Brush Removal Crew

When we bought our house in 2012, the backyard was full shade.

Right behind the house is a steep hillside, which had three tall hemlock trees and a few other evergreens - all in various stages of dying. Once those were removed, the sudden full sun exposure caused an explosion of weeds. It's too steep/rocky to just keep mowed. I've tried various methods to keep it looking somewhat managed, including something that looks like a hedge trimmer on a long pole, and at other times ignoring the problem. Ignoring at least brought some now large-ish self-seeded redbud trees, but the rest of the slope continued to be a mix of thorns, tall weeds, invasives, and poison ivy. It also has a bad tendency to look fine, and then go completely out of control in a matter of days.

I got a few prices over the years for brush removal, most wanted a lot of money to cut it all down or spray everything. Then I found out we had a local company that used goats for brush removal. Much to my surprise, our otherwise fairly restrictive village has nothing against temporarily keeping livestock right in town. The price was almost half what anyone else wanted to do the job - and we get a yard full of goats!

The crew of 22 has been hard at work since yesterday evening, and there is nothing leafy remaining within six feet of the ground. They don't seem to be interested in the black raspberry canes themselves, but most everything else is gone. What is left looks a lot more managed, and will easily be removed with the tools I have. I think we'll have these guys back early next summer when everything explodes again.

At some point we should figure out what to plant back there to keep the weeds under control.