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Well, the decision's finally been made, and we're moving to Placitas from Washington state. We will be buying a house on at least 2 acres but hopefully 5+ acres. We will hold out on buying until we can find a house on land with established native trees and vegetation. No bare land... the more trees and pinons and junipers the better.
Currently, we are on acreage outside of Seattle and have equipment needed to maintain our land, some unlikely to be needed in Placitas, such as a lawn tractor (ride-on lawn mower).
We only want to bring what we are likely to need. The wood chipper's coming, but we're not sure if we should bring both our hardy hand-held weed trimmer AND our wheeled walk-behind weedtrimmer/brushcutter.
QUESTION 1 : If you live rural or semi-rural in or near Plactias, what equipment do you use/need to maintain your land?
QUESTON 3: Would a sturdy hand-held weedtrimmer have enough might to comfortably maintain 2-5 acres in Plactias? (Our hand-held is not the typical suburban weedtrimmer for lawn edging. Ours does some serious trimming of forest vegetation.)
Feel free to suggest anything you can think of on equipment needed for land maintenance on rural land in the high desert of norther New Mexico.
I live in an area with sage, saltbush, chamisa, locust trees and similar stuff. I let it grow wild but remove tumbleweed. I keep the two courtyards and the strip near the driveway maintained and planted. I keep stuff away from the house. I use my weed whacker along the fence because my only neighbor is a little more tidy than I am. Every few years I will have a team come in and cut back the stuff that gets way out of hand. The wild part is full of quail families now. The back half of the land belongs to quail, cottontails, jackrabbits, coyotes and roadrunners — I don’t pay much attention to it or even go back there more than 4-5 times a year. A sturdy weed whacker and maybe a small chainsaw might be sufficient.
We've lived in Placitas for 20+ years and haven't trimmed a weed or cleared vegetation much outside of the courtyards during that time. Every spring we whack back the sages and early on had to work on getting rid of the thistles, but not much more.
We came from having a couple acres lawn in the midwest and left nearly all of the yard maintenance tools behind. We have about an acre, and it basically maintains itself. Seems that we and SunGrins do about the same of work, except we don't have either a chain saw or weed whacker.
Renting equipment might be all you need to do. In seven years I have used my weed whacker twice along the fence line. I rent a chain saw when I want one (once so far) and don't maintain or store one. I do have an electric hedge trimmer that I use in my courtyards to keep things from getting too big (avoid Russian Sage!). Even in the courtyards I have desert plants sneaking in -- sage and prickly pear. I adopted one of each but remove others.
The desert really does take care of itself and it is best not to interfere. Those Junipers we take for granted are probably averaging 300-500 years old and some older than that (how many young ones do you see?) I have sages that look to be 100 years old or more. A careless land scar from home builders' machinery stays there for generations.
We want to live with the land and nurture the natural vegetation, not try to change anything. We're eager to learn the ways of the high desert land and live within its means. It's truly exciting to hear that the junipers are that old. I had no idea. They certainly do deserve our respect, elders that they are.
My question was prompted by the owner of the VRBO we stayed at in Placitas spring of 2019 when he told us that the prior week, all the land between his house and the casita we were staying in had been covered in thigh-high weeds, and he'd just about killed himself getting rid of them. I found this odd, but it had been super wet that spring, and it was the greenest I'd ever seen Placitas in the four years I'd visited, so I didn't question just how many weeds.
I've just put the wheeled weed trimmer up on craigslist but will be keeping the handheld. We'll bring the chainsaw, too. but hope never have a need to use it. I tend to adapt to my environment wherever I am, whether it's the interior of a car or outside, so I have little interest in creating some unnatural "garden" on our land. Of course, I will be trying to grow some food in raised beds, see how that works. Again, one of the most appealing things about moving to somewhere so different to us is learning new ways of co-habitating with the land, animals, and the local culture (like chiles, growing chiles! - then taking them away to be roasted)
We are aware of how the land is so easily scarred and will never forget this. At the VRBO, I saw what seemed to be a weed in the gravel drive, bent to pull it and decided against it, first because maybe the owner wanted that weed, and second, maybe it wasn't even a weed. What did I know?
Russian sage you say? Duly noted, thanks! I just went looking, and it is kind of pretty, though. The literature says it grows by suckers and grows quite tall, which must be why you suggest avoiding Russian sage. No, one of the things I am most eager to experience is very little yard work. I want to set myself up for success on that one, so thanks for mentioning Russian sage. If I plant anything, I'll avoid that one.
Those Junipers we take for granted are probably averaging 300-500 years old and some older than that
You might be surprised about that...woodcutting and animal grazing in many parts of northern and central New Mexico was very widespread until only a hundred years ago or less, so in many places the majority of the juniper tree cover is newer than that. They grow pretty fast. I worked for several years at an outdoor site just north of San Antonito on the other side of the Sandias, in an area that today boasts abundant mature junipers, and was amazed to see historical photos of the area from 1914 with only a handful of junipers present. Formerly cultivated areas around Placitas (along Las Huertas Creek and near the village) were likely the same, and woodcutting and sheep/cattle grazing would have been extensive for miles around, at least at lower elevations.
You can keep goats-- they're great at removing weeds. But you also need to know that many things that are considered "weeds" in other places, are considered "wildflowers" in New Mexico. Your host may have had mustard plants, they are common there, and you can eat the flowers.
You'll need to find out what actually does need to be controlled because of wildfire danger, within a certain radius of your home.
I have Russian sage in my Albuquerque landscaping and like it, it attracts pollinators. Of course it's non-native. It does take a little work to cut back in the spring and the sap is sticky, strong but pleasant-smelling. The suckers are easy to pull up if you keep on top of it.
You can keep goats-- they're great at removing weeds. But you also need to know that many things that are considered "weeds" in other places, are considered "wildflowers" in New Mexico. Your host may have had mustard plants, they are common there, and you can eat the flowers.
You'll need to find out what actually does need to be controlled because of wildfire danger, within a certain radius of your home.
I have Russian sage in my Albuquerque landscaping and like it, it attracts pollinators. Of course it's non-native. It does take a little work to cut back in the spring and the sap is sticky, strong but pleasant-smelling. The suckers are easy to pull up if you keep on top of it.
I have a friend who lives in Tijeras, who watches out for wildfires, but I didn't think the spotted hills of Placitas near I-25 would be have much of a wildfire risk. I'll have to look into that, learn some things.
I did like the looks of Russian sage, but I tell ya...I'm up to my ears weary of yard work, so if all I have to do is maintain the stuff a few times a year, I can do that, but beyond that, I need a break! I can do a half hour a week with no qualms. Would 30 minutes a week be enough to keep on top of the Russian sage?
The good thing is we've decided to rent before buying, and that will give us time to learn things and avoid making big mistakes. We rented for a year when we left San Diego for the Pacific Northwest, and it helped us know what to look for, and we lucked out and bought the perfect property. We hope to have the same luck this time around.
I'm going to find some Russian sage and see what's what about it, visit some plant farms while we acclimate. Thanks for the insight.
I just Googled Placitas, NM, and it's a small town with virtually no crime. Great ta have you in New Mexico, Algiz. I think you're gonna love it. We are so glad we're no longer in Washington state. Because of the nature of my medical work, we've lived in several states in the U.S. New Mexico is Mrs. elkotronics and I's favorite place to live out of all of 'em.
Congrats!
Last edited by Yac; 06-15-2021 at 11:10 PM..
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