A short time ago, our lot was wooded. The photo that still shows up on Google maps when you search for the property can give you an idea. It was a full-on forest. See?
The builder cleared most of the lot, but he had to leave 20% natural according to Ocean County… so he couldn’t clear it all. We had a fence company come and put up a fence for us right away so the dogs wouldn’t be able to go exploring on their own, but we needed to clear the rest of the brambles and brush in that natural 20%. The fence guys just did the perimeter.
These thorny, scrubby weeds were such a pain to pull up. I cut some of them just beneath the soil using a lopper and we tried to pull them up by hand, but I know they will be back to bite me in the spring. We had to get them all because the dogs could really get hurt running around back there. We had to call in the big guns. My best buds from highschool live in nearby Brick, NJ and they came to the rescue with their little tractor.
I hated to disturb all that amazing top soil and natural mulch, but safety was more important than the natural soil ecology at that point, so we had to dig it up and try to get down to the roots. It’s all gone now, the back yard is clear of thorns and brush! And someone had a lot of fun driving a tractor around the backyard. Thanks guys!
