Stone Walls Archives - Lush Heritage

If you’ve read my post (and updates!) concerning The Main Lawn, you know that one of my 2019 goals is to clear the brush that is hiding the stone wall that runs along its northern edge.

Stone walls are a magnificent symbol of New England and a testament to the great fortitude and ingenuity of our ancestors. I’ve seen massive stones in some of these walls and wondered how they were transported and positioned without machinery. I appreciate the Herculean efforts of these early inhabitants and the beautiful structures they left behind, most of which are amazingly intact centuries after they were built.

I can’t imagine my native landscape without them and am doing what I can to showcase them as I’m truly fortunate to have so many bordering various areas of my property.

Last weekend, my sister and I spent a few hours cutting down trees, bittersweet, and wild rose bushes using hand clippers and a chainsaw. I was so intent on starting Saturday morning before it became too hot that I didn’t take as many before photos as I should have. Here are a few:

Yes, there really is a stone wall behind all that vegetation. A large stand of milkweed is on the right, out of frame. We spotted several monarch butterflies around the milkweed, as I’d hoped when I opted to leave the area unmowed, as further detailed in The Main Lawn post.

Here is a slightly different angle, taken after we’d already removed and stacked some brush. The fire pond is to the left, out of frame. The grass growing into the trees and brush was more than two feet tall a month ago. I plan to keep cutting it until I resembles standard lawn grass, as further detailed in my post about The Main Lawn.

Here are a few photos as the work is in progress last Saturday morning:

Cutting is the easy part, whether with clippers or a chainsaw. Pulling 20-foot long vines from around tree branches without breaking any branches is a lot more challenging. They can get really heavy when they’re fully leafed out. These invasive plants twist around and carve themselves into tree trunks as they grow to the top of the canopy, killing the trees if left unchecked.

There were many more piles of brush than what is shown here by the time we stopped cutting. Luckily, we were working in the shade. The fire pond is in the background; its southern end is left of center. From this position, you can see it a bit better in person.

After several breaks, we were done by 2:30pm then headed to our parents’ house just up the road. Although it was over 90 degrees we fired up our favorite hardwood briquets and rewarded ourselves with grilled bacon cheeseburgers on brioche buns. Grilled onions were a great addition. (The next day we ate the same meal and added fresh thyme to the onions – delicious!) But, I digress.

On Sunday morning, it was hot and humid before 9:00am, but I had to finish the job before midday due to travel plans. I usually remove whatever I’ve cut the same day I cut it but was too tired to do so on Saturday; I like to return to a “clean” work site even if the job isn’t entirely done just for the psychological boost of starting fresh. Also, I never know if weather or a personal or work situation will keep me away for weeks, and the site just looks better without a bunch of grass-killing debris all over.

Sadly, I lost the pin that secures the cart to the riding mower and didn’t realize it until that morning. Truly awful!

Determined, I dragged three big stacks of brush several hundred yards across a sun-soaked lawn and hayfield to an existing brush pile. It was going to be a rough morning, but I kept going.

My sister arrived right after my fourth haul and quickly assessed the situation. Instead of dragging the brush all that long way in the increasing heat, she said we should drag it to the corner of the lawn behind the stand of milkweed. We could then move it in the fall when I have my tree guy return to chip a lot of other cut trees.

As usual, her idea was brilliant.

We finished in about an hour, mostly working in the shade, with monarch butterflies flitting around the nearby milkweed.

I discovered a few things while working on this project:

First, I need to have more trees limbed this fall, both the white kousa dogwoods and the large deciduous trees behind them. The four or five dogwoods (one is “blooming” white in the photos below) are bent over because they’re growing into the lowest branches of the trees behind them. The dogwoods’ lowest branches are too low to the ground so the area still doesn’t look as clean as it should. Also, several of the large trees have dead branches still attached to them so they need to be removed for safety (and secondarily, aesthetic) reasons.

Second, I need to determine how or if the dogwood trees can be re-trained to grow straight again. They must have looked spectacular before they began to grow into their neighbors.

Lastly, I need to remove several branches that have fallen over the years, many of which are lying on or around the stone wall. A major downside to clearing property is that you can then see how much more work needs to be done.

I have to stress that I’m not trying to achieve a five-star resort appearance here. Neat and natural is my goal.

All in all, I’m pleased with how the area looks after 4-5 hours of work, and I’m thrilled to see that wall!