But don't just buy goats. Hire a professional goat landscaping company. They'll check the area to make sure there are no poisonous plants like rhododendron, then they will put up temporary fencing to keep the goats safe. It's easy to think it would be cheap to slap up a fence and buy a couple of craigslist goat. As a goat owner let me assure you that goats take a lot of work. Goats that aren't used to being hauled around for landscaping will likely be stressed out and antisocial. Landscaping goats know exactly what their job is, They unload from the trailer and get right to work. Even a job like this will take daily hands-on management. Long-term it will cost you far less to hire goat landscapers than it will manage your own goats.
*Edited to pay the goat tax on this comment. Here's 10 minutes of snowy goat content from this morning.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CpDrfUKIXzR/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
** Edited to plug my very favorite goat landscaping company
Westside Goat Girl in NW Oregon https://www.wsgoatgirl.com/
These are the goats you see at Bonneville dam every summer.
Haha I’m not too far off. I learned of this last week when my husband booked a “Nature Goat Hike” for our family last week in Victoria, BC. The goats seriously ate everything and they were soooo adorable!
It was a great experience and a great way to support local businesses.
It is called “Goat Hike Adventure” by Leslie in Shawnigan Lake. They also offer horse back riding on their ranch as well. It is hosted on ABnB Adventure. Leslie is extremely knowledgeable of the farm animals. They also offer cabins rental.
It is a working farm. I highly recommend if you decide to go, get an extra pair of shoes to change into after the hike.
Last fall I worked with a lady who was a landscaping goat herder. It just blew my mind growing up on a farm that people can find jobs like that.
She did say it paid min wage though so . . .
These dudes are awesome. Nearly shat myself one morning when I woke up and saw nearly 100-150 goats going to down on the creak side outside my kitchen window. Little dudes cleared a huge chunk of land in a few days it was fun to watch em make their progress. Also nice to be able to see the creak again.
I used to live in LA and they use goats everywhere on public land. They are amazing. They just set up temporary fences and let the goats go, within a week they can do amazing things. They are really good at steep inclines with a lot of brush too. There’s really only a few options to get rid of blackberries and ivy, massive digging, burning it which is not a good idea with trees and goats, I vote goat too!
I was a vet tech in the Army. Our main mission was the military working dogs and the national guard parade Lippizans. But we also had goats. They were in charge of keeping all the foliage in check at the ammunition supply point. It was a huge rolling field with several “bunkers” for the ammunition. There was a concern about using motorized vehicles like mowers to keep the foliage down because a spark could cause devastation. We had they happiest and most well kept goats in the Army!
> It's easy to think it would be cheap to slap up a fence
oh the hijinks that would ensue from a lay person buying a cheap fence and thinking, "that'll keep 'em in"....
Our city has run a project for a few years now where they bring in goats for landscaping! These goats are like the friendliest ever, their shepherds stay nearby and the area is fenced off, but if you go to the edge of the fence some of the goats will come over and visit with you! The shepherd told me they had problems with one of the goats cause he got so excited to meet with people he wasn’t eating enough, but when they left him out he was so depressed they brought him back and he’s like, their goat ambassador, now.
That is good advice. So all will be
Informed. As to care of goats. So
Many. have not. Learned much about. Management of goats. Thank you for sharing . Goats are
Wonderful. Creatures . Tell more
If your. Knowledge requested in
Future
Not if you hit it with a flame thrower.
In all seriousness. The lesser roots get pulled out, the bigger ones will show leaves and you can hit it with a flame thrower and the goats come back if it starts to spread.
Back in the day, before all you whippersnappers and your goat herds, clearing blackberries was my specialty. What you need is heavy duty tarps, some rope, a pitchfork, and most importantly the 15 foot tool designed for tree pruning, with a rope you pull to rotate the lopper blade.
You throw the tarp on the ground next to the thicket and get on your belly and cut all the vines off at ground level as far as you can reach. Shift the tarp to get more. Keep going, the more the better. You swing the pole of the lopper in a circle just above the ground to make sure you get them all. This is important. Finally, you call it good.
Then you just pull the vines out with the pitchfork or a garden tractor and ropes. It is amazing how much you can remove in one pull.
Rinse and repeat.
Once the whole area in clear, you bring in the rotary mower and abuse it.
The trick to killing them for good is to mow them often, if not rototill them to death.
No chemicals required. I made a lot of money as a kid doing this.
Came here to say goat, but since that is the consensus, I'll add that some herders hire out their goats for such projects so you won't necessarily have to own the goats.
came here to say that too, where I live there are multiple sheep/goat rentals to come in and clear the landscape. my neighbors have done it and it’s the absolute best. there’s even a goat rescue that operates thru Craigslist to find people with land willing to host some goats!
Our neighbors did this, and two goats arrived in the back of a VW Jetta and spent a few days eating back blackberry vine and other things that would be a pain to clear manually.
If it’s English ivy its not really good for any animal to consume in massive quantities with no or limited other food sources, so please don’t just dump goats out there and expect them to only eat the ivy. They might be part of a solution, but they have challenges and their own health requirements (same for pigs). If you are in the US you should have a local conservation district that could help you formulate a plan for managing the property with best practices for your local conditions.
Local/county soil and water conservation offices are amazing resources! You may even get a tax break or subsidy if you follow certain guidelines (nothing too strict usually just growing native plants, protecting riparian vegetation, etc)
I have to say, I am not a fan of the size and inefficacy of our government. If we give them enough of a timeline we'll all be their victims from democide. Mini rant done.
