10 Acres of Brush

chrisjbell · Apr 12, 2003

Yes, someone mowed that down. For sure.

There are some other good comments in the thread before I jumped back in, and I'm going to add my $0.02 /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif...

Something that you need to keep in mind is the weather pattern here in Northern CA. From Oct. through May we get rain - hopefully. We're getting close to a good rainy season, but not there yet. The rest of the time there is absolutely no rainfall - you are either in a wetlands (rare), you irriagate, or it all dies and becomes tinder dry.

Grazing the land would work well during the rainy season. If you want to graze during the summer you'll have to irriagate (and probably plant some different grasses - the native species are trained to die down durning the summer).

Brush hogging actually doesn't leave it too barren. When you go over the...stuff, I guess /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif...it creates a kind of mulch that retains moisture. That makes it break down into compost faster when it starts to get nailed by the sun. In places where you irrigate (or have water already - spring?) it will knock out the really tall stuff and help encourage the shorter stuff.

They may still be weeds, but they'll be shorter and you might be able to convince people that they're a hybrid grass /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif.

Casimir · Apr 12, 2003

"Most of the comments to me were fire-control related. But it seems like brush cutting would leave just as much kindling on the ground as simply letting the weeds die on their own."


Not so. If you leave the grass and brush standing, they act as "ladder fuels" to allow the fire to climb up into the crown of the oaks. Also, standing fuels have a lot more air/oxygen around them, so they burn hotter and faster. Cutting them down leaves litter on the ground, but a fire will only creep through this, rather than roaring through. Also, cutting the weeds and brush mulches the material so it will rot and break down into the soil quicker.

Plowing or disking will expose the bare soil. Unless you plant something else, the annual grasses in your area will just come back, but until they do, your soil will be exposed to wind and water erosion. You need a vegetative cover to hold the soil in place. Besides, a nice mowed appearance looks better than bare soil to most folks. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Fire is a big concern in your area. Every year a lot of people in California lose homes to wildfires. If your property allows it, mowing is good, inexpensive insurance. At the very least, a 30 to 100 foot wide fire break, mowed and/or planted to fire-resistant species around your home and outbuildings is one of the best things you can do to protect your property.

The vegetation in that area evolved under regular fires. It will reestablish itself in a couple of years, but your home and buildings will not. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

Casimir · Apr 12, 2003

Wow -- four posts while I was typing mine, and they all agree -- wonder how that happened??? /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

MarkV · Apr 12, 2003

I don't know much about that area of California but what about controlled burning? Of course I mean with the help or guidance of the appropriate authorities in the area.

MarkV

Bird · Apr 12, 2003

( they all agree -- wonder how that happened? )

Reckon it had something to do with them being right? /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

Casimir · Apr 12, 2003

Bird: I would like to think so.

Mark: Controlled burning is an option, if it is done often enough so that the material being burned is just the low grasses, and not tall enough to get up into the crown of the oaks. He would definitely need to work with the CA Division of Forestry and the local Fire Department on design and proper times to burn - big liability if it gets away and destroys someone else's property /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif

chrisjbell · Apr 12, 2003

I don't know much about that area of California but what about controlled burning? 

A good idea, but is generally not allowed out here. Some folks can get agricultural burn permits (mostly rice farmers), but there is this thing out here we like to call CARB. California Air Resources Board. The concern with burning is the amount of air polution it creates (not to mention the possibility of it getting out of control).

I still have a burn permit, but there is a limit on the size of the pile (I'm not sure what it is, but I'm certain that I never exceed it /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif). But the county is now coming around to chip branches to prevent people from burning them for free. Anyway, they probably won't allow it.

The other problem with burning is that you'd wind up with bare soil, which would then be prone to heavy erosion when the rains start up in the fall. If you just cut it off, the roots stay intact and the ground stays covered up nicely.

But you might check about a burn. Make sure you contact the forestry department (CDF - they have a good website), though. They get awfully upset if folks try to light things on fire that they aren't allowed to.

SLOBuds · Apr 13, 2003

Thanks everyone. A few notes to close the loop.

Well, the stuff has to come down - and pretty soon now. I will not be able to decide on a tractor quicly enough to brush hog it myself with new equipment this first time. So I will either need to hire it out, or see if I can pick up rental equipment which would probably be a good training exercise anyway.

The property fyi is in Central Coast of California, near Arroyo Grande in a little township called 'Huasna.' It's kind of 'undiscovered' from a California perspective. The weather in Arroyo Grande is absolutely pristine. In Huasna it's slightly less pristine, but very nice still.

Controlled burns are not allowed in that area.

As I mentioned above, I will later post my routine tractor-type maintence chores in the buing/selling forum and see what everyone thinks about the right tractor for my place ... and me!

Thanks again and best regards,
Martin Petersen

chrisjbell · Apr 14, 2003

So I will either need to hire it out, or see if I can pick up rental equipment which would probably be a good training exercise anyway 

Renting a tractor would be a great idea, if you can find one with a brush hog. That gives you several things:

- OTJ training /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
- Practice with someone else's equipment (you might consider buying the full coverage insurance in case you break something, especially since you don't have lots of experience)
- A feel for how much work it will be (you'll probably have to do it two or three times a year)

But yeah, with these rains we're getting now the stuff out there is gettin' large. Some is starting to go brown already (for those of you that don't have these grasses, they die out after spring even if you water them). I put the brush hog on my tractor on Friday - and then it started to rain /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif.

No seat time this weekend /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif. But plenty coming up! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Soundguy · Apr 14, 2003

( that call for a tractor. But some of those projects are clean-up of the site, which will be 1 time purposes only. )

You own land now.. and a sizeable peice... You will ALWAYS need a tractor once you buy it /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif.. Besides.. once you've driven it.. you'll love it.

Nice looking land. .. Consulting the magic oracle.. I predict you'll need around 30hp, 4wd... if you get a fel.. many people want a hydro tranny to go with it... your choice..
Um.. a rotary cutter... possible a finish mower.. if you plan on doing alot of finish cutting.. or if not.. a lawn mower might take up that slack. Though you havn't specifically mentioned anything that sounded like you needed a box blade.. you might consider one.. they aren't that expensive compaired to some other implimints you get, and are more or less the 'swiss army knife' of tractor implimints. Us non fel people use the heck out of them.. If you get a FEL.. obviously that will be your most versatile implimint.. and in some ways obsoletes a box blade... etc.
You'll find that regular mowing turns that unweildly pasture in to something resembling 'groomed'.. even with just a rotary cutter.

Soundguy
good luck.