u/Fun_Independent_7529

We just moved into a home with a couple big brambles on the property. One runs down the length of the property, so a couple hundred feet long. It's designated as a wildlife corridor, I believe, per the neighbor I talked to on the other side.

This summer I've observed deer, rabbits, mice, voles, and a ton of different birds and pollinators, presumably plenty of bugs in there as well.

The brambly hedge is probably 20-ish feet wide. The Himalayan blackberries are running riot, completely dominating most of the space between the trees. There are plenty of other native species in there, but they are overrun by / intertwined with the blackberries now.

Beaked hazelnut
Nootka rose
Sword ferns
Big Leaf maple
Multiple red cedar
Madrone
Evergreen huckleberry
Western serviceberry
etc

We're picking blackberries now (yum). Only about a foot (into the width) of the hedge is on our property, the rest belongs to the HOA for the cul-de-sac on the other side, but they are OK if I replant some of it as long as I don't hack in there and leave it bare.

What I would like to do is pick a 5-ft section, dig out the blackberries / remove old woody vines, and plant other natives in it's spot, then next fall pick another section, and so forth. I'm sure I'll be battling the blackberries forever, so I have no illusions that they go away that easily.

I'm just concerned with the wildlife in the meantime. If I go in and clear a section of all the vines (esp the old ones that have accumulated over years) and replant, it interrupts their corridor & their cover until those new plants grow.

Am I doing more harm than good? Should I just leave the dang blackberries and hack them back each year? (birds, deer, and rabbits all seem to munch on them, but I'm sure they could just as well eat evergreen huckleberries, red elderberries, oregon grapes, etc. that I'll be planting -- I'm planning on ensuring I plant with natives that provide cover and food.

WA state peninsula, zone 8b

We recently bought a house. The septic-as-built and the approved site plans both have the water line in the same place, but in both cases it was "proposed"/"assumed" and not actually installed.

Where the water line on the plans comes up to the house is in the corner of the front deck/front of the house. There's no pipe we can find in the crawl space that would be the water pipe.

It's possibly under the deck, but there's a cement pad installed in front of the deck and the deck is built down to it -- i.e. we'd have to rip out the deck to get underneath to see.

There's what looks like a yellow lever at the water heater that might be a shut-off.

We are not on the street -- there's an easement down the neighbor's property that's a long gravel driveway. We've hunted both at the street, at the location where the water line shows on the map coming in from the neighbor's property, and everywhere between there and the house, and have not yet found a water meter.

I will call the utility company to find out where the meter is, but they will not tell us where the line is from the meter to our home.

So how does one find it? House built in 2016, so it's not going to be metal piping.

I'd love to get this my Saros 10R running daily -- there are already cat-hair dust bunnies all over as well as other small debris even though I've vacuumed twice already since we moved in.

Move-in was about 1.5 weeks ago and there are still boxes here and there on the floor, and the entryway is the worst since thrift/giveaway stuff is piling up there as we unpack.

Is the robot going to get confused if the layout changes a little bit each day due to boxes on the floor going away one by one?

(we also have ethernet cables crossing the house -- on the floor -- until we get to either running them under the house or setting up a wifi mesh)

Got the Saros 10R in the cart.

Doesn't seem to come with cleaning solution; I know I can just use water but I think I will get the solution to try.

Should I just get the system as-is, or should I proactively get replacement mop pads, dust bags, etc. to have on hand? Do these get replaced every couple months?

Moved into a new place. Plan on getting the Roborock Saros 10R during Prime Days.

The rug we are looking at for the living room has a scalloped edge. I don't suppose anyone has experience with whether this is going to be an issue with the robot?

https://preview.redd.it/erx874nu4p8h1.jpg?width=440&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cd1de59659d18452ba208ff5d4d58b88d06fab06

My other rug choice has a straight edge but is almost $1k for living room size, and this is way less expensive.

https://preview.redd.it/kdrfvl49vy4h1.jpg?width=1745&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9ffc1194f44e8289213efa295d52e90d5fad4ce4

PictureThis plant id app says this is curly dock. It's growing all along the fence on my eastern property line in the gravel driveway (80 feet long, tons of these), a few in the front lawn (where this was taken) and a patch in the back lawn.

Is it just a matter of going out for thirty minutes a day and digging out the full tap root of these one by one until they are gone? They sure grow fast!!

Just want to make sure it's not like himalayan blackberries where you don't leave them touching the ground or they just re-root and take off. Are these ok to compost or put in the yard waste bin?

Zone 8b, WA state peninsula
Any other warnings or suggestions?

And wondering about some things before pressing order. (Habitat Haven Lion's Den, 3-sided, open long side against the house is the current plan)

The catio will be sitting on this deck, with access via the pet door insert through the foreground window.

1. The deck we're placing it on is painted cedar (not stained). Will the wire against the deck cause issues with trapping moisture over time? Since it's 3-sided and affixed to the house, the catio won't be moved around.

2. Still deciding on whether to put the cedar floor inside or just put down an outdoor carpet since this is already sitting on a cedar deck. For those who have a steel-wire catio like this, what kind of flooring have you found to be best appreciated by the cats?

(I'm very excited for my cats, they are going to love this so much)

https://preview.redd.it/387kh4i4xg4h1.jpg?width=1500&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d87e8aa2e28de10b6fac3c2a47c6fb74a65e3957

Exploring the property of the home we just closed on, and there are a ton of old branches in the back of the property where they cut down & trimmed trees. These might be from when the septic was put in, but that was a decade ago so I don't know for sure or if they are more recent. Definitely dried out though.

I'm all for leaving them if it's good for the ecology of the wooded area, but not sure where the line is between an ok amount and a fire hazard. Note I'm talking about the branches in the background, not the foreground. It's a pretty extensive pile.

Lots of dried branches at the base of the trees in the background

Zone 9a, on the WA peninsula.