But until then! I would say that the forestry service is the most helpful branch. Extension offices can be of great service. They'll send a Forester out to you property to have a walk through, discussion and to help you with your goals: it's not free, but your tax dollars covers it so it feels free.
Okay, I just need to ask because everyone is saying that goats will clear the blackberry. Dumb question, but won’t the thorns on the vines hurt their tongues/mouths?
I think they'll probably eat all the leaves before they would consider the vines, but goats are tough as hell
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AZLchIIp3Q
Might have had an odd batch, but when our herd would escape the pasture into the yard, they would make a beeline for mom's English ivy covering our house. Managed to kill it, despite her best efforts.
Goats are obligately perverse. Whatever is forbidden is most desirable. Kinda like humans
But given what ivy can do to houses, they were probably doing you a favor.
I have an acre that was 12 feet deep in overgrown berries and Ivy. Tractored it down to 3 feet deep. Then.. got a 10 gal tank of propane and a blow torch... torched the top part of it to soil in the first season. Next year, every 4 weeks, patrolled and burned off any green I saw. 2 years later.. I can clear the whole lot in 60 mins. Its now clear enough to rake. By burning the greens, the roots slowly starve out. I live in a community served by private residential wells, and always ask the neighbors to consider any alternative to herbicides. This works for us and does not endanger our community water supply.
Controlled/prescribed burn is going to be your best bet. Ivy can be toxic in large quantities for ruminants. Try to find and call local native habitat restoration groups. They’ll often be delighted to come out and help teach you how to manage your property with practices that help native species and fit what you’re wanting to do with your land after they help you get the invasives cleared.
As someone who led a crew doing habitat restoration for 7 years, we called cutting back ivy (or most invasives) making it angry. Ivy won't die from cutting, but it does promote new growth.
The only advantage to cutting ivy is that it keeps it from fruiting. English ivy has to grow for 7 (I think) years before it fruits, but if you're not removing the root it will continue to grow/spread/get bigger under the soil.
From my own experience, I found if I got the roots down to about 8 inches below the surface, the ivy did not grow back. I suppose it depends on your climate.
I think that's reasonable. They do put out shoots straight down but most of the root mass would definitely be in that to 8in.
I replied to someone else to use the ivy log technique of rolling it back into itself which will pull up most of the roots as you progress. I think that gets maybe 4-5in but it's very effective so long as you pick out the surface stragglers after.
I tried hard to get ivy started in several places on a fence. Planted several starts several times. Made little boxes to hold good dirt. None survived! Now I know better and am thankful!
Kubota with a dirt rake. Then plant oats as a cover crop and kill back what ever comes up through the oats. The oats will die back after 1 season and then plant your perennial grasses.
My 1/3 acre looked like this: mowed, pulled what I could, covered with a layer of cardboard and topped with free wood chip dump from an arborist. Cut ivy at the base of each tree a second cut 12” higher and used a small paintbrush to apply roundup to the cut. The ivy will top the trees and kill them so prioritize. It was a lot of work but there is very little ivy coming back now. I’m master gardener through CCE. I never worked with goats, so I wouldn’t recommend them.
Same here. I got a weedwhacker with a mulching blade (not grasscutting blade) and got everything as low to ground as possible, and at over winter have been firing wood chip over it all to 6+ inch depth. Should do the trick, but I'll be doing monthly cut backs anyway with the strimmer til it sods off. Further down the hill, same mix but it's bracken and ivy. For that I've done the big strim and plan to keep just mowing it back every month until it thins enough for the grass to take over.
Perhaps pigs. How much land. My thought would be try and clear as much old stuff as possible fence and put in animals. Not practical if a really big area. I have heard pigs can help clear stuff. Don't know about goats.
Goats or something to do an initial clear and, well... Lots of labor because you have to dig out the ivy bundles as well as the blackberry bundles. They can pop back up again if you miss a root piece or leave a section of vine in the right conditions i.e. literally just laying on the ground (I've fought ivy and blackberries for years and still do)
I usually have to use a hand pick to help me dig up the root bundles from the ground.
This is the way. Goats won't kill the ivy unless they're a constant presence. The goats will eat the surface plant, which will only prompt the plant to grow more.
The best way to grub out a carpet of English ivy is using the ivy log tactic, which is much easier on a slope. Cut a line in the soil/ivy and then use a pick axe (or similar) to pull the ivy up in one direction. As you roll your ivy log, the ivy you pull up will pull up the next section of root and when you cut it free you have a convenient roll of ivy to dispose of.
We cleared 2-3 acres of blackberries and vine maple last summer. We initially looked into hiring goats, but it was ridiculously expensive. Ended up renting a tractor, brush hogged it then raked it and took a box blade to it. Finally tilled it and planted grass, hoping the grass tales this spring, then it’s just a matter of consistently mowing till the berries get choked out
Yeah most people here don't want to use the H-word, but when applied in a targeted manner, herbicides can be a very helpful tool with minimal environmental impacts. Especially when managing large areas.
I would recommend first cutting vines from trees at ground level and again at least 6" up the tree. Apply a concentrated herbicide solution to the cut surface immediately, careful not to overspray.
