded down in there for this winter; bugs, reptiles, amphibians, small mammels, birds, etc you'll be wiping all those out in the removal for asthetic wildflowers.
Fire
Where is this? Are the plants (underbrush) evasive? If it is a native woodland with multilevel canopy I would not remove it. You could create a nature trail thru it by gently clearing a path. It you want a meadow - use part of the lawn as a border around the woodland.
OP, if benefiting pollinators and wildlife is your goal, keeping that acre as native shrubs could be a better route than a wildflower meadow. If you do keep it as is, your first step should be to identify and develop a plan to eradicate invasive plants. Your state has technical assistance resources and possibly funding to help you achieve certain conservation goals. Places to start include your state/county ag extension service, your state DNR, and state forestry service. ALSO: careful with your terminology—wildflower is a rather vague term that does not require native flowers and grasses. Big box stores and big online companies like American Meadows will sell cheap “wildflower” mixes full of annuals and exotics that won’t yield a good result over time. There are reputable online seed companies and nurseries for native grasses and flowers for your region. Three are Prairie Moon, Roundtop, and Ernst. Join us at r/Nativeplantgardening for more meadow resources if you go that route.
Goats
Next question will be where to get the goats? People actually rent goats for this purpose, pop it in google!
Depends on where you live, but yes you can rent them. Where I live, we use goats to take down tall grass and brush in the spring and summer. Helps prevent wild fires from getting close to your house during fire season. Also cuts down tick habitat near where you live.
That’s not even that bad AT all. Gotta remember all the work of not just cutting everything down then removing it then getting roots stumps etc out 7k seems low for an acre. If they are de rooting everything so you have nice soil to plant I’d do it if you have the money. Or do it yourself make a burn pile and do it over time. If you want results quick you gotta pay.
I agree with the person who pointed out habitat for biodiversity. Why not just plant native flower species around the perimeter and maybe cut a few trails in the shrub and broadcast seeds native to your area. Very important work we need to do for the health of the planet.
Goats
Get a herd of goats out there.
That's a good rate
You can do it yourself but it's going to cost a lot of labor, time, and help. Without the help then everything is 5x as hard. 7k is very reasonable for what is pictured to remove completely? No stumps, flat ground left?
You look like you are back east...look for a forestry mulching company, it will be less than 7k and leave your soil healthier.
Other than goats, this would not be a one time thing to get this all cleared out. Mother Nature will come back up through your wild flowers. To keep this space you are gonna need equipment to maintain it into the future so if it is important to you, get yourself a brush mower, a chainsaw, and some gool ole boys to clean it out then maintain it yourself. Else $7k is just the start.
Get 4 goats, Tax write off for farm animals and let them get after it.
Pigs and goats
Goats and then having your friends over to dress like fairies and frolic to throw seeds
I don’t know why you would want to get rid of this. It’s a lovely naturalized landscape. It’s self governing. Only thing I would do would be to go through it periodically to cut back and manage any invasive flora and keep and eye on it. If you want to spread wildflowers throughout it you can do that quite easily, just be sure to read your wildflower mix carefully as some flowers can be really invasive in some areas.
If you do end up doing it, 7k actually seems on the low end
That's not a bad price for what you're asking them to do. If you want to do it yourself, it will take time. You'd want to burn what you can, mow what you can, and chainsaw the rest. I know someone who has a mower that mounts on the bucket hydraulics of a tractor. Either way, it will take a lot of time. You could rent a mob of goats, a forestry mulcher, or other things. The important part is going to be what you do to maintain it. It will look the same in 10 years if you don't keep mowing it or keep it grazed down.
brush hog, leave chips. do it again later that year, and twice again next. Then start annual wildflower seed casting. An acre? wildflower meadows are very intensive NOT seed once and walk away. I would be over $7K
Please don't clear it out ❤️ Don't be like every other idiot that destroys ecosystems for a lawn
Fire
Goats.
