ROANOKE, Va. (WDBJ) – A herd of goats and sheep has taken over Valley Avenue Park … not as a new attraction, but as a landscaping crew.
The animals are part of Blue Ridge Goatscaping, a Christiansburg-based business founded by Ezekiel Reed. What began five years ago with just a few animals has grown into a 40-member herd that clears brush and overgrowth across Southwest Virginia.
This week, their focus is on removing invasive English ivy. “It’s very invasive and chokes out native plants and keeps everything from properly growing and being healthy,” Reed said.
Using goats and sheep to manage overgrowth offers an environmentally-friendly alternative to heavy machinery or chemical herbicides. The goats eat higher brush while the sheep graze the low growth, working together to clear difficult terrain…