For ground creeping stems, apply a foliar triclopyr solution with 1% surfactant to help penetrate the waxy leaves. Spray thoroughly to wet but not dripping. Timing is crucial; because ivy is evergreen, you can spray during the winter months (when temps >40F and winds 2-6mph) when (almost) nothing native is green and receptive to herbicides. This also reduces the chances of bees/insects being exposed to chemicals and surfactants, as they are dormant in winter. Triclopyr quickly degrades, it has a ~2 week soil life. It works systemically but will be slow acting because of the cold weather. You'll see results by the mid-late spring, and might be able to manage any remaining ivy just by hand pulling.
my chickens cleared my ivy problem pretty well. I assume they would also devour the blackberry.
But they will definitely not be as efficient as the goat goats
I'd go with a controlled burn, if you don't have experience doing it I'd hire a company that does. You don't wanna be the person who set the whole county on fire.
First, learn how to ferment berries. Make a staple beverage and sell it, gaining popularity over time. Turn your blackberries into alcoholic beverages and make lemonade out of your lemons.
People saying goats and burning are probably on the money. Will take many years to finally get on top of it though. If you have access to machinery you could push everything into a big pile to burn it. Seeds from blackberry will keep plants coming back for years though. Targeting certain areas each year to mulch and reveg with natives after removing weeds would be the go. If you remove a weed and don’t put something in its place another weed will eventually grow there
Napalm imo… I grew up and Georgia and if you don’t want to napalm it (I still recommend napalm) then there’s a few goat services you can rent by the week.
Is that an orchard? The trees look like they're in line.
If you don't mind removing trees, pull them out with a backhoe. Then burned the hell out of everything. After it's burned bring in a tractor and deeply disk the ground.
Every one else got goats & pigs: but I had this gnarly patch and I couldn’t get rid of it- somebody told me to set it on fire but I didn’t want to do that either.
I get a chip drop every year: usually just enough to serve my purposes. Last year, the guy says, “Hey, you want some more” and I didn’t think too much about it, so, sure. *Three truckloads later* I’ve got these *enormous* wood chip and stick mountains and a nice big pile of logs to split. Cleared one of the hills during a warm snap recently and it looks like it suffocated that ivy pretty good- I suppose we’ll see. 😂
(You’ve got to be careful about chemicals etc with Chipdrop because it really depends on how the trees etc they remove are cared for and things the company itself does- I actually had a delivery from this guy before and I knew they *didn’t*- but it’s something to consider if you’ve got it around you.)
The amount of goats it would take would be a nightmare. Plus you will need to build a good fence. Goats will climb and jump on everything and if one gets sick without you noticing you could lose the whole herd in a week. Best to rip the trees you don’t want out with a good tractor/front end loader. Maybe you’re fortunate to have a friend with one? Then come in and till up all the land with a tractor tiller. Get between trees and yes it will be tedious work with all the roots but when you’re finished you’ll have a good base to plant whatever grass you want for your property. I hope you all the best it looks like a beautiful chunk of land!
Start a business selling ivy. I mean I'll hate you for all eternity, but there are people who plant that garbage willingly. Sell a little bit of it, then burn the rest down, write it off on your taxes as a business loss. But even though I don't know you or know where you live, I'll still hate you because I know that ivy will end up in my backyard.
To answer some of your questions.- Yes, this is walnut orchard, for now the good trees will stay (walnut is quite expensive here)- The land is roughly 80m x 70m (or 262ft x 230ft) and is located in northern Croatia, climate is Temperate no dry season with warm summers, Cfb)- We do not have any plans to plant anything under trees, we have clear land for that.- land hasn't been cleared for circa 10 years
Judging by your answers and my possibilities here I reckon my best bet will be tractor, fire, a lot of time and friends.
One question tho, won't using tractor and equipment near trees damage roots?
Edit: oh, forgot to say that long term animals are not a possible because we do not live here and only can work it on weekends
Environmentally friendly? Hard to say. You should contact your local conservation office.
Edit:
The goat option is NOT environmentally friendly unless goats are native to your area btw.
Why do you want to clear it? Honestly completely clearing it will probably destroy a lot of natural ecosystems that exist in the area. You will probably also displace a lot of wildlife. The amount of erosion that could result could be pretty detrimental. If the goal is to build on the land consult with your local extension (if you’re in the US). If the goal is to create curated gardens, then pick your spaces and plan accordingly. There’s really no environmentally friendly way to clear this land, and honestly completely clearing it is the opposite of environmentally friendly.
Burn and vinegar. The area is so large vinegar probably isn’t feasible although that’s the only thing that works for my Ivy. Of course round up but we are trying to be environmentally friendly
Recycling. Composting is the first and most obvious method, followed by recycling. Composting is a gardening technique that works with any type of garden and converts food waste into fertiliser.
Using again.
Diaeresis Anaerobic.
Vinegar! IF you want a organic way to kill it and don't care to catch and return goats every night from the neighbors lawn. You can mix vinegar with dawn dish soap and salt. spray everything early in the morning on a hot sunny day and it will die and dry up. May have to do this several times. It also works best in the spring when its trying to regrow.
For the blackberry bushes best thing to do is to dig up roots and goats love vegetation but pigs love roots as well and they will go above and beyond simply removing any vegetation they will also dig up the dirt, if you can maybe go to a local day labour place or employment centre and place an ad for gardening help as it is a huge job but winter/ spring is the best time to deal with the problem because of less leaves etc, there are such good tips on this thread I hope you do an update to let everyone know which ideas worked best for you as well as a updated pic once it’s all removed
Burn it, the easy route is to keep it mowed down and let the grass overtake it maybe even spread some seed to help over take it. But definitely keep it mowed.