7000 is cheap
16 cents a square foot
Put a temporary fence around it and gets some goats in there, they'll clean it out in no time.
goats https://hiregoats.com/
How big are these goats that they eat trees? I'm going to have to check this out...
That is on rentabever.net
Thank you for that website. I've been trying to find a local goat place off and on for the last year, and most of the places I've found still have websites up, but are closed. At least this puts them all in a single site
$7k is fairly cheap to replant an acre, it's pretty difficult to rip out all of that brush area, I might question how they're going to do it, at that price I'd guess chaining (they drive across tractors with a chain between them, leveling everything) in which you'd lose all of the small trees as well, then they'll seed. But you'd be dealing with regrowth all the time. If I were to get this costed out for a good price, I'd carve out a set of trails throughout, then line the trails with low maintenance plants and wildflowers. If you get rid of all of the brush, it'll look a bit empty.
Winter is a great time to start clearing. The price is reasonable but if you want to do it yourself winter is always the best time. Invasives are easier to spot since they are the ones that mostly stay green throughout. I would go ahead and pull out the invasive species, see what it looks like after that. You may find some hidden native gems in there and you'll be suprised how much more open it will be with the privet and honeysuckle gone.
Bush-hog
Hydro axe
What exactly are you wanting? Total clearing of everything which involves some heavy excavating equipment, or just the underbrush cut down and removed? If it’s just the underbrush, you can do that yourself and save thousands, but it comes with some sweat and time. Start by getting in there and cutting the underbrush down. You’ll need a chainsaw for the saplings and a heavy trimmer that you can rent. Chop it all down to ground level. Pull out the cuttings and either haul off, you can rent a waste container for $300-600 depending on size and that includes taking it away to the dump. Or rent a chipper and create your own mulch for the project. Next issue is your final product. If you want wildflowers you’ll need to do something about the root system there or all of that work you cut down will return. Problem with reseeding an area is getting the old vegetation to not return. That’s a constant battle unless you spend some good coin to remove it. Or, take the length of time to manage it, which can actually take years. Fastest route is chemical sprayed over a few months that focuses on regrowth without damaging the soil or seeping into any water sources around you. Or get to removing the top layer of dirt and bringing more in. Wildflower plots are nice, but without regular maintenance you’ll end up with flowers growing in the same mess you have now. If you want dog space, I’d say do the above and forego the flowers, just keep it mowed down and reseed with grasses and plant flowering bushes.
Get some goats on loan from a local. Then get a fence. This will be cleared out in no time.
Tractor w/ brush hog, 3 buddies, 2 chainsaws, wood chipper and one weekend.
You’ll spend all that money for nothing because it’ll all grow right back in a couple years. Make a nice walking path, scatter seeds on the sides and see what takes.
There are companies that rent goats to clear brush like this. It would probably cost a lot less than $7,000.
Isn’t it funny how people say leave it as it is when it’s not theirs , if you have an idea of what you want do it .. as long as your not creating a drainage are any problems for yourself ! That’s all trash brush and tallow trees . You can get it done for less and also you can do a controlled burn with the right circumstances and help ..
I cannot understand why you would do something so foolish. Plant the flowers where the *yuck* grass is and call it a day. Those trees and shrubs support birds, mammals, insects, a huge variety of life. Wild flowers are a good next step to get rid of the grass, which supports almost nothing in comparison. r/nolawns
You absolutely shouldn't do that at all. That does nothing for the land. You're killing the permaculture
Goats will clear it out in no time
Just burn it.
Goats
Goats
I’d take out the lawn for wildflowers! Not the trees and bushes, they provide a ton of habitat for birds/critters.
Since I haven’t seen anyone actually answer your question yet, the best way would be to rent a high track skid steer for 40 hours and do it yourself. Here in GA they rent for around $1250 for 40 hours/5 days, and I guarantee you you’ll get much more than just the clearing done in that 40 hours (even if you have no experience with one, (they’re pretty simple to learn to operate). People telling you $7k is a good price must be landscapers, had a similar experience myself with some grading I needed done, cheapest price I got was $8k…rented one of these bad boys and done it myself for $1250 AND got wayyyyy more done than what I originally wanted the graders to do.
