Ugly Shrub Removal

This is a lilac bush located right outside the back door

and up against the back of the house.

I hate this shrub.

(it's tied for most hated with the ugly yews on the side of the house)

I like lilac bushes in general, 

but this one has to go.

It's old and hasn't been pruned properly

and has several dead and rotting areas in it.

So I cut it back, 

and last night Big E chained it to the truck

and...

We (well, he) 

ripped that ugly sucker right out of the ground.

With minimal damage to the grass.

I've cleaned up the left over pieces of stump and roots

and filled in the hole.

This area is the site of a koi pond 

that I hope to start working on next year.

One shrub down, 

2 more lilac bushes to go

(and a forsythia).

Diggin' It

Now that Spring has Sprung,
or at least since it's shown up once or twice in between freezing temps,
snow showers and 60 MPH winds,
Big E and I have been working on the outside of the house.
I was anxious to tackle the areas in front of the garage
where two large piles of bricks had been sitting for who knows how long.
Bermuda grass had grown up through the bricks
and snaked its way into the garage.

 I plan to make the area part of my Monarch Waystation,
which will host Common Milkweed and various plants
popular with pollinators.

 Both sides of the garage housed the brick piles. 
Thankfully they're all gone now.

 This side will also be a part of the butterfly garden.
Not that the butterflys, bees and humingbirds won't have other areas of the garden
to enjoy as I'll be planting things all pollinators love,
 I just wanted to provide a quiet corner without a lot of activity from the family.

 The digging up of the new garden beds is going to be pretty labor intensive.
The area we've outlined so far runs the length of the yard which is about 110 ft.

 We also managed to get all the grass dug out from around the tree.
I have already planted some lilly of the valley and transplanted some of the hostas
Miss Bertha had in one of her gardens.
I'll need to put down some landscape fabric in area
and then it will be time to mulch.

Hoping the weather improves so I can keep getting my hands dirty!