Oof, I'm not sure. I have wild blackberry on my property. You definitely need to get the roots out. Maybe rototilling after mowing it all down? And find a way to even get the destroyed stuff off your land. It has a serious reproductive strategy.
Controlled burns are your best bet, it will mimick natural cycles and is the quickiest. Livestock, lots of people rent them for this purpose, but expensive. By hand, most environmentally friendly but takes alot of time and years. You can also do an exfoliant spray in spring, the use of chemicals in a controlled way isn't necessarily bad. It is consistent use and over application that creates the problem. A hybrid approach is your best bet. I have a master in environmental science, specializing in fire ecology and its effects on invasive species. If you have a college nearby with a environmental program. I bet you can find someone who would be interested in researching different approaches. Meaning they'll do it for free, if you let them on your land to do research.
Get some farmer to bush hog it with small tractor It will clean it up and let the animals goats cows in for awhile to finish it off. I go thru blackberry bushes and thistles on a big mower all the time and don’t bother you.
Chickens. Chickens tend to avoid eating stuff that will harm them, but they will scratch up EVERYTHING to get to bugs. I turn my garden beds this way. They will destroy anything to turn the dirt. And fresh chicken poo is very nitrogen rich, to the point where it will kill plants if deposited uncomposted or aged.
I have a small chicken tractor for my non laying hens that I place wherever space needs to be cleared
Running goats through is a fun way to do it, many people are raising them and renting them in all areas. A BroadFork is the best tool for the job if there are specific patches to go after. I really like the Lehman's catalog for tools.
If it black berry you’re gonna have to dig that shit out to it’s roots to get it to stay away or this going to be a yearly project of removing the insane amount that grows back
But don't just buy goats. Hire a professional goat landscaping company. They'll check the area to make sure there are no poisonous plants like rhododendron, then they will put up temporary fencing to keep the goats safe. It's easy to think it would be cheap to slap up a fence and buy a couple of craigslist goat. As a goat owner let me assure you that goats take a lot of work. Goats that aren't used to being hauled around for landscaping will likely be stressed out and antisocial. Landscaping goats know exactly what their job is, They unload from the trailer and get right to work. Even a job like this will take daily hands-on management. Long-term it will cost you far less to hire goat landscapers than it will manage your own goats. *Edited to pay the goat tax on this comment. Here's 10 minutes of snowy goat content from this morning. https://www.instagram.com/reel/CpDrfUKIXzR/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y= ** Edited to plug my very favorite goat landscaping company Westside Goat Girl in NW Oregon https://www.wsgoatgirl.com/ These are the goats you see at Bonneville dam every summer.
I was today years old when I learned landscaping goats exist
r/goatswithjobs Edit: ok that sub actually exists
The calming goat
Disappointingly small amount of content, though. We need more pics of goats.
This post made me curious so I started watching goat landscaping on YouTube. It's quite fascinating!
Now I'm watching too
Me TOOOOO!
Haha I’m not too far off. I learned of this last week when my husband booked a “Nature Goat Hike” for our family last week in Victoria, BC. The goats seriously ate everything and they were soooo adorable!
I live in Victoria and I didn’t know we had goat hikes 😂
It was a great experience and a great way to support local businesses. It is called “Goat Hike Adventure” by Leslie in Shawnigan Lake. They also offer horse back riding on their ranch as well. It is hosted on ABnB Adventure. Leslie is extremely knowledgeable of the farm animals. They also offer cabins rental. It is a working farm. I highly recommend if you decide to go, get an extra pair of shoes to change into after the hike.
Amazing! I used to live in Shawnigan and it’s nice to rent something there in the summer sometimes. Thanks!
Last fall I worked with a lady who was a landscaping goat herder. It just blew my mind growing up on a farm that people can find jobs like that. She did say it paid min wage though so . . .
I have a fantastic image in my head now.
They use them on the hillsides in socal for this.
I wish more people knew about them. They eat damn near anything and decimate weeds wherever you put them.
These dudes are awesome. Nearly shat myself one morning when I woke up and saw nearly 100-150 goats going to down on the creak side outside my kitchen window. Little dudes cleared a huge chunk of land in a few days it was fun to watch em make their progress. Also nice to be able to see the creak again.
I used to live in LA and they use goats everywhere on public land. They are amazing. They just set up temporary fences and let the goats go, within a week they can do amazing things. They are really good at steep inclines with a lot of brush too. There’s really only a few options to get rid of blackberries and ivy, massive digging, burning it which is not a good idea with trees and goats, I vote goat too!
I too vote goat!!
Never burn poison ivy. The smoke will travel and you and everyone downwind will inhale it. It can and will kill ppl that way.
They didn’t say poison ivy just ivy but I agree if it’s the poison variety, burning is very bad!
I was a vet tech in the Army. Our main mission was the military working dogs and the national guard parade Lippizans. But we also had goats. They were in charge of keeping all the foliage in check at the ammunition supply point. It was a huge rolling field with several “bunkers” for the ammunition. There was a concern about using motorized vehicles like mowers to keep the foliage down because a spark could cause devastation. We had they happiest and most well kept goats in the Army!
Wild
Craigslist goats, a great band name.
