Tools to cut down urban overgrowth

[kythri]

For heavier, woodier stuff, Crossbow works far better than Round-Up/Glyphosate.

Spray the leaves good and heavy, let it do its work for a week or two, then go cut it out.

 

[jonesg]

For heavier, woodier stuff, Crossbow works far better than Round-Up/Glyphosate.

Spray the leaves good and heavy, let it do its work for a week or two, then go cut it out.

In a few weeks the leaves will fall off, I'm up in maine, a few days ago it was 31f at 5am. Winter is at the door.

 

[jonesg]

Rent a chainsaw at home depot.

 

[branimal]

Rent a chainsaw at home depot.

Its one summer of growth. I don’t think things are that crazy.




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[MrSurly]

Loppers done right: I have several loppers and have had others, but a few years ago I bought what I believe to be the absolute BEST loppers out there, but sadly, they aren't on the market now. They are worth seeking out, in my opinion. These were sold by Sears, Craftsman branded. They are forged, Heavy, huge, and they are beastly. And they win, every time. They do not have flex-adding compound hinges or flimsy bendy extendable handles or flashy looks or chrome trim...but they are *satisfyingly effective*. That aggravation of the stick you are trying to cut managing to twist the blade, and the blade and shear flexing apart, the un-cut stick caught between then the blades, just laughing at you? With USA Forged blades and a heavy 1/2" diameter adjustable hinge, that **** doesn't happen with these. I highly recommend!
Btw, I’m not suggesting that op needs this large lopper for his small job, but since y’all started talking about loppers....

If you can find them, grab 'em
For scale:

Range:

The only identification

 

[fasteddie]

I would be very careful spraying chemicals in that environment. If you kill the guy next door's tomato plants or rose bushes he will not be happy.

 

[CR888]

Loppers are the complete wrong tool for that job. They are slow and clumsy & made for leverage which is simply not required cutting that sort of plant. 'If' you wanted to cut it back by hand secuteers & hand hedge sheers would be a much better, faster choice. If you use a hedge trimmer it will shave everything into small pieces that could be easily compressed into a green waste wheelie bin. I would not use glycosophate either.

 

[hsvtoolfool]

Sounds like getting some chemicals sprayed out there with a garden sprayer and then wait a couple weeks. Then cut down and bag that stuff.

Yes! Strong herbicide first. Use Crossbow Herbicide Weed & Brush Killer
Use it very carefully! Crossbow kills all plants, so certainly do NOT
use it on a windy/rainy day.

www.ruralking.com/crossbow-herbicide-weed-brush-killer-1-gallon

There are many plants that grow back from their roots after they are
cut down, stump ground, and burned. In my region, you'd think that
would be Kudzu, but actually Crepe Myrtles are a nightmare to kill.

After cutting down the tree/shrub, I drill a hole in the stump and pour
in a cap of Crossbow then cover it. Let that work it's way through
the entire root system for a couple weeks. Once every cell in that
Aliens movie "Xenomorph" pest is dead, then you can grind the stump
and dig up the roots. If you don't kill the roots before grinding the
stump and digging, then you'll have 500 little Crepe Myrtle plants
coming up from the roots.

I plan to eventually cement the backyard and then throw pavers on top.

I don't think pavers over concrete is a good approach, but maybe
things are done differently in NY city. I finished a big walkway/patio
project in my yard about a year ago. Here are options I looked at
before deciding on good quality pavers...

#1) Stamped and stained concrete: cheap but better looking than
plain concrete. Probably the best choice for a rental property.

#2) Concrete with an epoxy coating: crazy-expensive but looks
very cool.

#3) Concrete pavers over compacted gravel: middle ground cost-wise,
much nicer looking than any concrete, lasts 50+ years if installed
correctly which is longer than any other option, and the pavers drain
water into the ground.

 

[jives]

Do you understand how Roundup (glyphosate) works? It is absorbed through the leaves, NOT through the branches, stalks, stumps, etc

As another poster said, applying the gyphosphate or trychlor right after cutting will be absorbed and kill the stump. By doing it this way the herbicide application is minimized, overspray is eliminated, and the stump prevented from regrowth, though a second application may be necessary.

I've taken out hundreds of buckthorn this way. Using loppers allows controlled cutting flush with the dirt, or even below the dirt, without blade damage. More difficult with a blade or hedge trimmers. If the desire is to hide the stumps to cover over with mulch or something else, loppers are a good choice. The Fiskars, or earlier posted Craftsman (maybe made by Corona), can easily cut 2" trunks.

 

[sberry]

Roundup,,, right after the leaves dry off from a rain, in the middle of the day, warmer is good. 50 minimum, 70 80 better. Ideally a little ammonium nitrate as foliar fertilizer. Helps with the uptake and softens the water a little.

 

[Chromdome35]

I have cleared a LOT of land with that type undergrowth in my days and the loppers others have mentioned is by far the easiest tool to use. A recip saw with a pruning blade will work great on anything too big for the loppers.

From looking at the picture you don't have any big stuff that a recip saw couldn't handle, it mostly looks like a bunch of vines. Once you get the bigger stuff out, a weed eater will handle all the little stuff.

