I am an artist. My studio windows face south and east. To the south is beautiful pastureland, but to the east is almost an acre of JUNGLE!! It is made up of a few large oaks, a couple large cedars, MANY small cedars, sumac and tons of briars winding their way up and around all the other trees....oooh....almost forgot the poison ivy!! The photo to the right is the area.
I have been wanting to tame this area for several years, and have actually had people come out to give me an estimate to brush hog it. No one will touch it. They are afraid that it will have large rocks and stumps that will destroy their equipment.
My second thought was to hire several people to come in and cut it down by hand. My third thought was to get my body out there and do it myself (hopefully with the occasional help of my husband and strong sons :-)
Well...I put it off for long enough. This week I decided to just stop waiting for help and do it myself. I figured I could give 1/2 - 1 hour a day to work "casually" at it. Considering the fact that I could be classified as an antique, this is not a small undertaking. But, I figured that the sunshine, fresh air and exercise would be a good thing for me, so out I went.
M
y first day (about 45 minutes of work) was encouraging to me. I know it may not look like much, but it gives me hope! :-) See that bare spot? That is what I did!! Woo hoo!
My plan is to cut out all the small cedars, underbrush and briars. I want to leave all the large oaks. I am considering leaving a couple of the large cedars. I do not love cedars, but I think they may be something the birds like to nest in. I will have to do some research on that.
I am also leaving some of the old rotted oaks that have been on the ground for quite some time. I am hoping that they will encourage some mushroom growth. My neighbors have lots of morels growing among their large oak trees. I would LOVE to start finding some of them in my back yard!!
