Hey, guys! So when we bought this property on 11 acres we were excited about the flat lawn, the huge workshop, the privacy and secluded feeling and ALLLLL the trees. BUT I must confess, we didn’t anticipate what taking care of all those trees, brush, weeds would entail. Over the last couple months we’ve been been figuring out exactly what we’ve gotten ourselves into. 🙂 At least we have some really good tools to do it with! This post is sponsored by STIHL power tools.
This year I had the opportunity to partner with STIHL and try out some of the Stihl AP series battery-powered power tools. It was the nudge I needed to divert my energy from the 7200 sq/ft hunk-o-ugly workshop building and focus on some outdoor cleanup (that other than lawn mowing has largely been ignored since we moved here 1 1/2 years ago). I have always had a difficult time with pull-start, gas powered tools so I love that all I have to do is keep the batteries charged to ensure I can start these power tools!
The AP battery series tools deliver professional-grade power which is exactly what we need on this large property. I ran these tools all day long with the AP 300 S Lithium-Ion Battery — day after day after day…
To the right of our property there is a sort of “island” of trees and brush with a path/drive circling around the backside. I’ve walked the path but never before ventured INTO the island because in addition to the trees, it’s a big, hot mess of thorny weed/vine/branches. Those vine and branches overhang the grass making it difficult for Wes to mow there.
I meandered over there with my chain saw, and pole pruner and got to work. My intention was to “tidy up” but that island turned into a MAJOR job! As I cut and cleared it just kept revealing more that needed to be cut and cleared. The deeper I got, the more I discovered what a disaster that area was.
It wasn’t just the patch of thorny vines overhanging the grass that was an issue: there’s a huge problem with invasive weed vines climbing up and around everything. Many dead trees had fallen completely down or had landed on and entangled with other trees.
I started on front and worked my way all around the perimeter. Using the HTA 65 pole pruner, I was able to cut the overhanging branches while keeping my body clear of the thorns. That was my first experience with a pole pruner and that thing made quick work of cutting through the branches. I know it’s not a toy, but the HTA 65 is fun to use!
As I cut and hauled branches out to the little trailer (hitched to our Challenger), it quickly became clear that I was going to need help with this job. It was quite a workout! I was getting 20,000-25,000 steps a day, cutting and lugging branches. Wes and Madison and I spent multiple weekends out there together, cutting, hauling and burning dead brush and branches.
We kept a fire going in our big fire pit while we were working. Each time the trailer filled up we’d drive it over to and toss more branches to the fire to keep it going. The crackling fire and glow of the flames were rewarding –I think that kept motivating me to keep bringing more “fuel”.
After clearing away the perimeter, we didn’t have so many thorns to deal with. The lower branches were a good job for the MSA 160 chainsaw. I appreciate how lightweight and easy to handle this chainsaw is. With the AP 300 S battery it weighs less than 10 lbs and has a runtime of almost an hour.
Wes and I discussed that it could realistically take us every weekend for a year to finish clearing out that area. From the house, looked like a nice little grove of trees. It probably was at some point, but left unmanaged, the weed vines took over and did some real damage.
Those are the thickest vines I’ve ever seen. They climbed up one tree and then looped over to adjacent trees and they’re so tangled up in the tree branches we can’t pull them down.
We cut the vines at the base and trimmed as much of them away from the trees as we could.
After ignoring this area for over a year and a half ourselves, we’re guessing that’s pretty much what the previous owners did too. Someone spent some time out there at some point – as proven by the little plastic playhouse I found in the center of “Thorny Island”.
It has to have been out there for at least 10 years because the previous owners’ child was in high school when we bought this place. Getting that dingy thing out of there became my goal and I didn’t want to quit my “outdoor cleanup job” until I accomplished that. And I finally did it.
Accomplishing that goal was my “cut-off” for ending the “outdoor cleanup” job for this year. At least in terms of chainsaw and pole trimmer work. I’ll have to keep those invasive vines cut down which I can do with the weed trimmer if I do it regularly –like before they grow to 6″ in diameter!
So one of us (wink wink) will have to continue to go out and trim all the weeds and vines to keep them under control but that’s a quick and easy job with the FSA 85.
Other than that, we’re going to wait for Spring to continue clearing out that area of dead trees and branches. All the leaves have fallen now so it’s difficult to tell what’s actually dead or just bare. Hopefully now that we’ve cleared out what we did, the remaining, living trees will survive and maybe thrive. Cutting down all that thorny vine/branch weeds also revealed lot of little evergreen trees that I’m hoping will have a chance to GROW now.
It’s going to take continual effort to keep this 11 acres maintained. Over the weeks, while doing this work, Wes and I both joked about “What did we get ourselves into”! We were mostly joking. It’s an especially big job initially because it’s been ignored for way too long. Once we finish clearing out all the dead and wrong, it will be much easier to maintain. So we’ll be back at it again in the Spring!
