"Yeah, Baby, you were right about getting this done"! Now, how often do I get to bask in the warm, bright rays of the "you're right" confession? I think I was absolutely glowing.
That's what Bob said to me as "TD", from Midwest Forestry Mulching and Land Clearing made his way through our ravine / riparian area. TD was tearing down and mulching his way through all the Japanese honeysuckle vines, multi-flora rose, sprouts, small trees (including cedar!), etc. so that we can more easily manage this area.
After spending weeks trying to clear this area by hand - chainsaws, loppers, tractor and much blood and backpain, I had had enough fun.We finally had a "meet Jesus" discussion as we both realized that it was going to take a very long time for us to manually cut our way north with that approach. We had lots of obstacles facing us; a) where would be put all the stuff we cut out of here; b) it would probably be grown in behind us before we finished the whole thing; and c) we're not getting any younger and would love to see native plants growing in this area in the very near future.
This was all we had been able to clear in the last few months:
It looked great - but we had only made it about 150 feet northward - if that.
And, the brush pile from just that area looked like the picture below. Even with 23 acres, eventually, you run out of room with these size piles.
It was like trying to walk through wet concrete. The vast majority of the rest of it northward (for about 600-700 feet long x 75 feet wide), was not even navigable.
I found out about "forestry mulching" on the Native Habitat Manager's group on Facebook. After watching some videos online, I was surprised to find out that's really a thing! So, a Google search and a message to this company (and he responded on a SUNDAY!), several reschedules due to problematic weather, and it was on for Thursday, January 23rd!
I can't find the words to convey how happy I am about this...check out the pictures.
Before:
After:
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After:
Before:
After:
More "after" pictures:
Yowza! Next steps - instead of spending the next 2-3 years clearing all this, we can now focus on killing the invasive crap growing in here, then plant some native forbs & grasses seed.
I'm SO excited - WORTH.EVERY.PENNY!!
