Cleaning up an overgrown sidewalk?

[n8n]

Good morning all, and happy new year.

I moved maybe 6 months ago and am still cleaning up... got one problem I'd like to solve more quickly

On the street I live on, there are no houses across the street. It faces the backside of the local elementary school, but the fence is about 10 feet away up a hill. The hillside is full of scrubby trees, blackberries, etc. I don't really care about that, but there's two problems. First, the trash. Not much advice you can give me here, I doubt. Second, I don't think anyone's maintained the sidewalk since the houses were built. My landlady is under the impression that the city is supposed to take care of it and clearly the neighbors are as well. The problem is that NOBODY is maintaining it (houses were built in the 90s so the greenery has apparently had ~30 years to do its thing) and the berries have completely overgrown it in some places. It was nice on new year's eve and my office closed at 1 so I went home and filled up 5 yard waste bags with the leaves from the area of sidewalk I'd already cleared a few months ago, and then cleared a few more feet. Did a few more feet again yesterday and cut up some big tree branches that the neighbors around the corner (whose side yard also abuts the school property) had cut and thrown on the hillside (I'm not complaining about them, they're the only other people that are fighting the **************** of the place.) Basically, I'm trying to make things look more neighborly and less hood, and if nothing else, it's embarrassing that you can't even get out of the passenger side of your car other than the little area that I've cleared.

So the question. How to clear the sidewalk more quickly? I've been using pruning shears while cutting the blackberries along with gloves intended for rose gardeners (I need some better ones though. Any recommendations?) this works, but takes a long time. String trimmer won't cut through all of the mess; I was wondering if something like a battery operated hedge trimmer would work? I'd probably be dragging the tip along the ground or the sidewalk though, how long would it last with that abuse? Anything else I could try? Whatever it is it would have to be battery powered as there's no electricity over there and the city has already prohibited gas powered leaf blowers so i expect all similar equipment will follow eventually; I don't want to get stuck with equipment that down the road I won't be able to use and therefore also won't be able to sell.

What I'd like is to be able to quickly clear enough to fill up my weekly allotment of 5 30 gallon bags (that's all the city will pick up per week per house, and it's also kind of a good place to stop) so it's not a project to just clear a couple more feet of sidewalk every week. yeah it'd be nice if someone else were doing this but they're not, and I'm sick of looking at it.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Toold_up]

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[mike93lx]

Battery hedge trimmer sounds about perfect. I have one for ego that has worked great so far

 

[DGersic]

If it’s not your sidewalk, maybe a call to your local representative’s office would get the city interested in maintaining their property. Depending on which department actually “owns” it, that could be school or park property and there is likely someone that is supposed to be doing it.

Or, find out what department is is, and start showing up for their public meetings. Use the public comment time to ask when they’re going to maintain it. Bring pictures.

Living by a school, you’re going to get some trash blowing in. Kids are messy.

 

[Renegade1LI]

Sounds like you’re not equipped at the moment, maybe hire a landscaper. They’d probably bang it out in a couple hours, clean up everything. Once under control you could maintain it.

 

[i84x]

Personally I would be careful of what you do to it considering its not your land. Really I would be looking into who owns it, or who is actually responsible for it and look into them sorting it out or at least get info on if you are allowed to be doing anything with it before you invest into it.

 

[n8n]

Exothermic Technologies

The #1 manufacturer of long range torch systems, including the Pulsefire® LRT, Pulsefire® UBF, and Pulsefire® Compact.

exothermic.tech

hah. Did you know that BMWs have plastic front fenders? LOL

 

[n8n]

If it’s not your sidewalk, maybe a call to your local representative’s office would get the city interested in maintaining their property. Depending on which department actually “owns” it, that could be school or park property and there is likely someone that is supposed to be doing it.

Or, find out what department is is, and start showing up for their public meetings. Use the public comment time to ask when they’re going to maintain it. Bring pictures.

Living by a school, you’re going to get some trash blowing in. Kids are messy.

I sincerely hope it's not elementary school kids drinking Colt 45 and cheap vodka...

 

[bluedog225]

Yeah. Get the owner to maintain it.

If I understand correctly, it’s a sidewalk running down the street, not just in front of your property?

Maybe roundup in a pump sprayer to get the invasive vines pushed back.

 

[PhantomEB]

One thing I miss about the big city was the 311 app….it was meant to be to report Bylaw infractions, City maintainence issues.

I used it lots when I was working shutdowns here and there with weeks off in between. Would walk my pitbull up and down back lanes etc and report shitloads. My wife looks at the app and goes oh I see some anonymous person and his dog was bored this morning…. But I did find **** got done around the old house!

both of behind my houses benefited from Farm grade round up. Nary a weed, to the point my neighbors ask hey can we get a 1/4 cup of that stuff….

maybe start off with a chain saw…..that usually gets people going wtf….oh ****’s getting real!

