Trees, undercover, and invasive plants could start overgrowing, making your whole yard a mess. You can go for quite a while avoiding this, but it eventually catches up with you, and now you have to clear the brush from your yard. Overgrown brush in your yard will prevent you from creating something better for your yard, like a patio or garden plot.
Clearing brush can take a lot of time and energy or little depending on the tools you have at hand and tips that will help you get through the job easily. You can upscale or downscale the tools you will be using to clear the brush depending on the amount of work you have. You will need the right power tools for bigger jobs, while simple hand tools can handle much of the work if it’s not a tremendous amount of work.
Even when choosing the tools you will need when clearing the brush in your yard, you will need to consider the clothes you will wear while working. It might seem like a moot subject, but you never know what you will meet while doing yard work. It is better to think of that and protect your body from harm that branches and thorny plants could cause. Wearing the right shoes, too, will be a game-changer so you can comfortably step over the brush pile and avoid hurting your feet and ruining your good shoes.
Generally, you will need to protect your eyes, arms, legs, and hands. This means you will need to buy eye protection, wear long sleeves, long pants covering your legs entirely, boots, and a pair of long gloves.
Why clearing brush from your yard is so important
- To create space for other landscaping projects. Clearing the brush could give you new ideas on better utilizing your yard. When the brush is overgrown, it tends to take over the soil’s best nutrients. So, if you’re looking forward to growing something on your lawn, better clear it up.
- Improves access: Clearing the brush makes it easier to move around your home’s compound. If you have any utility workers coming over to fix power or underground lines, you will have given them easy access to these things. Also, if you’re looking to sell your house, a cleared-up yard increases the property’s value. It will also make it look appealing.
- Prevents fires: Clearing overgrown brushes prevent the chances of them catching fire and spreading to your house. Considering this is something you can do in a matter of hours, it is better to get it over with than wait for the worst to happen.
- Removes unwanted pests and predators: It tends to attract rodents and pests when you have an overgrown yard. These could get in your home, causing you to need an exterminator, or if you have plants and flowers, they could destroy them. If you live in an area notorious for snakes, overgrown plants easily attract these animals.
Should underbrush be cleared?
Underbrush includes small trees, bushes, and shrubs that grow under bigger trees. The underbrush is often invasive and undesirable vegetation. They easily spread fire and make your yard look unkempt and shabby. You need to clear the underbrush to improve the appearance of your yard, improve access to your property, increase the usability of your yard, and increase the value of your property.
Even if appearances aren’t what you are looking for, it is generally wise to clear the underbrush for your safety and your family’s. They are good at attracting other animals, pests, fires, and snakes.
The 5 best tools to clear brush from your yard
You can use various tools to help you get started on your yard work. You can choose these tools depending on the yard work you need to do.
Brush mower
Brush mowers are fun to use since they are heavy-duty and can cut through bushes and trees that are up to 3″ thick. If your yard is heavily overgrown, you will need a brush mower to get the job done easily. There are two types of brush mowers.
One that is self-propelled and you can drive from behind, and another that you can drag behind a car. The second one is used mostly for covering large areas of land that you couldn’t otherwise walk across to get the work done in time. But if you have a manageable yard, the first one is the best choice to go with.
Stump grinder
When clearing brush in your yard, it is easy to leave behind stumps. Instead of leaving them behind, you can get a stump grinder that is easier to use than digging up a tree stump. Tree stumps are normally annoying and ugly and won’t let you leave behind a clear yard.
Compared to other methods like using a shovel or chemicals (which tend to take months before you can see results) to get out a stump, this tool will make your work so easy and seamless. Stump grinders come in varying sizes, and you can purchase one according to your needs. This tool will greatly save your back too.
Ax or hatchet
When clearing your overgrown yard, you will need to cut some bushes and small trees down with the help of either of these two. An ax or a hatchet is a great cutting tool that can be used on a small scale where you don’t need a power saw. If you have bigger trees to trim, that’s where power saws come into play.
A hatchet is used in smaller jobs. It cuts through trees and bushes upto two inches in diameter. A hatchet will be the perfect tool if your yard does not have bigger trees. But if you have bigger trees and branches to cut, don’t purchase a hatchet; it will take too much effort and time to get the job done.
For medium-sized trees and bushes, an ax would be a better option. Choose a style that will get the job done seamlessly when choosing an ax. When choosing one to use on extra tough brush clearing, select an ax whose head is attached with a bolt rather than glue. When doing heavy workloads, it is easy for the ones with glue to come off, which may cause an accident.
String or weed trimmer
Also known as weed eaters, weed trimmers are great for clearing thin weed, grasses, and brush. They greatly aid in cleaning up fence lines. There are two common types of weed trimmers, ones you can walk behind and others that are handheld. You can either purchase one that uses fuel or one that is chargeable. If you have a lot of yard work, it would be best to use the diesel-powered one to avoid worrying about a power source or recharging it often.
You can also get yourself a trimmer with replaceable blades or one with constant blades. The one with replaceable blades will give you a chance to switch up the blades for ones that can even cut through three inches of a brush. Alternatively, you can purchase the one with a fixed blade but ensure it’s the best one for you so you won’t lack a need for it later on.
Pruning shears
Pruning shears are tools you can use when trimming branches and weed samplings. They can cut upto one inch in diameter and are a good tool for taking care of your hedges. Pruning shears are heavy-duty scissors. This tool will not only help you when gardening, but it will also help you if you farm or make flower arrangements.
You can find shears that serve you best, like the ones for left-handed people or smaller hands. There are two main types of shears: bypass and anvil shears. Choose one according to how you like, or you can ask for help at the store. When using shears, do not attempt cutting bigger branches because this could damage the blades. Also, as a safety precaution, wear gloves when using shears to minimize or prevent blisters.
How do I stop my underbrush from growing back?
Now that you have cleared your underbrush, you now want to prevent them from growing back anytime soon. These few tips will help you keep underbrush growth at bay for a while.
- Using chemicals: To prevent the brush from growing back in only a few weeks, you can either use store-bought chemicals to kill them or make a mixture at home. You can make a homemade mixture by mixing white vinegar, dish detergent, and soap. To increase the mixture’s effectiveness, spray the mixture directly on the leaves and roots. With the store-bought chemical, spray per the instructions.
- Killing the tree stumps: When you have tree stumps in your backyard, it’s an easy way of inviting back growth because these stumps will grow back. You can kill the tree stumps by drilling 1-inch holes and then spraying the chemicals, making sure they get into those drilled holes. You can use store-bought or homemade herbicide for this purpose.
- Use mulch to cover it up: Another way to prevent underbrush from growing back is by using mulch. You can cover the cut underbrush with sawdust, bark chips, grass clippings, dead leaves, or organic mulches. These will prevent the sun from reaching the underbrush and allowing them to grow. You can also use inorganic mulches like sand, gravel, pebbles, landscape fabric, and geotextiles. Mulch is a good inorganic way to keep underbrush from growing back.
Conclusion
An overgrown yard isn’t aesthetically pleasing and can cause you harm. Tending to your yard should be a regular job. Undergrowth bush requires a certain set of tools that will help you get the job done easily and seamlessly. Yard work will always be a breeze with the right tools at hand. The above tools will help you get started on your yard work, and with time, you will decide which ones serve you better than the rest.
Also, as you tend to your yard, you should keep in mind your safety. Harming yourself isn’t a good thing, so be sure to dress the part. Sunburns are also not great; you should cover up well when working. Once you have cleared your underbrush, you can check up on the above ways to help prevent them from growing back easily because no one wants to spend every other week cutting down weed and brushes.