My family are buying our first house in Philadelphia, it has a typical small row home backyard that is INSANELY overgrown. We want to clear it out and have it functional with a little garden and just some nice grass ideally…. But here’s the problems:
There is all this overgrowth, but that’s not the worst, under the overgrowth the soil is so uneven and literally looks like a PILE of dirt. There’s giant mounds of it in some areas, and less in others but there’s just a shit ton of soil back there.
My question is for any savvy DIY’ers that have some advice on what they would do to clear this out, then even out the ground, and maybe get some nice grass growing?
So far the plants we’ve identified back there are:
Pokeweed
White mulberry
English ivy
Virginia creeper
White snakeroot
Mugwort
by 90percentstress
17 Comments
It’s so Grey Gardens. I love it😊
your best bet is really just some loppers and tenacity. get it cut down as much as possible. then a skid-steer or hire someone for the grading.
I’d rent a bush trimmer with a blade and cut it all down so I could get to the roots and pull as many as possible.
If you don’t kill, dig or pull the roots it’ll just grow back.
I’ve also had success with boiling water poured on the roots to kill them. After the unwanted plants are handled you can spread grass seed.
Looking at it makes me itchy.
Invest in a small chain saw (Craftsman makes a 6” one). It’ll will help more than you know.
A full day or two with loppers and trimmers.
Goats
Buy a weed whacker and get to work.
Suggest wearing long pants and long sleeve shirt and gloves. Wouldn’t want to get poison ivy, since it’s hard to spot with so much going on. Dawn dish soap and a wash cloth and scrub down afterwards.
I can’t tell from the pictures how large the yard is, so I can’t really judge the amount of time and work; but consider letting things die back before tackling the whole area. Perhaps hand clear nearest the stairs and house. Plan on multiple trips to the dump. Personally I would hire a person with a brush hog who would also remove the debris and be done with it. Likely they could help with leveling too.
If you’re interested in starting two projects at once, all of that leafy material would do well in a new compost pile.
Rent tools at a taylor rental or a home depot. Get a face shield (not just googles), gloves, bags. Go at it with weed whackers and you should be in great shape. Have them show you how to do it. Wear pants/jeans and boots. Sneaks are okay but that string can really do damage.
No need to buy anything for this right now. Once it’s done, maybe buy an ego or something to “cut the grass”.
There’s some poison ivy on the fence where the picket section is leaning.
Rent a goat for a couple of days lol
Don’t just rip it all out and think you’re done. Go in sections and take your time deciding what layout you want based on how the sun hits in different seasons and the wind and stuff like that. Right now it is serving partially as a fence/air conditioner/wind break and if completely removed might have consequences.
Buy plenty of epsom salt for your nightly hot bath following the cleanup. And some Tylenol too. 😆
Consider timing the cleanup:
– so the new sod or [seeds](https://landlawngarden.com/best-time-to-plant-grass-seed/) can be laid at the optimal time of the year for your grass type.
– in case Mother Nature decides to give you a mud pit if you’ve cleared the vegetation but new seed or sod hasn’t taken root to hold your topsoil in place.
Check your grass type zone (cool, transitional or warm) to determine the time needed for it to establish itself on the soil.
1. Apply a nonspecific herbicide and wait for everything to die.
2. Inspect and remove trash/debris from the lawn.
3. Use loppers, pruners, chain saw to cut down the dead trees, bushes and climbing vines;
4. Use a bush hog to clear the tall grass & dead shrubs; remove remnants of old vegetation.
5. Add topsoil if needed conduct a soil test and add amendments if needed.
6. Grade the area.
7. Now is the time to add your walking paths, sitting areas, stones for BBQ grill & fire pit etc (pavers, cement or flat stones) and create border sections for shrubs/flower beds.
8. Install your new sod. It’s best yo me match the sod to your front lawn to keep maintenance costs low, and minimize cross contamination of grass types.
Good luck! 🍀
Whats under that thicket of shrubs,it appears that grade slopes.