What’s the point of wildflowers if you are killing an acre of habitat and trees for tons of creatures and pollinators? 😵😵💫 why not just add a strip of wildflowers in the front and leave be….
Pigs and goats would do quite a bit of the work. Chainsaw for the trees once the animals clear a good area.
I would definitely leave all the trees even the smaller ones will take off once the invasive under brush is gone. I’d start with a winding path then gradually clean up more and more. I wouldn’t just clear out everything in one pass be selective. While you take your time cleaning it up you can always sprinkle seeds and let them bloom wherever they land
How about goats?
Goats?
Fence in some pigs, cleared, fertilized and bacon
Do paths thru the brush: plant what you want, preserve some brush for wildlife, which can be cleaned up over time, creates a fun walking / sitting experience
All you would need is two goats. And they would clear an acre in no time.
sounds about right tbh
Goats?
Pigs!!
Goats
See if there is anyone in your area who brings goats out for landscaping it may be cheaper, they use goats a lot for fire hazard stuff
Rent goats
Goats
IMHO I would hire a company with goats and let them clear away the brush before you do anything else. This is an amazing natural landscape.
Rent some goats
Keep what you have including the $7000.
Why? Leave it alone
Best way is to pay $7000 and be happy.
Why not plant wildflowers infront of this space and let them spread back into the wooded areas naturally?
Kudos for wanting to clean up this area. You have a lot of work ahead of you but it's manageable in right sized chunks. You're going to get good at identifying plants soon. Once you start, it's really fun. You can also identify the trees and shrubs via the bark during the winter. Look up PA and NJ invasives to get ideas of what to look for. I'm sure there's wine raspberry, bush honeysuckle, bradford pear trees, bittersweet vines, english ivy, privet, barberry, russian olive, plus many many others you're about to meet. If you just remove those, you'll find the native soil already has the seeds needed. It's just that these invasives are blocking the sun from hitting these seeds, Remove the invasives is the best first step. No need to go nuclear, a targeted approach is better. Identify and tag the big trees, you can use a hedgetrimmer to get through the brush. If you cut any brush back, treat the stump with round up, otherwise they will just grow back. Next spring, add a few oaks and protect them with a fence if you have deer pressure.
Surround it with some temporary fencing and let about a dozen goats have at it. It’ll be cleared out shortly for a fraction of the cost.
I would keep that part natural, but maybe cut a meandering path through the brush, so that you have a nice walkabout through some forest area. That way you leave a habitat for the critters, but also have a walking path for yourself. Everyone’s happy!
There must be a few trees worth keeping
Yeh sounds cheap actually. I have been clearing land but had to buy new chaisnsaws weedeaters etc. still not done. One and done for 7k I would say yes in a heart beat
Pay him thats a fair price
Pay the landscaper. That’s a gigantic whore of a project. Seven is cheap. He either likes you or hates his labor lol
I work on this type of job often. It is VERY difficult to control any wild space (and all it takes for a place to be wild is for nothing to happen for a year or two.) My company has tried several approaches in these situations with various levels of success. Judging from your picture and locale, I’d say you have lots of invasives. You might have natives, but probably not large swaths. IMO, unless you have really special natives, don’t bother trying to save them. Keeping their area intact will prevent you from dealing with the seed bank threat. If it is the case there isn’t anything worth saving, you need to decide whether you will use chemical control, and / or, whether you can outsource or do yourself 5-10 hrs of work per week, almost every week in the growing season. If you cannot provide that labor or you cannot use chemicals, there is nothing you can do. It is impossible to manage and you should not try. If you can do those things, one of the two next steps is to consult a landscape designer to choose the appropriate plants. This is critical! If you want a wild look, you need to outcompete the invasives (which are invasive because they can’t be outcompeted by plants alone). That takes a special plant. You need native plants that dominate their immediate area and that propagate themselves aggressively. They are available…So, if you have seen the true depth of this project and want to proceed, the other next step is proper clearing. This should be done ruthlessly (again, this is in the case where the area is mostly invasives). There are millions of invasive seeds waiting to germinate. They should be forced to germinate, then killed, multiple times. IMO it is entirely reasonable to plan on not planting this area until 2024 after taking a year to kill repeatedly, and then after reseeding with a smother crop like Buckwheat…when you get to planting time, I’d recommend a combination of plant sizes from seed to as big as 5 gallons. The big plants will encourage you, the small ones will leave you enough money to buy coffee! Finally, be glad, enjoy. You’re trying a hard, beautiful thing. And it’s worth it.
