By Andru McCracken
When Chris Diamond asked Joseph Nusse to clear his Fifth Avenue commercial property, the initial idea was to use an excavator to level it and haul the organic matter out.
“We would have been left with a dust bowl,” said Nusse. “Even if you planted it and watered for full summer it would have just been a dust bowl.”
Instead Nusse convinced Diamond to grind the branches in place.
Nusse said it reduces the ground disturbance and prevents invasive weed from taking over.
“You don’t have to mow it for like five, six years afterwards,” he said.
Nusse said it is far better than burning the material onsite.
“With the hassle and the cost of burning, this is without question the most economic option,” he said. “When you’re living in a sandy valley, it makes absolutely no sense to burn off your top soil and organics.”
Nusse said blading the lot to create burn piles removes the precious little topsoil already there, while the chipped wood helps retain moisture
Nusse hired the grinder from GD Contracting.