How are you going to get rid of it, do you have to drag it through the house or just throw it over the fence into the neighbors yard? ;D

 

[fasteddie]

If the OP's block is similar the the one behind, it looks like everything going in or out of the backyard must go through the house. Full concrete pad? I wouldn't want to get involved in that job. Pavers is the way to go but hauling all that gravel through the house? Might have to just go with pavers on dirt.

 

[branimal]

Disposal will have to go through the first floors tenants kitchen and then common hallway. ***** but not other option. I’ll lay down some red rosin paper to make cleanup quicker.




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[kythri]

In a few weeks the leaves will fall off, I'm up in maine, a few days ago it was 31f at 5am. Winter is at the door.

Understood, but absorption of the chemical through the leaves while they're still there will also more effectively kill the root system.

With Round-Up/Glyphosate, the kill is only temporary.

 

[WWheeler]

No chance you could burn it all in a barrel? Throw an oven rack on top of it and call it a grill? I'm guessing not in Brooklyn but that would be what I'd want to do before I'd haul it all though the house. Then again, could you even get a barrel back there.

 

[Chromdome35]

You might consider a small portable chipper you could wheel through the house and just turn it all into mulch and leave it on the ground.

 

[Spiffers]

I'd think of using a Woodman's Pal

That's probably not legal in NYC!

 

[Chromdome35]

You might consider a small portable chipper you could wheel through the house and just turn it all into mulch and leave it on the ground.

Something like this

If you can't leave the chips in the back yard, it would be much easier to capture the chip from the shredder and move them through the house (Bag, trash can with wheels, etc...)without much effort than trying to drag the raw cuttings.

 

[kctyphoon]

Gotta love GJ.. If there was a national award for making a montain out of a mole hill, this place would win hands down.

We went from round up to a wood chipper in 3 pages.

 

[Chromdome35]

Gotta love GJ.. If there was a national award for making a montain out of a mole hill, this place would win hands down.

We went from round up to a wood chipper in 3 pages.

What's your solution to getting all the undergrowth out of the backyard? I was simply offering an option to dragging it all through the house like the OP suggested he was going to have to do. Sorry for offending you.

 

[MrSurly]

Gotta love GJ.. If there was a national award for making a montain out of a mole hill, this place would win hands down.

We went from round up to a wood chipper in 3 pages.

Hey, we're doing good! We haven't mentioned Mini-splits or vises or told him to abandon his plan, yet!

 

[Abeo]

once the roundup works, the dead material will take up less room than if you went at it when it was alive (the plants **** the water out of the leaves).

Do you have a fall clean-up program in the city for leaves? That may be the best time to get rid of the weeds

 

[fasteddie]

Hey, we're doing good! We haven't mentioned Mini-splits or vises or told him to abandon his plan, yet!

Or this

https://store.snapon.com/Pruning-Tools-Folding-Pruning-Saw-P641297.aspx

 

[JimNC]

Hey, we're doing good! We haven't mentioned Mini-splits or vises or told him to abandon his plan, yet!

Well I was thinking he could put up a shed.

On a serious note, I have read that rather than cutting down saplings and painting the stump you can skin the bark off and spray the area with Tordon or Crossbow and it will kill. Haven’t tried it yet.

 

[branimal]

One interesting point someone here made on roundup is that if it’s too concentrated when sprayed on the leaves, the chemical won’t produce the desired effects.

Is that because the leaves won’t absorb the chemical in its concentrated form into the fluid system of the plant? Like the leaf is wired to know it’s being poisoned and falls on the sword itself but saves the plant?

Nature is crazy....


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[WWheeler]

One interesting point someone here made on roundup is that if it’s too concentrated when sprayed on the leaves, the chemical won’t produce the desired effects.

Is that because the leaves won’t absorb the chemical in its concentrated form into the fluid system of the plant? Like the leaf is wired to know it’s being poisoned and falls on the sword itself but saves the plant?

Nature is crazy....

To kill the entire plant you need it to systemically travel throughout the plant all the way to the roots. Even though the leaves will start to look dead in a couple days it's a slow process. If it's too concentrated it can kill off the foliage to quickly and it won't be alive long enough to move down through to the root.

As an example of how slow there's been studies about how cutting down / bushhogging previously sprayed and dead-looking plants too soon allows for the roots to survive. I've seen evidence of this when we sprayed sensitive ROWs where people complained so we went back through with a tractor only to have it all grow back in no time like it was never sprayed in the first place. Better not to cut it down at all and let it wither but if we have to we try to wait ~6 weeks.

Edit: Renting a chipper might be an option worth considering. I didn't think of that. Never used a small chipper like that so not sure how well they would handle vines and dead growth.

I'd still rather burn it in a barrel if I could rather than drag it though the house.

 

[kctyphoon]

What's your solution to getting all the undergrowth out of the backyard? I was simply offering an option to dragging it all through the house like the OP suggested he was going to have to do. Sorry for offending you.

Gloves...

