Aussie homeowners are turning to an unusual method to tackle their unruly backyards and gardens. They’ve been used by some councils and the NSW Rural Fire Service to reduce bushfire risk and gobble invasive weeds, but now goats are hitting the suburban streets of Sydney to help residents overhaul their “heavily overgrown” properties.
Last week, Tim the Lawnmower Man was hired to sort out a 700-square-metre block in the city’s west. After assessing the yard, which he told Yahoo News Australia had been neglected for four years, the gardener decided to hire some hairy friends.
“[There was] quite a lot of wild overgrowth there,” Tim explained.
The yard was teeming with a large “mixture of brush and weed”, making access to the property “a bit of a nightmare”, he added, noting it would have been impossible to bring in his large equipment.
“That was one of the other reasons I thought goats might be a viable option,” he said.
Tim said he previously used goats to clear long grass at a home earlier this year, and was curious as to how they would enjoy eating the “completely wild” landscape.
“From the couple of jobs that I’ve done, they do knock over a lot in that first period,” he told Yahoo.
“They just absolutely demolish everything and just leave, basically sticks.”
Tim has since been documenting their progress in a series of videos posted to his social media.
Goats consume overgrown Sydney garden in just days
Footage shows the remarkable difference the 35 animals, provided by Denny Woods, who runs Central Coast Goats Fire Hazard Reduction Services, made in just 24 hours.
On Sunday, after three days at the property, everything was “stripped bare” except for a small patch of an unknown plant species that evidently didn’t delight their palates.
Not only are they efficient, but they’re a bit cute too.
“They seem to be having a ball,” Tim said.
“They’ve taken care of a lot of the bulk of the green waste that we would have had to deal with otherwise.
“That’s one of the biggest issues when you’re doing these sorts of cleanups… [it] takes up a lot of space and can be multiple trips to the tip,” the gardener continued.
The goats were picked up on Monday and transported to another job.
“It’s a different way of doing it. If it’s the right yard, it’s great,” Tim said.
Before and after photos show what the goats were able to accomplish in just three days. Source: Tim the Lawnmower Man/Facebook
35 mini goats strip property bare
Denny told Yahoo News that the dozens of goats he dropped off at the western Sydney home aren’t even part of his A-team.
“There’s only three full-sized goats there, the rest of them are all miniature adults and babies,” he said.
“So if 35 mini goats can clear it in four days, imagine what 35 big goats could do.”
Denny said his goats eat roughly a few kilos a day, but some of the bigger animals, which are six foot tall on their back legs, consume closer to 10kg.
“They go and eat for several hours, and then they’ll lounge around and digest.”
However, they are quite clever and if they suspect a plant is toxic, they won’t eat it. That could potentially explain the unknown weed left behind.
Homeowners seek animals to help tidy up backyards
Denny said he’s seen an increase in the amount of homeowners seeking his services in recent years.
“It’s a green, sustainable way to keep their yards down,” he told Yahoo.
“People like having wildlife in the yard, like frogs and that, but if you use sprays, it kills them. So better off using the goats.”
And that’s not the only perk.
If he feeds them coated grass seeds beforehand, the goats will spread them around the property via their pellets.
“You can have nice grass come through afterwards… all you gotta do is hose down the yard. It breaks down really quickly,” Denny explained.
Denny and his goat crew go ‘pretty much anywhere in New South Wales’, and are available to hire through his Facebook page.
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