My house was encircled by woods on a t acre lot. We raised the canopy to 8 feet and removed all the underbrush, and trees not bigger than my husband's forearm. I cut back 5 yards from the grass line all around the house, one side of the house at a time. You will get help it sounds like.I have cleared an acre or more of underbrush in the 12 years I have lived here. Mowing wasn't an option due to the tree stumps. There are some weeds you just need to kill, pull or chemical; they have to go. Vines will grow back, best pulled too. My gardens are in a constant war with the woods. The woods want to take back what was theirs. I will be pulling weeds, saplings for the rest of my life. There is no way to make them just not come back. Right now my hosta are winning and the load to pull is light but I keep on top of it. Once I am no longer able I wonder how many years it will take for the woods to win. It is just part of the agreement I made with myself/the garden. The spring is the worst of it. I know I need to make a sweep each year.

Robin,

Gently squelch the DH, and start rounding up the teenagers [grins].

Try to find out just what plants are the biggest problems here. But although the "riding mower" may seriously discourage a couple of things, it may just help spread others. And often the most obnoxious and persistent 'others' are those that spread by runners, and are actually going to respond to mowing by spreading farther, putting up lots of more plants.

I cleared the rear of my property which was filled with privet, poison ivy, honeysuckle and lots of things I don't know the name of. Sawed or lopped right at ground level and immediately drizzled Green Light Cut Vine & Stump Killer on each cut. Had excellent results. Privet returned via roots running from the parent plant. Reapplied stump killer. The container allows a drop at a time to be applied.

HTH, Rosie

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Before you clear you SHOULD KNOW what you are clearing out.
When we built some 40 years ago, we had hawthorn, witch hazel, maple-leaf viburnum, farkleberry and various tree seedlings of the trees on the property. We removed some, but not all of the haws, put in paths and over the years have planted native wildflowers and ferns.If you do decide to clear, I would suggest loppers and then remove any suckers that sprout. In all those years the woods are not taking over my garden. It sounds like your a neatnik. I allow 90% of my tree seedlings to grow. And why grow Hosta. Ferns are a much better choice and if you have deer it's a win-win situation.