 

[Dozerhand]

Those look like morning glory's to me. Roundup will take care of it. Then just rip it all out. Someone probably planted a wildflower assortment back there some time and that's what you end up with. Tough to kill it completely. You just have to stay on top of it

 

[MrSurly]

Edit: Renting a chipper might be an option worth considering. I didn't think of that. Never used a small chipper like that so not sure how well they would handle vines and dead growth.

Even better for your situation: there are *Electric* chipper-shredders as well. Not as powerful or fast, but capable

 

[kythri]

One interesting point someone here made on roundup is that if it’s too concentrated when sprayed on the leaves, the chemical won’t produce the desired effects.

I haven't had this issue with concentrated glyphosate. I tend to mix it a fair amount stronger than the instructions provide, and it's always killed what I needed it to kill.

 

[Aaron_W]

Just saw a post on Facebook where I guy will rent you his goats, leave them in your yard and let them eat all that ****, at least at ground level.

Sounds funny but I bet it works and is fairly economical. Might not have the same service in Brooklyn though.

Goats are a great option for heavily overgrown yards if available.

Self bagging too, so very little clean up, although they will occasionally "leak" some pellets and fluid.

 

[ajchien]

I’d bring everything I have. Hand pruners, loppers, reciprocating saw, chain saw, hedge trimmer, weed whacker, different shovels ... and if I had a wood chipper I’d bring that too for tie disposal side along with brooms, rakes, “dustpans” as big as I have, and lots of bags/containers for waste.

My biggest issue with yard work is 1) time and 2) disposal.

I never quite know what tool will get me done quickest until I start. And there’s no point clearing up more if you have no place to dispose of it.

I personally find cleaning up “dead plants” harder and messier, so I probably wouldn’t chemically kill them first. That’s my opinion.

 

[Moto]

I ordered some concentrated roundup. I’ll spray the backyard with my garden sprayer this weekend.

A follow up post in a few weeks would be appreciated.

 

[WittHay]

I’d bring everything I have. Hand pruners, loppers, reciprocating saw, chain saw, hedge trimmer, weed whacker, different shovels ... and if I had a wood chipper I’d bring that too for tie disposal side along with brooms, rakes, “dustpans” as big as I have, and lots of bags/containers for waste.

My biggest issue with yard work is 1) time and 2) disposal.

I never quite know what tool will get me done quickest until I start. And there’s no point clearing up more if you have no place to dispose of it.

I personally find cleaning up “dead plants” harder and messier, so I probably wouldn’t chemically kill them first. That’s my opinion.

I agree with you 100%. For instance blackberry vines that are a inch thick and 15 feet high are a lot different than morning glorys that wrap around everything. Some places have both along with tall grass. Have all the tools you mentioned except for the wood chipper, allowed to burn outdoors here.

Dried material gets brittle and is harder to handle. Regarding Roundup, have always used the commercial grade Transorb and applied it on the heavy side for gravel yards. Usually applied in the spring when the plants or grass is short and growing. The summer heats burns it . Then in the fall again after the rains start but before there is frost.

There is more powerful stuff available, but little leary of using it in public areas like behind a house or a commercial yard where people walk around, more for railroad right a ways.

 

[jessesandy]

Lay the cut pieces in the same direction and make a pile.
Then tie into bundle with some rope or straps.
Sit on the bundle, compress and keep tightening up the straps.
Carry through the house.

 

[PugetDude]

Goats are a great option for heavily overgrown yards if available.

Self bagging too, so very little clean up, although they will occasionally "leak" some pellets and fluid.

Remember, everything that goes into or out of the backyard has to come and go through the tenant's kitchen...

 

[ChaseDE]

Lay the cut pieces in the same direction and make a pile.
Then tie into bundle with some rope or straps.
Sit on the bundle, compress and keep tightening up the straps.
Carry through the house.

That or get yourself a tarp and lay it all in there long ways, when done wrap it up like a taco, tie it up, and haul it out.

 

[branimal]

Sprayed the yard with roundup on Saturday from the second floor. That way I can hit all the leaves.

Should be there later this week to reassess.

Thanks for all the input.




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[Milton Shaw]

Make sure you identify what plants you are cutting down. My son in law had a rental house with plants up the side of it. I told him it was poison Ivy.He didn't believe me and ended up in the emergency room. He ended up miserable for a couple of weeks because it really was poison ivy. He worked in shorts, flip/flops and no shirt, ended up completely covered with blisters.

 

[JRC3]

Don't start with Round up. It will kill, but the plants will still be there, and you will make an herbacidal mess. You will still need to cut and remove the plants.

The cheap route is cut with a billhook/machete or Fiskars big loppers with mechanical advantage. The Fiskars is one of my best purchases ever and has taken more abuse than any tool should. Cut low. Easier with the loppers. Easy to cut at ground level.

More expensive is a quality hedge trimmer. Cut low.

Whichever way you cut, spray the stumps with concentrated Roundup or a stump killer.

I bought one of these Fiskar pruners a few months ago. https://www.menards.com/main/outdoo...-c-13242.htm?tid=-7317630104236726022&ipos=17 Excellent fo reacing into shrubs and bushes. Also great for stick/thorny type stuff as you can use the tool to pick it up after you lop it off.