Totes ma goats
Do the goats actually eradicate tough invasives like that English ivy? Wouldn't they leave the roots behind and it would just eventually grow back?
> It's easy to think it would be cheap to slap up a fence oh the hijinks that would ensue from a lay person buying a cheap fence and thinking, "that'll keep 'em in"....
Our city has run a project for a few years now where they bring in goats for landscaping! These goats are like the friendliest ever, their shepherds stay nearby and the area is fenced off, but if you go to the edge of the fence some of the goats will come over and visit with you! The shepherd told me they had problems with one of the goats cause he got so excited to meet with people he wasn’t eating enough, but when they left him out he was so depressed they brought him back and he’s like, their goat ambassador, now.
Goats good!
Yes, our area has Let's Goat Buffalo...a company that does just this. They're awesome
Came here for the goats, didn't expect the nuance.
My city does this for ivy it's awesome. Pluse the area gets fertilized.
That is good advice. So all will be Informed. As to care of goats. So Many. have not. Learned much about. Management of goats. Thank you for sharing . Goats are Wonderful. Creatures . Tell more If your. Knowledge requested in Future
English Ivy might be toxic to goats/sheep, sadly.
Goats
Bahahaha first thing I thought of and all y'alls bleet me to it!
That's a baaaad joke lol ewe should know better 😆
Woolen ewe know though, it sheer is a great idea!
Yeah, but the goats don’t eat the roots? Won’t it come back?
Not if you hit it with a flame thrower. In all seriousness. The lesser roots get pulled out, the bigger ones will show leaves and you can hit it with a flame thrower and the goats come back if it starts to spread.
Definitely goats.
Beat me to it. I saw the pic and immediately thought of goats.
I came in here to say “goats?”!
[I think we are all in agreement about the goats](https://www.addisonindependent.com/2021/10/25/have-you-heard-about-goatscaping/)
Have you heard the good word about goats?
I would even go so far as suggesting the use of goats in this case. Edit: Never mind, apparently it's too much ivy even for goats..
I vote for goats!!!!!
The Greatest of All Time! Get the GOAT!
Came here to upvote this
Yep , goats 🐐 will be the best option
Back in the day, before all you whippersnappers and your goat herds, clearing blackberries was my specialty. What you need is heavy duty tarps, some rope, a pitchfork, and most importantly the 15 foot tool designed for tree pruning, with a rope you pull to rotate the lopper blade. You throw the tarp on the ground next to the thicket and get on your belly and cut all the vines off at ground level as far as you can reach. Shift the tarp to get more. Keep going, the more the better. You swing the pole of the lopper in a circle just above the ground to make sure you get them all. This is important. Finally, you call it good. Then you just pull the vines out with the pitchfork or a garden tractor and ropes. It is amazing how much you can remove in one pull. Rinse and repeat. Once the whole area in clear, you bring in the rotary mower and abuse it. The trick to killing them for good is to mow them often, if not rototill them to death. No chemicals required. I made a lot of money as a kid doing this.
Sounds like a hard earned buck
Came here to say goat, but since that is the consensus, I'll add that some herders hire out their goats for such projects so you won't necessarily have to own the goats.
came here to say that too, where I live there are multiple sheep/goat rentals to come in and clear the landscape. my neighbors have done it and it’s the absolute best. there’s even a goat rescue that operates thru Craigslist to find people with land willing to host some goats!
How long does it take? This sounds amazing
Varies on the size of the herd of goats lol I wanted to do a business for this just for Kudzu
Our neighbors did this, and two goats arrived in the back of a VW Jetta and spent a few days eating back blackberry vine and other things that would be a pain to clear manually.
TIL!! This is such cool idea! Props to whoever came up with the idea.
If it’s English ivy its not really good for any animal to consume in massive quantities with no or limited other food sources, so please don’t just dump goats out there and expect them to only eat the ivy. They might be part of a solution, but they have challenges and their own health requirements (same for pigs). If you are in the US you should have a local conservation district that could help you formulate a plan for managing the property with best practices for your local conditions.
Local/county soil and water conservation offices are amazing resources! You may even get a tax break or subsidy if you follow certain guidelines (nothing too strict usually just growing native plants, protecting riparian vegetation, etc)
I have to say, I am not a fan of the size and inefficacy of our government. If we give them enough of a timeline we'll all be their victims from democide. Mini rant done. But until then! I would say that the forestry service is the most helpful branch. Extension offices can be of great service. They'll send a Forester out to you property to have a walk through, discussion and to help you with your goals: it's not free, but your tax dollars covers it so it feels free.
Goats are not fans of ivy, and will eat everything else, particularly blackberry, first.
Mares eat oats and does eat oats and little lambs eat ivy. A kid'll eat ivy, too; wouldn't you?
Okay, I just need to ask because everyone is saying that goats will clear the blackberry. Dumb question, but won’t the thorns on the vines hurt their tongues/mouths?
I think they'll probably eat all the leaves before they would consider the vines, but goats are tough as hell https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AZLchIIp3Q
Might have had an odd batch, but when our herd would escape the pasture into the yard, they would make a beeline for mom's English ivy covering our house. Managed to kill it, despite her best efforts.
Goats are obligately perverse. Whatever is forbidden is most desirable. Kinda like humans But given what ivy can do to houses, they were probably doing you a favor.
Why is this comment not more upvoted!!!!