 

[mike93lx]

Getting the owner/city to deal with it would be great, but frankly, I'd likely be out there doing the cleanup as well.

 

[mreisner]

 

[mreisner]

Not sure if you're contemplating spraying or not, but life will say is not all that great on Woody brush like that. Glyphosate mixed in with some Woody brush killer serve you very well

 

[n8n]

Yeah. Get the owner to maintain it.

If I understand correctly, it’s a sidewalk running down the street, not just in front of your property?

Maybe roundup in a pump sprayer to get the invasive vines pushed back.

correct. I don't know if that's considered the property of the house directly across the street, or of the elementary school on the other side of the fence. Or if that's on a case by case basis and I need to see if the city has a GIS web site that would show the property lines.

Edit: I just reread this and it's kind of unclear. What I meant was, I don't know if the little slice of sidewalk and hillside across the street from any given house is part of that house's lot, or if it is property of the elementary school. As in, is my landlady technically responsible for maintaining a clear sidewalk across the street? She doesn't think so and it wouldn't make sense, but lots of things in life don't make sense.

 

[mike93lx]

Holy ****.

Only slightly more awesome than the chainsaw wheel attachments for angle grinders

 

[n8n]

huh. That might be a possiblity, I already have the M18 Fuel string trimmer.

 

[mreisner]

That's what I was thinking too! No matter what you do make sure you have really really good eye protection as a little hunk of that green material can get in your eye and cause a horrid fungus infection. My best friend is an optometrist is every year he sees at least one or two people were there most likely going to lose their eye because of fungus not from the damage of what was carrying the fungus that hit their eye.

 

[seber]

First thought is that if the sidewalk abuts school property, they are responsible for taking care of it. A complaint to the city should be all that is required. Failing that, I would go for a string trimmer blade or hedge trimmer, depending on how thick the stems are.

 

[mreisner]

huh. That might be a possiblity, I already have the M18 Fuel string trimmer.

I've got the M18 also it's definitely a beast it should handle this no problem but I would make sure I had a big battery on it too

 

[n8n]

I've got the M18 also it's definitely a beast it should handle this no problem but I would make sure I had a big battery on it too

I bought a second battery for it earlier this year because the back yard is too steep to use a lawnmower and a single battery wouldn't allow me to do the whole property in one shot.

 

[Shiftless]

When we moved in to our current house, there was an incredibly thick blackberry tangle along one side of the property. Some of the stems were almost as thick as my wrist. I hired a guy who showed up in full leathers with a helmet featuring a steel mesh face shield. His main weapon was a weed eater that seemed to have a small motorcycle engine on one end and a cutter that looked like an iron cross. He jumped off his trailer into the middle and cut his way out. He dragged the debris into his trailer, cut it into smaller pieces and jumped back in. He finished about 500 sq. ft. of blackberry mess down to bare dirt and was gone in less than 2 hours. Money well spent.
Afterwards, the roots sprouted up of course but periodic applications of glyphosate took care of that. No more blackberries.

 

[zak77]

First step would be to use the town's GIS system to see who owns what. If it is indeed the town's responsibility, probably is, then a call to the Public Works Dept would be in order to bring it to their attention. Either that or just keep plugging away.

 

[308guru]

Pictures of the area you are trying to cleanup could help with suggestions.

 

[n8n]

Pictures of the area you are trying to cleanup could help with suggestions.

I actually have one, here ya go

I don't really want to kill the berries - I kind of like having big thorny plants there so people can't try to steal your car and then run and jump the fence to the school property if they get spotted (sadly that's a concern in this area) - and I'm not about to start cutting down the ****** trees although I wish I could ID which one drops sap all over your car when you park under it, I really just want to uncover the sidewalk and cut stuff a little ways back so you can actually use the sidewalk. This was taken a couple months ago when I first tried to deal with this.

 

[Shiftless]

I really just want to uncover the sidewalk

Sidewalk? What sidewalk?
That certainly is a very overgrown sidewalk. A case could be made that all that vegetation is a big safety hazard for anybody attempting to walk on the sidewalk.

 

[n8n]

Sidewalk? What sidewalk?
That certainly is a very overgrown sidewalk. A case could be made that all that vegetation is a big safety hazard for anybody attempting to walk on the sidewalk.

LOL that's why I'm cleaning it up. That's literally what the view was out my front door a couple months ago, although how I managed to not have any parked cars in the pic is surprising.

 

[Beerhippie]

If you want to stay within the local laws/codes, you first need to determine what the city policy for sidewalks is. Some cities take responsibility for sidewalk and right-of-way maintenance, other require the property owner to maintain them.

If it's the property owner's responsibility, you should try to contact them. You can find ownership by visiting the city planning office (or on-line) or use a cell phone app like OnX.

