DIY Home Improvement Forum banner

Clearing a small area of land

2K views 1 reply 2 participants last post by  NancyNGA 
#1 ·
I need to clear the last 1/3 of my yard (about a tenth of an acre), which is at the base of a steep hill that my house rests on. Because there are 3 fences from neighbor's yards at the bottom, and because the hill is so steep, using machinery isn't really an option.

I have already cleared back there once using a two-handled brush cutter and a cordless recip saw (the few small trees that the recip saw wouldn't take down I used an unconventional, unsafe method of removal which I won't mention here).

Unfortunately, most of what was grown back there are small weed-type trees (I'm not an arborist, so I couldn't tell you what kind they are), and they range from a half inch thick at the base to two and a half inches thick. Between them, there are probably 100 tiny stumps in my back yard that have started sprouting again big-time.

I used Ground Clear to keep weeds from growing back there, but it did nothing for these little trees. Aside from tediously digging every single one of these stumps up with a pick-axe, what is the best way to get rid of them so that I can think about planting grass back there next spring?

Any help would be GREATLY appreciated, because I'm at a loss, and I hate to put so much work in to something to have it undone after a season of growing.

Thanks,

DA
 
See less See more
#2 ·
The best way to get rid of small trees permanently is use Roundup on them, but they have to have some foliage and be actively growing, and then you have to use 2 or 3 repeated applications. Assuming you are in the States north of Florida, that time has passed for this year.

If you don't dig out the roots, the stumps will always sprout new growth. Since it's only 1/10 acre I would dig out the larger stumps with a mattock and axe as best you can, and chop the smaller ones off below the surface so you can mow over them. Mowing will keep them from sprouting, and they might just surrender after a year or two of mowing.

Whenever I clear a little peice of land I always think about the early settlers clearing acres and acres for crops, before there were any fancy tools or weed killers. How did they do it!
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top