Thanks to STIHL for the amazingly convenient and easy to use power tools to help make the job as easy as possible.
Karen says
Nice work! You could also buy/rent some goats to help you keep things or continue to clean up. They love brush like that.
Sandra says
The neighbors have some goats…we’d have to put up better fencing to make sure they didn’t wander out and into the road. Might be the easiest solution. 🙂
Josh says
Those look like wild grapes, horribly difficult to keep under control! Good luck, and don’t give in to the temptation to “just keep a couple for the grapes”!
Sandra says
Oh that’s good to know. I know there’s also some Kudzu, possibly some Oriental Bittersweet, and plenty of Poison Ivy. Oiy!
Mike F. says
Keep looking, but I’m surprised that you didn’t find Tarzan swinging from all those vines!!! LOL
Sandra says
lol I keep an eye out!
Jackie says
If any of those vines are poison ivy DO NOT burn them. It puts the oils into the air and you can get poison ivy reactions in your lungs.
Sandra says
That’s good to know. I have a very hard time recognizing plants but whenever we find what we think is Poison Ivy, we spray it with Round Up. Then let it shrivel up and die.
Charles Rice says
Comment about burning applies to all PI… alive or dead. DO NOT BURN.
Sandra says
got it. Good to know!
Donna M says
Greetings Sandra.
First of all . . . you go girl! We bought a 30 acre parcel of land, with most of it wooded. Now almost 30 years later, we are still clearing out vines, limbs and dead trees year round. Here in Michigan (and I’m sure it grows else where) we have some kind of vine that grows profusely and actually kills or strangles the trees. We also have the wild grape vines that are humongous. We use the services of a forester and had approx. 100 trees cut and hauled out several times over the years. Ironically, by the following year, one could not tell that trees had been harvested at all. I wish you a lot of success in your ventures.
Sandra says
That’s what happened to some of the trees out here: the vines just strangled them. It’ll be interesting to see what happens this spring when new growth starts to happen.
Bill says
Looks like you, Wes and Madison had a great work-out. Better than the gym! I enjoyed the photos. Been there. Ridding your woods of those invasive plants is a tough undertaking, but will pay off by improving the health of your plants and trees… Thanks for sharing .
Sandra says
Yes I was getting 20,000-25,000 steps a day!
Deb - NC says
Those big furry looking vines on the trees are poison ivy. We’re dealing with the same thing on our 6 acres here in WNC. Be really careful. As someone said above, burning is dangerous but also be careful when you cut them – it’s as if the urushiol (the oil in poison ivy that makes you itch) sprays out when you cut those large vines. When we were first clearing our land 4 years ago my husband got ‘sprayed’ and it was crazy bad. If you can cut out a section at the bottom of a large vine, paint the open end with Cross Bow (much better than Roundup which can’t get through the woody stems) and you can also spray smaller plants effectively. Then go inside and wash yourself with Tecnu to cut through any oil that got on you. It’s never ending and we never saw anything like these vines back in IL that’s for sure!
Sandra says
Really? The 6″ diameter vines are poison ivy? That’s bonkers. I’ll check out Cross Bow. I’m learning all kinds of new things!
Dale B. says
I’m thinking that a barter opportunity exists to help with your land maintenance. A day of cleanup labor from your Build & Breakfast guests gets them some credit for your workshops. Good luck!
Sandra says
LOL That’s a great idea!
Guerrina says
What a wonderful difference already! I use Round Up Poison Ivy and Tough Brush. Try it on the crazy vine after you cut it – spray what’s going into the ground – just may do the trick. I do it that way with our poison ivy and it works great!
Sandra says
I didn’t know there was a special version specifically for Poison Ivy. I’ll grab some asap. Thanks.
Craig Gauvreau says
Goats a great idea… we have 4 that keep the brush down. We use electric goat and sheep fencing so that we can move it around.
They do a pretty good job.
Nice work on the clean up. It’s great to use the right tools like that.
Carrie says
Not sure if this would work on your vines, but I learned an amazing hack for the English ivy growing on the trees in my yard. Basically you cut a chuck out of the vine and wrap the end going into the earth with duct tape. There should be at least an inch, but more is better, of duct tape creating a “cup” above the vine. Fill the cup with salt and pour a little water into it so the salt gets wet. Depending on the weather you’ll need to add more water and possibly salt, over time, but the vine absorbs the salt and carries it down into the roots, killing the vine.
I used this to kill the ivy in my yard which was at risk of killing some gorgeous trees. I left the dead vines in the trees (at least for now), but this saved a TON of labor since English ivy reproduces like bunnies and is a pain in the rear to remove since you have to get all of the roots or it just comes back.
Sandra says
I might try that. I prefer to use salt over chemicals. If it works that’d be awesome!
Suz says
Goats, goats, goats. Maybe 2 or 3, all females! Well worth the price of the fencing. You will have a park-like area before you know it.