If you let your house get this way, it is likely you will be inviting rats/squirrels/your local vermin into your home. My brother became aware of a need an elderly widow had for some much needed maintenance around the house, so we volunteered and did a hard cutback on the ~15 foot tall Ligustrum shrubs (I would be willing to wager pretty much anything we did NOT kill them, so save your comments), cut a few feet off a half dozen azalea bushes present, and spent a long time cutting back some type of flowering vine that took over a corner of the house, grew up a TV antenna, and was annexing the pine tree. All debris was pulled to the client’s back property, which they approved and saved the city from having to pick up from a very dangerous roadside (both in terms of car volume/speed but also a pretty steep ditch that would have made the TL3 scoop loaders they use dangerous at worst and sketchy at best). A quick mow to get the grass short again topped the job off, in all we spend ~10 man hours on this project between the two of us, though that did include a tasty lunch break (thanks to my sister-in-law), lots of jaw-jacking, and a few dozen camera shot adjustments/placements.
Q: Why do you dress like Prison Mike?
A: While not technically bald, my hairline is both thinning and receding enough that I prefer to keep my head shaved. This means the Florida sun can eat up my head and there is nothing to catch my sweat. Neck gaiters are my go-to when I don’t want to wear a hat but do want to get some protection and keep the sweat out of my eyes.
Q: You killed those plants!
A: Probably not. I have cut back all kinds of shrubs this much. While this will be the first time I cut back ligustrum this much, I have seen other ligustrum trimmed this much and come back, so I don’t have any worries about the plants being dead.
Q: How much did you charge for this job?
A: This was a volunteer job that we did for an acquaintance, so there was no charge to the homeowner. If you are planning on bidding something similar, it took about 10 man hours (including probably 1 man hour of break time and probably another man hour of camera work), and didn’t consume much in the way of fuel (lots of electric equipment used). We had no dump fees since the client let us use their land, but we generated enough to probably fill my entire 7x14x2 trailer, so you have to remember to add all that in if you are bidding something like this.
Q: What equipment are you using?
A: ECHO 58V power base (1 of my 3 batteries are now completely dead and won’t charge after only a few years, hopefully their new 56v line lasts longer) for my ECHO PAS attachments, which are the pole saw, short reach hedge trimmer, and two 3 foot extensions. TORO 60V 16" chainsaw (love this guy, battery lasts forever in it) and TORO HDX 2000 60" mower.
Q: You should have used a ladder for part XYZ.
A: I agree! I didn’t bring one, though, so we didn’t use one.
Q: You should have pruned the shrubs in an XYZ method. (Or, wow, that looks horrible, I would never hire you)
A: If you let things get this bad, there isn’t any way to make it look good right away. All the green leaves and growth is on the outside of the plant, which is beyond where it should be growing. When you prune it all, you are left with nothing much.
0:00 Good morning!
0:26 Loading the Carry On trailer and landscape box
0:36 Swapping TORO 60v chainsaw chain for a newly sharpened one
1:12 ECHO pole saw, STIHL forestry helmet, ECHO extensions, and hedge trimmer attachment
1:36 TORO 60" HDX 2000 with MyRide and canopy option
1:46 Tall shrubs and overgrown hedges are heaven for critters and pests
2:16 Clearing a path and removing thorny vines from debris dump area
4:06 Hard cut back on huge ligustrum with 60V TORO chainsaw
6:38 Easy trick for hauling debris, bundle it and use a machine to drag
7:40 Hard trick for hauling debris, bundle it and use yourself to drag
8:52 With the biggest ligustrum down, the others should go quicker
10:23 Hitting the last section of ligustrum shrubs near the garage
12:10 Not going to make the same mistake twice, just watch!
13:10 Closer look at TORO 60V Chainsaw
15:15 Quick shape up of azalea bushes/shrubs
15:40 House taken over by shrub
16:00 Tree pruning ~15 feet up
16:26 Safety first…or second
17:01 I couldn’t put an undercut on this one
17:38 Almost took out the neighbor’s fence
18:00 Why you are only supposed to use 1 extension on this tool
18:36 Back to the vine hedge monstrosity
19:38 Wrapping everything up and before/after
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Copper Creek Cuts is a lawn care and landscaping business in Florida with a goal to entertain and educate.
Contact me: coppercreekcuts@gmail.com
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