A landcaping contractor might help. Depending on your location, you may be able to find someone here: http://www.guildquality.com/find/Landscaping-and-hardscaping/North-America

You can install a flexible downspout extension on your downspout that is next to your front step and run it behind your bush out past your mulch to keep the water from washing your mulch away.  You can buy the flexible downspout extensions at Lowes or Home Depot.

Emerald Green Arborvitae

Try a dwarf arborvitae. They look similar but don't attain the height of a leyland cypress. 

I would wait until the first frost, that very next day spray or paint leaves with Crossbow (if spraying isn't an option, as in beds with other plants or single shoots).  The sap in the stems will draw the herbicide down to the roots as the blackberry plant goes dormant in winter and kill it at the roots.  May have to repeat again the next year, but it has been very effective for us.    

I'm with you guys on the eating part! We had a bupper crop this year and the freezer is full. For those areas where we don't want them, there is product we found at Southern States that works. I bought it for our poison ivy but it ended up working on other things. The name escapes me, but it come in larger bulk containers and you mix w/ water.

I also like the goat idea. We used to raise them, and they will indeed eat anything they can ingest, so you have to be careful about not only what you want to keep, but any potentially dangerous or poisonous plants in the area.

On the chemical side, a quality broadleaf herbacide or roundup should kill it. At least for the season.

Awesome answer.  Goat are machines and they do have rental goats.  You will need to keep them penned up where you need them though or they will clear you out. 

Tree removal is not normally a part of what we do at Blackdog Builders, but I thought I would look up some information for you and offer some advise. First of all, if the tree is too close to your house where the branches are reaching over your roof, you may need to replace your roof more often due to debris or branches. This is a bigger problem of course with pine and it's sap, but an oak tree will produce acorns and will also shed leaves every fall. This may damage your roof, and if you have a gutter system, it will need to be regularly cleaned. 

After some research, it seems that oak is one of the more expensive species of trees to remove because it is a hardwood and usually grows very tall. The following is provided by treeremoval.com:

"Oak is one of the strongest, toughest woods out there. For that reason, tree removal services often charge a premium to tackle them. Oak trees are also very tall. The average height of a healthy oak tree is 60 feet. You can refer to the price guide above to see that you will pay between $200 and $1,000 to have an oak tree removed. Due to the fact that oak is such a solid, thick wood, your total price will probably fall on the higher end of the scale. Make sure you have a really good reason to have it removed before spending that kind of money!"

John

I would do what Paul said but I would take an additonal step of capping the sprinkler heads where they are easy to get to with a half dozen of 1/2" PVC caps.  Then you are increasing the pressure on the leak and you will find it much faster and expend less water. 

Philip

HDR Remodeling Berkeley Ca

Hi John, where are you located? It sounds like an expensive endevor to go artificial. How large is the grass area that we are talking about. This could help with the cost estimation.

Install a decorative stone border or edging that will help hold the mulch in place.

I second the nursery, but also make sure your soil is plant friendly. I lost a pretty large investment in trees because my soil is not good for growing. Next time around I will need to condition the area I plan to plant.