If anyone wants to help clear invasive plant lmk

in homesteading •  7 years ago 

If you love removing invasive plants

We wouldn't refuse any help removing the invasive plants from our land. Actually what I would really love to find is someone with an industrial wood chipper that would either not charge us a lot of money to use it or would be kind enough to let us use it for free.

20180512_173810_Burst01.jpg

My husband and son have been hard at work

Trying to get this Japanese Honeysuckle out of our trees. This stuff is so invasive. If you are in the United States do not plant this plant. It kills off native species and it a bitch pain to remove. Plus it is a messy messy plant. Unless we find people that want to help us remove all of this we expect it to take 3 to 5 years to clean it all up. We have 50+ years of under growth and over growth happening in our section of the woods.

20180512_173843.jpg

20180512_174017.jpg

We knew we had some hard work ahead of us

But sometimes it feels a little overwhelming. Trying to homestead is hard work. We are working on making our land help feed us. One of the things I plant to do is create a food forest on our land. I plan to plant as many trees as I can the produces fruit or nuts. I also plan to eventually have a greenhouse so I can produce food year round. Till then I am focusing on making smaller gardens around our property.

20180505_133542.jpg

I am looking forward to changing the landscape

Our property in 10 years will be totally transformed from what it once was. It already has transformed in the short time we have owned it. As this time last year it was an empty lot and now we have a house on the land we have removed some dead trees and some of the landscaping is done. I plan to eventully have a living privacy fence around the front of our property so you won't be able to see the house from the road. I plan to do that not just for privacy but to also deafen the road noise.

15261626674361566675695.jpg eventually the grass will grow

DQmVBgJr2k8xdeRdwfkLng3adEkfZpLTnXs2eon5v6tAAN5_1680x8400.png

Authors get paid when people like you upvote their post.
If you enjoyed what you read here, create your account today and start earning FREE STEEM!
Sort Order:  

Goats, machete and chainsaw come to mind. lol After you chainsaw it you could let it dry and have a bonfire.

Your property has come such a long way. If we were a little closer I'd be over to help you some weekend.

Have you bought one of those electric hedge trimmers? @donnadavisart got me one for Christmas and I really can't believe how quickly it hacks through underbrush. There's a path we'd been meaning to clear for years and I got through it in under two hours. I've used it to take out unwanted shrubs and ground cover too. It really is like a magic wand. And they're cheap - lots on Amazon for under $50.

Are you allowed to do open burning there? I see lots of open space with no overhanging trees, so a bonfire should be safe. It's a lot of fun and much cheaper than renting a wood chipper.

We are planning on doing that but there is a ton of it and we haven't really gotten started yet. I will have to do a post on how big the brush piles are from the small areas we have cleared. And some of our neighbors have been helping with burning it. We just can't seem to burn it fast enough...

Pull it up by the roots, and you will start to gain on it! :)

It has been growing for decades it isn't easy to pull it up from the roots.

Wrap a chain around the roots, and use a winch, or a tractor, and it will come up roots and all; and deep too! Steem on girl! :)

I wish we lived closer! I feel you, reclaiming the land from overgrowth is hard work. I hope you get that chipper <3 <3 <3 sending chipper vibes your way:)

"Chipper vibes" made me lol. 😂

I wish we lived closer! I feel you, reclaiming the land from overgrowth is hard work. I hope you get that chipper <3 <3 <3 sending chipper vibes

Burn it down.😂😂😂
It’s like the ivy my neighbor has creeeping through the fence and all the way to the top of his pine tree. What a pain!!
Hey at least it isn’t full of thorns like blackberries or something. Yet blackberries are pretty tasty😜
Keep fightin the good fight!!👍🏻👍🏻

we have some thorny bushes in there too. It is a mess....

Try looping a chain around it, and pulling it out by the roots. Less likely to come back. Also, if you are in the country (it looks like you are...GOOD Job!) pile it up, and burn it. Not useful for mulch, but it does get rid of a lot quickly. Be sure and check with the local fire dept, before you set it off!

Tilling or plowing will further damage the invasive roots, and may be worth the effort!

GOOD LUCK!

We wasn't gonna use it for mulch if we chip it, we would compost it into dirt. Keeping it covered till the seeds are dead before using it.

Burn it, and buy wood chips or wheat straw. The last thing you need is for a few seeds to survive! Pulling them with a chain is almost as effective as digging them out, and a lot easier.

Your land is looking good! We bought land out by a local lake, but are not moved yet.

Let's get to it!!

Hell @tecnosgirl thanks for the gift you sent, however, I have not received it. I went to the post office but they were requesting for stuffs like tracking no, shippment company and any other information that will make it easily locatable. If not they will not be able to locate it

Last time I shipped something that way it took 6 weeks for it to arrive. So hopefully it eventually arrives. If not I have an extra one.

If you have the information i asked for, i might be able to track it.

That extra one should probably be given to someone else

The US post office doesn't do tracking outside the United States. We will give it a couple of weeks to see if it shows up. If it doesn't it only cost a couple of dollars to send back out. That does bum me out though that it hasn't arrived yet as I sent you out two. One for you and one for you to get to someone you think should have one. So seriously we will give it a couple more weeks to see if it comes and if it doesn't I will send you out some new one. I actually have 10 more on the way right now. And have about 10 currently left in stock.

Thats my point i dont want you spending extra cash. That cash will go a long way in my life.

And as a matter of fact, there is no way i will know if it arrives or if it has already arrive

I hate that mail doesn't run the same way there as it does here. It would be much easier if we could track packages all over the world. I don't get why we don't have that option and why they can't. At least to a certain point.

Welcome to Nigeria. But i am sure if you can go to where you sent it from. There be be something they can give to make the tracking easier.

Did you use dhl

No I used the United States Postal Service.

No doubt homesteading is hard work! But, you're doing it! It seems you have a realistic plan too. Good luck with the Honeysuckle. Sounds like a lot of work. But, it will come. One step at a time. Think of all that sweet mulch once you have a chipper ❤❤❤

Can't use it as mulch it would have to be composted cause of the honeysuckle.

Awe mannnn 😦 no good! Prolly man made hybrid! Darn.

Here the invasive species is Trees of Heaven. They. Will grow. Anywhere!! The seed bearing ones are more fertile than the octomom, and the non-seed bearing ones smell like cat pee. 😲
And, I'm allergic to them, naturally. 😥

Yeah we have some of those too. Those take years if not decades to get under control.

I understand that this plant can be viewed as a nuisance, but have you ever looked into its health properties? Here's a link https://alternative-medicine.knoji.com/medicinal-benefits-of-japanese-honeysuckle/
Here in Ireland, people are complaining about the Japanese knotweed and view it as an invasive plant and combat it with roundup (yup, fight it with poison...) but the Japanese knotweed is one of the greatest plants to have around for health. Maybe use the health properties of the Japanese honeysuckle to your benefit before it's removed? :) Good luck!

It kills all the native plants and ruins habitate of native creatures. And yes we will harvest some.of the plants for some of it's medicinal properties but it has to go. Our native plants are more benefical to the enivormemt and cover the same type of medicinal properties as Japanese Honeysuckle.

Wow, that's a challenge for sure! Makes my grapevines seem like kid-stuff. Best of luck getting rid of it.

We have grapevines too. But those at least can be harvested for the sap in the vines and it is good for all kinds of things. But that is something else we have to deal with. The vines towards the back of the property are huge. Like bigger than my thigh.

Dang, those things will be growling at you soon!