A Wall of Gnarly Brush
Formerly Hidden Boulders, Trees, Shrubs
Over the years, brush clearing has become a steady task on our property. Some of it has been for esthetic reasons to open up a space or to reveal a hidden specimen tree or shrub, or a boulder. Since this is semi-arid country, clearing brush from the house is good fire prevention. This year, I was fortunate to arrange a great barter with one of my therapeutic massage clients who owns a landscape company. He sends out a crew of 3 laborers for the day, along with their chipper-shredder machine and truck. They work real hard, much more than I could do in 3 days. In exchange, I give the landscape company owner 10 therapeutic massages, a therapeutic massage a week for 10 weeks; it’s a win for him, a win for me and the property. In their 3 visits, this year we have opened up an area 300 feet long and about 100 feet wide, that forms a distant crescent around the house, opening up spaces where “no man has walked before.”
Spaciously Situated Spa
Dog Yard Instead of Impenetrable Brush
In that space there now is a 3000 sq.ft. dog yard and the existing hot tub and surrounding lounge area has 100′ ring of space around it instead of a 12′ high wall of really ugly brush up close and personal. Several oak stands and giant boulders have been “liberated.”
Opened View Around the Spa
Whether I do the work myself or with a crew, the right brush clearing tools are a necessity. Pruning shears are great for cutting dead twigs. 18″-20″ loppers are good for cutting 1/2″ branches up to 2′ above your head. Extended or 30″ loppers help you cut 2″ branches up to 3′ above your head. Hedge trimmers are good for shaping a shrub or skirting a tree’s foliage to a straight line a few inches above your head so you can walk easily under the tree into its shade. An extended limb cutter is fantastic for cutting limbs higher up than you can reach for thinning out the tree or removing dead limbs fairly effortlessly. These brush clearing tools are usually available at home improvement stores or or garden or tractor shops. In this area I have found Corona brush clearing tools to be durable and reasonably priced. For anything above 1″-2″ diameter I use my Stihl chainsaw. When the brush starts to grow back and has tender shoots, I use my trusty Stihl string trimmer. Disposing of the cleared brush ia a comparable problem to clearing it. If the crew is here, no problem, they just shred it into the big truck and haul it off either to the county dump or compost it into mulch. In the early years being with this property I’ve torched it on a gray March morning – this might be the entire winter’s pile 25′ wide and 10′-15′ tall; it makes a scary blaze, so I don’t like to do that. Then I received a used TroyBilt homeowner portable chipper-shredder, a handy brush clearing machine; the best mulch from this brush clearing machine can be spread about 6″-8″ thick using a lawn rake and gives a pleasing cover to the revealed topsoil. A pitch fork is useful as a brush clearing tool for picking apart rodent nests that grow in the architecture of the oak stands. Other useful brush clearing tools include wheel barrows, handgloves, knee pads, protective eyewear, old clothes, and steel-toed shoes. An assortment of brush clearing tools need not be expensive, the hand tools from $5 to $40 tops, power tools $250 average, chipper-shredder machine a worthy $800 investment.
This may sound like hard work or a pricey hobby to many, but to myself and other property managing homeowners, it is “entertainment and exercise”! It’s why we live in the country. Ah, to see the sparkle of sunlight coming through the rich green leaves, silhouetted against the clear blue sky. The open spaces created are little parks. The mass of overgrowth is gone and the threat of brushfire minimized. Life is good in the country!
the sparkle of sunlight coming through the rich green leaves, silhouetted against the clear blue sky
Joe also helps people to minimize the amount of interest on their debts. He helps those not solvent and undergoing financial hardship with Loan Modification. He helps those who are solvent, with a Mortgage Payoff Acceleration and Debt Elimination System program, through which debts can be fully paid off in less than a third of the time, saving tons of interest.
Tags: Brush clearing, brush clearing machines, brush clearing tools, clearing brush, corona, debt elimination system, fire prevention, mortgage payoff acceleration, stihl, therapeutic massage, troybilt
Cool article. Sounds like you got a great place in the country.
Even though my house is just a mile and a half from downtown, it’s real close to the BLM lands, so it feels like we’re out in the country. additionally our house is located just 3.5 miles from a national park ( the Colorado National Monument ).
The web address above is slightly outdated. I have not updated it for several months. I have some new material to post but I just haven’t gotten around to it. Do you have an extra one ( round tuit )?
You also are lucky to have a nice place and family too, Frank, thanks for checking this out.