Ugly Job, But I Have to Do It.

[Koa Man]

This is what I am working on this week. Removing 2340 sq. ft. of 12 ft. high boughanvillea from a steep hillside. This is a 5 day job. Very dense thorny stuff that is sort of like a vine, extremely difficult to pull apart. Removal access is very poor. Customer had difficult time finding someone to do it and asked me to give him a price when we we working next door. I was going to decline, but my groundies said let's do it.

 

[Koa Man]

Density and thorns.

 

[Koa Man]

I'm getting there, I'm almost half done at the end of today.

 

[preach it]

Yuch! That's grounds for wearing kevlar on your arms. It may be kinda warm but at least you will still have your arms in one piece. You can find kevlar arm protection on ebay for about $10.

 

[TheTreeSpyder]

Sometimes people don't want to mess with Bougainvillea themselves, and take bids etc. Sometimes it seems to me people take bids on that kinda stuff to find someone that doesn't know what they are getting into.

The stuff is pretty, when it is all aflame with blossoms (only reason to put up with it, unless ya ran out of barb wire too early). It takes to drought some, but not cold, can take over like a weedy vine, really spectacular down here, till you go near it.

Those are about the shortest needles i've ever seen on the stuff, they get an inch or so, with a fine hooked needle and some kinda low level poision on the thorn that some folks are quite sensitive too, most get rash etc. to remind you who ya'been messin'with!

i don't get hardly any jobs like that, might be pricing them too high! Few times people wanted them removed, then i might be able to lasso a bunch, draw tight with truck, cut some free, draw tighteretc., etc.; then drag to road when all cut free, and the tangled mess you usually fight against, helps hold it together.

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

I'll come help you finish...if you fly me out and put me up for a week or so.

 

[NeTree]

I hope you charged plenty of coconuts for that... yikes!

 

[CJ-7]

It looks like a good job for flamethrower!

Ok, I have been lurking for a long time now, but I couldn't pass on this one.

 

[geofore]

hillside

How long before that grows back in?
The groundmen sound like they wanted to have a change of pace for a day or two, a good thing to keep them going. Man what a mess of thorns. That would be like cleaning up wild roses on a property line in these parts. The roses have the hooked back needles but not as long and every one of them wants a piece of your flesh when you try to back away.

 

[treeman82]

Would you have been able to spray that stuff with round-up or something like that and then go back with a brush hog? Or even a small excavator?

 

[Guy Meilleur]

Originally posted by treeman82
Would you have been able to spray that stuff with round-up or something like that and then go back with a brush hog? Or even a small excavator?

Goats?
I've used a flamethrower on pampas grass, etc.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Where does someone get a flame thrower, Guy?

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

I was thinking flail mower on an excavator, but acessability looks limited.

That looks worse then a foeild full of prickly ash and buckthorn grown over with grape vine.

 

[Guy Meilleur]

Originally posted by MasterBlaster
Where does someone get a flame thrower?

We have a rental yard here, ~$135./day.

 

[kurtztree]

Looks worse to me then poison ivy. I'd rather chip poison ivy I dont get it. But if it was about -22 in the winter thorns are not to bad if you have alot of sweat shirts on. but you probably never get that cold down there.

 

[Koa Man]

No possible way to get any kind of machinery up there. It is behind the house and we need to climb up a rock wall 6 ft. high to get to the work area. I'll take a pix of the access when I go back tomorrow.

TreeSypder,
I have done several medium sized boughanvillea removals in the past, maybe about 15-20% the size of this one. I think after day 3, my groundmen are starting to cry, "Uncle." The older groundie told the other guy, "It's mind over matter. Never mind the pokes and scratches because it's not going to matter."

kurtztree,
It has been about 80* this week with full sun, so not exactly wearing a lot of sweat shirts. In fact, no shirts. My customer and two of his neighbors who were watching us wasn't wearing any shirts either.

Yes, I'm going to spray all the cut stumps with RoundUp.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

For most plants the efficacy of control with a stump paint drops after 20 min.

You would probablly do better to allow them to resprout a bit or you'll be wating product.

Using a hort oil base, Ive seen 90-95% control of buckthorn when applied in the 20 min window.

 

[tomreeve]

Yeah it's too late. But the area looks dry enough that you might not get too much re sprout. Is this makai enough that its dry? I've found that an 8% solution of triclopyr works as well as round-up and cuts down on product used (i.e. dilute the 40% blackberry killer down to 8).

 

[Koa Man]

Originally posted by tomreeve
But the area looks dry enough that you might not get too much re sprout. Is this makai enough that its dry?

It sure is. About as makai as you can get. Right off the ocean on the South shore.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

makai? Is that the leeward side of the island?