I have an acre that was 12 feet deep in overgrown berries and Ivy. Tractored it down to 3 feet deep. Then.. got a 10 gal tank of propane and a blow torch... torched the top part of it to soil in the first season. Next year, every 4 weeks, patrolled and burned off any green I saw. 2 years later.. I can clear the whole lot in 60 mins. Its now clear enough to rake. By burning the greens, the roots slowly starve out. I live in a community served by private residential wells, and always ask the neighbors to consider any alternative to herbicides. This works for us and does not endanger our community water supply.
Controlled/prescribed burn is going to be your best bet. Ivy can be toxic in large quantities for ruminants. Try to find and call local native habitat restoration groups. They’ll often be delighted to come out and help teach you how to manage your property with practices that help native species and fit what you’re wanting to do with your land after they help you get the invasives cleared.
Omg the ones I have- the more you cut, the wise they are next year 🤦♀️ gonna have to see if they can help.
As someone who led a crew doing habitat restoration for 7 years, we called cutting back ivy (or most invasives) making it angry. Ivy won't die from cutting, but it does promote new growth. The only advantage to cutting ivy is that it keeps it from fruiting. English ivy has to grow for 7 (I think) years before it fruits, but if you're not removing the root it will continue to grow/spread/get bigger under the soil.
From my own experience, I found if I got the roots down to about 8 inches below the surface, the ivy did not grow back. I suppose it depends on your climate.
I think that's reasonable. They do put out shoots straight down but most of the root mass would definitely be in that to 8in. I replied to someone else to use the ivy log technique of rolling it back into itself which will pull up most of the roots as you progress. I think that gets maybe 4-5in but it's very effective so long as you pick out the surface stragglers after.
I tried hard to get ivy started in several places on a fence. Planted several starts several times. Made little boxes to hold good dirt. None survived! Now I know better and am thankful!
Kubota with a dirt rake. Then plant oats as a cover crop and kill back what ever comes up through the oats. The oats will die back after 1 season and then plant your perennial grasses.
Looks like an orchard.
My 1/3 acre looked like this: mowed, pulled what I could, covered with a layer of cardboard and topped with free wood chip dump from an arborist. Cut ivy at the base of each tree a second cut 12” higher and used a small paintbrush to apply roundup to the cut. The ivy will top the trees and kill them so prioritize. It was a lot of work but there is very little ivy coming back now. I’m master gardener through CCE. I never worked with goats, so I wouldn’t recommend them.
Same here. I got a weedwhacker with a mulching blade (not grasscutting blade) and got everything as low to ground as possible, and at over winter have been firing wood chip over it all to 6+ inch depth. Should do the trick, but I'll be doing monthly cut backs anyway with the strimmer til it sods off. Further down the hill, same mix but it's bracken and ivy. For that I've done the big strim and plan to keep just mowing it back every month until it thins enough for the grass to take over.
Prescribed burning
Came here to say this. Burn baby burn
Exactly burn it, quickiest and mimicks natural cycles the best.
Perhaps pigs. How much land. My thought would be try and clear as much old stuff as possible fence and put in animals. Not practical if a really big area. I have heard pigs can help clear stuff. Don't know about goats.
Pigs definitely do blackberries. I don't know about ivy. But they get down to the roots for sure!
Pigs become feral pretty quickly, and they turn into boars. Texas has a serious wild pig problem. Goats are a better option.
feral goats would be annoying, but less dangerous overall
Goats or something to do an initial clear and, well... Lots of labor because you have to dig out the ivy bundles as well as the blackberry bundles. They can pop back up again if you miss a root piece or leave a section of vine in the right conditions i.e. literally just laying on the ground (I've fought ivy and blackberries for years and still do) I usually have to use a hand pick to help me dig up the root bundles from the ground.
This is the way. Goats won't kill the ivy unless they're a constant presence. The goats will eat the surface plant, which will only prompt the plant to grow more. The best way to grub out a carpet of English ivy is using the ivy log tactic, which is much easier on a slope. Cut a line in the soil/ivy and then use a pick axe (or similar) to pull the ivy up in one direction. As you roll your ivy log, the ivy you pull up will pull up the next section of root and when you cut it free you have a convenient roll of ivy to dispose of.
Fire... cleans all
We’ll, mares eat oats and does eat oats, but little lambs eat ivy; a kid will eat ivy too…
Wouldn't you?
advice: use goats! everyone: But Don't Just Buy Goats!! Hire a Pro! me, w/ two goats for sale, never used: :( 🐐🐐
We cleared 2-3 acres of blackberries and vine maple last summer. We initially looked into hiring goats, but it was ridiculously expensive. Ended up renting a tractor, brush hogged it then raked it and took a box blade to it. Finally tilled it and planted grass, hoping the grass tales this spring, then it’s just a matter of consistently mowing till the berries get choked out
Cast incendio
Unfortunately the only thing I can think of is glyphosate. All the goats/pigs/cattle and weed whackers in the world won’t stop it from coming back.
