A homeowner in Burlington, North Carolina, was in the midst of making dramatic changes to their property when their contractor posted photos of their incredible invasive species removal project online.

The thread appeared in the r/NativePlantGardening subreddit. 

"I have been working to remove invasives from a client's property, as well as some general pruning and clean up," said the original poster. "The client purchased this property about a year ago after getting tired of fighting with her previous HOA about her rewilding her property with native."

The early photos show a large, forested lot, plus a wide area of low-growing ground cover and leaf litter. Many of the thinner trees are marked with pink tape for removal. A caption on the first photo identifies these as mimosa trees.

"We have been tackling Mimosa, Bradford Pear, White and Hybrid Mulberry, Chinese and Glossy Privet, English Ivy, and Multiflora Rose," said the original poster. "It may be difficult to see a huge difference, but check out the size difference in the pile of wood chips we've created."

The before-and-after images of the wood chip pile are in the fifth through eighth photos, showing a mountain of woodchips that seems to have doubled in height thanks to the original poster's efforts. 

The homeowner isn't just subtracting from the property, either. "While everything is dormant, we have been able to find and open the canopy for many natives that were being outcompeted, such as Redbud, Sugar Maple, Box Elder, Green Ash, various Oaks, Black Walnut, Red Cedar, and something Prunus that we can't get a good ID on," said the original poster. "She will be doing most of the upkeep herself, as well as planting natives and protecting the ones that emerge from the seed bank."

Commenters were positive about the project. 

"Love that. May many ephemerals find your oasis this spring," said one user.

"So awesome, that rules!!!" said another commenter. "Very satisfying to see them woodchipped, muahahaha. Props to your client for being rad. Hope lots of spring flowers emerge!"

Similar projects to remove invasive species have also yielded beautiful results across the U.S. If you want to get involved in removing invasive species like mimosa, you can also learn recipes using these unusual ingredients.

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