When I was looking for property, I deliberately looked during the late fall and early winter, when the leaves were off the trees and the lay of the land was visible. Prior to this trip, I had never been to Floyd in the summertime and even though friends told me the difference was astonishing and that Floyd in the summertime was lush and green, I had no way of knowing what they were talking about until I came this time and saw for myself. Indeed! Well-tended woods are navigable, no doubt, but my property is infested with multiflora rose and oriental bittersweet, which makes for dense, impenetrable thickets. Thus, the need for the Bull Hog, the results of which you saw in previous posts. If I had seen the property in the summer, I might not have bought it, but I own it now. Perhaps I should say that it owns me! I have experience battling invasive exotics and I’m sure I’ll be busy for awhile, but eventually, I’ll get the invasives under control and the woods will be quite walkable. Before I brought in the Bull Hog, friends told me that the best way to deal with the exotics was through “hand-to-hand” combat. I’ve done that before – it is quite tedious but it is also very effective. Unfortunately, engaging in hand-to-hand combat with multiflora rose will result in you bleeding to death!

One day, my property will look more like these pictures taken of the driveway than it does now:

Michael Shortt built the driveway and used a fabric called Geo Textile under the sub-base to prevent the clay from coming up through the sub-base and causing it to prematurely fail. I’m not sure if the fabric helped the driveway to hold up better under this Spring’s heavy rains or not (I have read that it does help by allowing the water to run off more easily) but I do know that a combination of a not-too-steep slope, a very well built driveway, and perhaps the fabric resulted in an intact driveway. Michael is another highly recommended contractor in Floyd County. He is a busy man and you may have to wait awhile before he can get to your project, but he is definitely worth the wait!

Here is a view into the densely shaded woods from the top of the hill in the summertime:

Compare it to this view in an earlier post. Quite a dramatic difference, eh?