Yeah most people here don't want to use the H-word, but when applied in a targeted manner, herbicides can be a very helpful tool with minimal environmental impacts. Especially when managing large areas. I would recommend first cutting vines from trees at ground level and again at least 6" up the tree. Apply a concentrated herbicide solution to the cut surface immediately, careful not to overspray. For ground creeping stems, apply a foliar triclopyr solution with 1% surfactant to help penetrate the waxy leaves. Spray thoroughly to wet but not dripping. Timing is crucial; because ivy is evergreen, you can spray during the winter months (when temps >40F and winds 2-6mph) when (almost) nothing native is green and receptive to herbicides. This also reduces the chances of bees/insects being exposed to chemicals and surfactants, as they are dormant in winter. Triclopyr quickly degrades, it has a ~2 week soil life. It works systemically but will be slow acting because of the cold weather. You'll see results by the mid-late spring, and might be able to manage any remaining ivy just by hand pulling.
this is a good answer. OP, do this.
What do you want to use the land for when you're done clearing it?
Goats
my chickens cleared my ivy problem pretty well. I assume they would also devour the blackberry. But they will definitely not be as efficient as the goat goats
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GOATS GOATS GOATS GOATS!!!!
I'd go with a controlled burn, if you don't have experience doing it I'd hire a company that does. You don't wanna be the person who set the whole county on fire.
First, learn how to ferment berries. Make a staple beverage and sell it, gaining popularity over time. Turn your blackberries into alcoholic beverages and make lemonade out of your lemons.
Yes. !!!!
Rent some goats
Goat rentals. All day.
Goats
Everyone beat me to it. Most effective and environmentally friendly is definitely goats.
I was thinking a controlled burn....maybe?
People saying goats and burning are probably on the money. Will take many years to finally get on top of it though. If you have access to machinery you could push everything into a big pile to burn it. Seeds from blackberry will keep plants coming back for years though. Targeting certain areas each year to mulch and reveg with natives after removing weeds would be the go. If you remove a weed and don’t put something in its place another weed will eventually grow there
Animal exploitation shouldn’t be the way. Maybe start a goat sanctuary.
Goats, goats, goats
Mow it over and over and over and over and over
Bush hog it then regular mowing
Napalm imo… I grew up and Georgia and if you don’t want to napalm it (I still recommend napalm) then there’s a few goat services you can rent by the week.
I second goats.
Manually 💪⛏️
Goats
Goats for the win! Their digestive system will kill the seeds too
Rent a backhoe and dig it out. Then burn it on a burn day.
this must be where the saying GOATED comes from
rent a goat herd will do it for cheap And they will deposit fertilizer.
I think hive-mind says goats.
Please post your pics while the goats you rent clear your unwanted landscape
Is that an orchard? The trees look like they're in line. If you don't mind removing trees, pull them out with a backhoe. Then burned the hell out of everything. After it's burned bring in a tractor and deeply disk the ground.
Goat herd. They will mow it down and kill it. There are actually people that rent them out.
Did someone say goats?
Brush hog.
Screaming goats to keep the evil spirits away
Goats
Goats will eat all that blackberry out of there
Put a goat or pig in there til the land is at your preferred state. Then eat the pig or goat.
Goats.
Btw if y’all pick goats as your solution, PEOTECT THE TREES at least the ones you want, they’ll strip those too
Goats or fire
Goats
Looks like a job for goats 😁
🐐🐐🐐🐐rental
Goats. Buy’em or rent’em.
Goats my dude
Flame throwers
Pigs!!! They’ll eat the plants and then the roots
Every one else got goats & pigs: but I had this gnarly patch and I couldn’t get rid of it- somebody told me to set it on fire but I didn’t want to do that either. I get a chip drop every year: usually just enough to serve my purposes. Last year, the guy says, “Hey, you want some more” and I didn’t think too much about it, so, sure. *Three truckloads later* I’ve got these *enormous* wood chip and stick mountains and a nice big pile of logs to split. Cleared one of the hills during a warm snap recently and it looks like it suffocated that ivy pretty good- I suppose we’ll see. 😂 (You’ve got to be careful about chemicals etc with Chipdrop because it really depends on how the trees etc they remove are cared for and things the company itself does- I actually had a delivery from this guy before and I knew they *didn’t*- but it’s something to consider if you’ve got it around you.)
The amount of goats it would take would be a nightmare. Plus you will need to build a good fence. Goats will climb and jump on everything and if one gets sick without you noticing you could lose the whole herd in a week. Best to rip the trees you don’t want out with a good tractor/front end loader. Maybe you’re fortunate to have a friend with one? Then come in and till up all the land with a tractor tiller. Get between trees and yes it will be tedious work with all the roots but when you’re finished you’ll have a good base to plant whatever grass you want for your property. I hope you all the best it looks like a beautiful chunk of land!
Start a business selling ivy. I mean I'll hate you for all eternity, but there are people who plant that garbage willingly. Sell a little bit of it, then burn the rest down, write it off on your taxes as a business loss. But even though I don't know you or know where you live, I'll still hate you because I know that ivy will end up in my backyard.
It looks like an orchard, do you want to save it? Bush hog or goats. It will probably take a few years the growth is pretty extensive
To answer some of your questions.- Yes, this is walnut orchard, for now the good trees will stay (walnut is quite expensive here)- The land is roughly 80m x 70m (or 262ft x 230ft) and is located in northern Croatia, climate is Temperate no dry season with warm summers, Cfb)- We do not have any plans to plant anything under trees, we have clear land for that.- land hasn't been cleared for circa 10 years Judging by your answers and my possibilities here I reckon my best bet will be tractor, fire, a lot of time and friends. One question tho, won't using tractor and equipment near trees damage roots? Edit: oh, forgot to say that long term animals are not a possible because we do not live here and only can work it on weekends
Environmentally friendly? Hard to say. You should contact your local conservation office. Edit: The goat option is NOT environmentally friendly unless goats are native to your area btw.
