***Note*** Originally written in the Fall of 2023
The creation of the Dam road and the clearing on the ridge of the hill to hold a future outbuilding presented a natural island of trees maybe 30 feet across and 40 feet long. There is a depression in the middle of this grove and the tradesmen that built the house tossed some materials into this depression. I sprayed the area a few months back with a glysophate mix to kill out the briars and small trees. Most of the intended foliage has turned a crispy brown. The briars die but don’t disintegrate and they remain a tangled web.
Sprayed but no clearing. Lots of leaf mulch. Briars don’t photograph very well but can make a not so fun job even more not so fun.
Decided to break my effort into phases as I’m starting to recognize my age related limits. I have spent maybe a day’s work split out over two days doing manual clearing and have cleared maybe a sixth of the tree grove. Have decided to try to use the tractor blade to do the next segment. Hoping it can shear off the smallish trees and briar but know that some chainsaw work will still be necessary. Nice to have options. The plan is to push it all to the middle and hide any of the useable building materials behind my woodpile.
It’s a good start. One Old Guy in a day’s worth of manual labor. It still looks a mess as it is mostly dirt but I can see it being green grass (someday). The briars have to be gone before any long standing grass will be possible. One sixth of the way to completion.
