Weed Whackin'

So, as some of you know, I successfully killed all of my blackberries at the end of the summer last year. I estimate I had about 250 sq/ft of dead brambles left to clean up. The summer ran out, the cold started, motivation ended, and I left them out there during the winter. Snow packed everything down and it never sprung back up. To say the least, it's a total eyesore - and we hate it.

Sunday morning I picked up a Ryobi BC-30 Brush Cutter @ Home Depot. The nice thing about this one is that it easily converts into a string trimmer.

While it was recommended to me that I pick up a 1hp model, this .8hp design does the trick. I was able to plow through wet and dry brambles for as many hours as my out-of-shape arms could take. I believe you can get away with less horsepower now days with a straight shaft, as more of the power makes it to the business end of the trimmer.

Of course, I now have a displaced pile of dead brambles sitting next to the house, as my yard debris container is full of what /was/ my front yard; and I'm only done with about 50 sq/ft of the vines.