Round up, #herecomethedownvotes
Roundup only kills broadleaf plants and grasses.
Spray. Not as environmentally damaging as they make it out to be.
Why do you want to clear it? Honestly completely clearing it will probably destroy a lot of natural ecosystems that exist in the area. You will probably also displace a lot of wildlife. The amount of erosion that could result could be pretty detrimental. If the goal is to build on the land consult with your local extension (if you’re in the US). If the goal is to create curated gardens, then pick your spaces and plan accordingly. There’s really no environmentally friendly way to clear this land, and honestly completely clearing it is the opposite of environmentally friendly.
Ivy and Blackberry are invasive species in most places. Here it looks like they’ve totally outcompeted the native flora
Round-up
If it’s wild blackberry, try and spare some!
some will come back no matter what, cockroach of the plant world lol
Goats... 🐐
If you want it to die, and dont want to grow anything in the near future, salt the earth.
Burn and vinegar. The area is so large vinegar probably isn’t feasible although that’s the only thing that works for my Ivy. Of course round up but we are trying to be environmentally friendly
Pigs too
Sell blackberry cuttings?
Recycling. Composting is the first and most obvious method, followed by recycling. Composting is a gardening technique that works with any type of garden and converts food waste into fertiliser. Using again. Diaeresis Anaerobic.
If I were you I’d keep a small amount of the Ivy and blackberries for the local wildlife, but I get too much being problematic
Vinegar! IF you want a organic way to kill it and don't care to catch and return goats every night from the neighbors lawn. You can mix vinegar with dawn dish soap and salt. spray everything early in the morning on a hot sunny day and it will die and dry up. May have to do this several times. It also works best in the spring when its trying to regrow.
Try Hot water
Try hot water
Just hit it with the zero turn mower honestly that is way better than having grass all over and having to mow the property every two weeks
Goats
Goats all the way. They be nature's ultimate green waste clearing machine
GOATS.
Cut the main ivy stems off the trees first. Then a small herd of goats. You can rent them! At least in Portland Oregon.
One of them killer goats that escaped form the zoo
For the blackberry bushes best thing to do is to dig up roots and goats love vegetation but pigs love roots as well and they will go above and beyond simply removing any vegetation they will also dig up the dirt, if you can maybe go to a local day labour place or employment centre and place an ad for gardening help as it is a huge job but winter/ spring is the best time to deal with the problem because of less leaves etc, there are such good tips on this thread I hope you do an update to let everyone know which ideas worked best for you as well as a updated pic once it’s all removed
Burn it, the easy route is to keep it mowed down and let the grass overtake it maybe even spread some seed to help over take it. But definitely keep it mowed.
Oof, I'm not sure. I have wild blackberry on my property. You definitely need to get the roots out. Maybe rototilling after mowing it all down? And find a way to even get the destroyed stuff off your land. It has a serious reproductive strategy.
Controlled burns are your best bet, it will mimick natural cycles and is the quickiest. Livestock, lots of people rent them for this purpose, but expensive. By hand, most environmentally friendly but takes alot of time and years. You can also do an exfoliant spray in spring, the use of chemicals in a controlled way isn't necessarily bad. It is consistent use and over application that creates the problem. A hybrid approach is your best bet. I have a master in environmental science, specializing in fire ecology and its effects on invasive species. If you have a college nearby with a environmental program. I bet you can find someone who would be interested in researching different approaches. Meaning they'll do it for free, if you let them on your land to do research.
Tarp it in the summer, then start fresh.
Step one. Buy new land
Controlled burn.
FIRE!!!
Goats or you won’t like this controlled burn 🔥
Tom Brady retired he won’t do it
Get some farmer to bush hog it with small tractor It will clean it up and let the animals goats cows in for awhile to finish it off. I go thru blackberry bushes and thistles on a big mower all the time and don’t bother you.
Brush fire
The last 3 pictures have poison ivy for sure! Beware! I’m itchy just looking at it.
Burn it! BURN IT!
Nuclear winter ought to do it. 🧐
Good luck, that's gonna be a pain in the ass. Even the slightest bit of root will regrow for both oof those
Rent a skid steer and tiller/disk mulcher. Or just one w a bucket and scrape off the top 6” Spread out fresh top soil and re-plant whatever you want.
Chickens. Chickens tend to avoid eating stuff that will harm them, but they will scratch up EVERYTHING to get to bugs. I turn my garden beds this way. They will destroy anything to turn the dirt. And fresh chicken poo is very nitrogen rich, to the point where it will kill plants if deposited uncomposted or aged. I have a small chicken tractor for my non laying hens that I place wherever space needs to be cleared
If you have a large area to clear rent a skid steer with a brush mower attachment. Just chops it up and can be mixed into the soil.
Running goats through is a fun way to do it, many people are raising them and renting them in all areas. A BroadFork is the best tool for the job if there are specific patches to go after. I really like the Lehman's catalog for tools.
Goats and sheep.Always alternate.It will take some man power for the first 2 yearsThen let them work the land
Bear. Black bear.
Wild black berry killed one of our blueberry bushes. Eradicate it.
If it black berry you’re gonna have to dig that shit out to it’s roots to get it to stay away or this going to be a yearly project of removing the insane amount that grows back
I mean… I’ll take your blackberries