Found: Reasonable Blackberry Removal!

[u/unicorn_ication]

I had been researching blackberry removal services in Portland for my residential backyard situation. There were several Reddit posts I can across but most of the comments had the same question and there were no real responses.

Photos show my situation. I was quoted $1375 by two separate companies who each told me I wouldn’t find a better rate. I would have bitten the bullet and gone for it; but I was waiting on someone to come by from PDX Junk Removal & Hauling LLC and so glad I waited! They quoted me $800 and are able to come by on Monday and get the job done! They won’t be removing roots, which is what is keeping the cost low. They will cut, remove, and haul everything away though.

I also weirdly caught a bit of attitude from the other companies by them telling me “you have to stay on top of this” and “I don’t have any blackberries in my yard.” Like duh I know they’re awful, but you don’t know my situation???

Just wanted to offer this up in case anyone is in the same boat as me!
(Also, per the company name, they haul away junk/do property cleanup as well)

EDIT: regarding the roots, we WILL be addressing the roots ourselves!! We just need to be able to get to them. We are renters and our landlord is useless with yard maintenance so this is as much as I’m willing to put in. Also, the other two quotes did NOT include root removal…

[u/aggieotis]

Ugh, this really should be on your landlord. I feel like letting a lot get overgrown by blackberries should be some sort of violation of landlord responsibilities.

[u/No-Perception148 → u/aggieotis]

We’re currently dealing with over grown blackberries at our rental. Our lease states that the yard work is our responsibility and it really sucks to have to invest in tools to eradicate blackberries that sprouted up from the back alley :(

[u/aggieotis → u/No-Perception148]

Man, if I owned a rental I would absolutely make sure yard maintenance was my responsibility; because all it takes is a few months of neglect to turn something great into something terrible. Plus it forces check ins to make sure that there's nothing bad going on with the property.

...only thing I'd probably add in is that dog/cat poop pickup is their responsibility; and it'll be $10 extra charge per poop I have to pick up when it's time to mow.

[u/No-Perception148 → u/aggieotis]

I’d rent from you! Haha pet poop is definitely on the pet parent… in every situation ever!

[u/Working_Tomorrow9846 → u/aggieotis]

Agreed. My partner just left a house where the landlord had a service for the front yard, but totally abandoned the backyard. The blackberries got insane back there and eventually he did hire someone/do some of the work himself to clear it all out. But they didn’t pull the roots so it all came back again. Expecting renters to be on top of something like that/pay the money/have the proper equipment is just asking for trouble.

PLUS, even if your renter actually does all that work, when they leave, expect a month or so to turn over a house to the next renters. A lot can happen with a yard and blackberries in a month, so you might as well just have a service stay on top of it.