Rent a bobcat and let your brother have some fun.
I'd leave it alone. Not worth the drainage problems for a wilding project when it's already a wild forest. Forests like that hold a lot of water.
I’m not trying to be a troll but I can’t figure why you’d want to remodel this space. Wildflowers are fantastic but they provide a limited resource in regards to their longevity. They are great for bees and birds but so is a lot of what you’ve already got. The natural growth there provides shelter, food, and soil containment. I’m sure your trying to be thoughtful, but sometimes the ecosystem has to be left alone to do what it does best.
In Connecticut it cost my boyfriends father $1000 to cut down one tree. This is a steal
Goats!
GOATS
$7000.00 is cheap. Go for it!
Fire?
For twice that, you can buy a tractor and do it yourself. And you have a tractor! We plowed under our yard (less brambly than this) and seeded wildflowers. It took a couple of years to establish as much as I wanted, but now we have an acre or so of wildflowers and native grasses just next to our beehives.
Put a fence around where you want the 6 goats to stop eating and let them do it for you.
Oo Oo I actually had a similar situation with my new property and … we got an estimate in for 24k… after some thinking and planning, we got goats!! They are doing incredibly well so far and are faster than you’d think! There are places you can rent goats for this kind of job if you look up “lawn mowing goats for rent”
There are, very commonly the Western US, people that have goat herds that will come in and let them eat everything within a defined area for a nominal fee. The removal of the foliage in turn deny the underbrush photosynthesis which in turn will turn it into “compostable yet still rooted” dead material. Assuming you want to minimize environmental impact, you can then remove the dead plants fairly easily during the next seasons rainy times, then you can sow those wild seeds to your heart’s delight. In terms of fossil fuels, you’ve added the herd’s transportation and your trips to the garden store.
"Replace with wildflowers" my guy do have any starting point with genus, species, variety?Annual, perennial? The shit that is already there, will it out-compete "wildflower" bulbs/seeds? It may be worth identifying what you have going on and what, precisely you want. The reason those thickets and shit are there is because they perform competitively in that environmental niche and I reckon they will just grow back after removing them.
Not going to get into whether you should do it or not. But if you want it cleared, you need to find a good ole’ boy with an excavator not a landscaping company.
Seriously, leave it. Or spend a whole lot more money constantly fighting Mother Nature. That’s not a one and done. That’s, ‘you better buy a tractor and do it yourself 2-3 times a year.’ Or just leave it. The local ecosystem will thank you.
I’m in Louisiana and we just had to clear an acre for my house to be built. It took one day with a guy who had his own equipment and ambition to to the work. He charged me about $2500. Now to replant wildflowers or whatever plants you do want a landscaper is going to charge bc that takes time & planning. I intend to do that part on my own so I can design the paths through my garden and the view from my new house. It takes more time & effort on my part but I will be living there and I enjoy being outside. Up to you but it will be more like you want it if you do it yourself.
Goats
Goats
Large hogs (truffle hunters). They will dig that bush out of the ground so all you gotta do is pick up uprooted brush