 

[WildBill]

I use a hedge trimmer and then a weed eater for that type of stuff. Do it all the time, works fine.

 

[WWheeler]

 

[bassJAM]

I think there's an easier solution than cutting these down! I have to drive 25 minutes to find a good blackberry patch.




Seriously though, I wouldn't be cleaning up property without talking to the owner. If this is school or public property you could end up in a stupid legal fight with the city.

 

[n8n]

I think there's an easier solution than cutting these down! I have to drive 25 minutes to find a good blackberry patch.




Seriously though, I wouldn't be cleaning up property without talking to the owner. If this is school or public property you could end up in a stupid legal fight with the city.

I'm not touching anything other than the sidewalk and stuff immediately behind it, I *like* having the berry bushes growing on the hillside; I also do not have the energy to deal with it nor a vehicle capable of hauling away that much material.

I also have been trying to determine if that is considered property of the school and it's harder than you'd think.

 

[RTM]

Sounds like you’re not equipped at the moment, maybe hire a landscaper. They’d probably bang it out in a couple hours, clean up everything. Once under control you could maintain it.

Some of the stems were almost as thick as my wrist. I hired a guy who showed up in full leathers with a helmet featuring a steel mesh face shield. His main weapon was a weed eater that seemed to have a small motorcycle engine on one end and a cutter that looked like an iron cross. He jumped off his trailer into the middle and cut his way out. He dragged the debris into his trailer, cut it into smaller pieces and jumped back in. He finished about 500 sq. ft. of blackberry mess down to bare dirt and was gone in less than 2 hours. Money well spent

If calling the city fails: I did this ^^^^ with my 1/4 acre back yard, I had the berry vines, and a metric ton of other ****. I first did a FreeCycle call, people came by and took the good stuff, then brought in a demo contractor. I had spent weekends for a month, barely made a dent. Filled my green waste limit for each session. Less than one full day, a few guys, cost me a few $k. Money well spent. Make the call, only costs you a few minutes. Maybe find neighbors to pitch in.

Maybe roundup in a pump sprayer to get the invasive vines pushed back.

Various websites recommended something different for berries and ivy, wasnt regular Roundup, but I forget what it was. That Farm Grade mentioned is probably not legal here.

 

[Shiftless]

That Farm Grade mentioned is probably not legal here

Check out Tractor Supply. That’s where I got a gallon of it. (Don’t turn me in to the environmentalists)

 

[Wamsutta]

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

 

[bbxlr8]

I actually use a chainsaw for first clear of overgrown multiflora rose and brush. You need to be comfortable with the equipment and wear good PPE. Would make short work of that...

 

[mikedodge]

Holy **** that's overgrown.
To clear it do its safe there's also the stuff overhead and the entire stretch of it woukd need to be cleared or theres no point. You can't tackle all that yourself and you shouldn't be when it's across the street anyway.
Give up and start complaining to the city. If the bushes and trees are on their property it's their problem otherwise they can go after who should have been maintaining it.

If you uncover the sidewalk and it gas holes and in bad shape that's going to be a whole other problem.

 

[Viper98912]

Yea, I can see why you want it to look nicer. But you really do need to be careful when you're cutting someone else's property, especially if it's government property.

Try to find out who owns it (there's probably legal map records for your county online somewhere), and start calling and attending the meetings. If you get no response, use the local news outlets to help push some ownership. Depending on your local jurisdiction, blocking a sidewalk can be violating certain laws, especially if you start to look at ADA laws.

 

[johninct]

Loppers for the thick stuff and a really good weedwacker.

 

[Beerhippie]

....


Various websites recommended something different for berries and ivy, wasnt regular Roundup, but I forget what it was. That Farm Grade mentioned is probably not legal here.

Crossbow is what we used to use.

 

[Steve W.]

Edit: I just reread this and it's kind of unclear. What I meant was, I don't know if the little slice of sidewalk and hillside across the street from any given house is part of that house's lot, or if it is property of the elementary school. As in, is my landlady technically responsible for maintaining a clear sidewalk across the street? She doesn't think so and it wouldn't make sense, but lots of things in life don't make sense.

First thought is that if the sidewalk abuts school property, they are responsible for taking care of it. A complaint to the city should be all that is required. Failing that, I would go for a string trimmer blade or hedge trimmer, depending on how thick the stems are.

Around here, a landowner's property extends UP TO the sidewalk. The sidewalk, the curb and any grass between belong to the city, but the city expects YOU (the landowner) to maintain the grass and clear the sidewalk.

So, technically, the sidwalk belongs to the city, but whoever owns the land on the other side of it is responsible for clearing it.

I have seen several videos like the one linked in post #34, but most of them are with the permission of the landowner.

.