If you look at our property right now, the best way to describe it is that the yard is a total classic mullet: business in the front, and party in the back. The front is looking much better—landscaped, styled, and finally coming together. We used free landscaping stone to run an edge, set out two flowerpots, and repurposed plants from both this property and our house to fill the new space. Adding two boxwoods finished off this little touch of charm up front.
But the backyard view? Let’s just say we had to completely till it all up to plant grass, so it’s in a bit of a raw, muddy “ugly phase” at the moment. (Though honestly, this ugly phase is still a million times better than the gnarly overgrowth and invasive volunteer plants we started with!)
Getting it to this point, however, was an absolute battle against nature.
The “Before”
When we first started, the bushes and trees were so incredibly overgrown that you couldn’t even see our house from the street. Urban legend says that the previous owner had the space meticulously filled with blooms, but over the last 10–15 years, it became more than he could maintain.
We honestly tried working with the plants that were already there at first. We tried to keep the bushes trimmed, but last summer and fall they grew so rapidly that as soon as I trimmed them, they seemed to come back double the size!
It actually got dangerous. While trimming just one of the monsters and trying to pull out volunteer trees that were growing within the bush, my arm started hurting. I ignored it. Until it wouldn’t work at all. I couldn’t even squeeze my toothpaste once that happened! I ended up with an overuse injury and nerve impingement that is just now finally getting better after nine months of PT and a steroid shot. (I now fully understand the phrase “listen to your body!”)
Enter This Spring…
That injury was the final straw. Mike went to war with the yard and was able to dig up all four of those massive bushes. He used a chainsaw to cut back the rest of the overgrowth. The ground was overridden with a mixture of random weeds, thistle, and wild onions growing like crazy. Every single time we mowed the lawn, the whole property smelled like a giant, chaotic salad—and not in a good way! There was just no way to go in and manually weed each item to save the few plants that actually belonged there.
There was also a short, collapsing stone wall that only made weeding and mowing more difficult, so we took the stones out to use later. Clearing that out allowed us to totally reimagine the yard. We tilled the entire space where the wall and the invasive plants used to be, planted grass seed, and we are holding onto hope that we’ll have a much more usable, easier-to-maintain yard soon.
The Storm Casualty
Last fall, we also tried to save what looked like a promising young tree. There were a whole bunch of sprouts, so we picked the single healthiest one, babied it, and decided to let it grow as an experiment to see what it would become.
But nature had other plans. When that brutal hail storm rolled in recently—the same one that left us needing a whole new roof, new siding, and new gutters—it also gouged and damaged that delicate young tree trunk so badly that it had to go, too.
The Rescue Missions
However, we did manage a few successful rescue missions. (Hey, we’re not monsters!)
Before the heavy equipment took over, we used a plant identifier app to figure out what was what. We dug up the plants we knew were decent, like some volunteer lilacs, and replanted them in safer spots. We also saved a bunch of the hostas, kept some for ourselves, and even shared a ton of them with our neighbors.
Once those giant monster bushes were completely gone, we discovered a few “survivors” tucked underneath that had been totally smothered in the shade: a couple of weigela bushes and a hidden rose bush! Now that they finally have sunlight, we’re leaving them to see how they thrive.
There is also a clump of phlox right in the middle that I wanted to leave. They look a bit weird sitting all by themselves in the center of the newly tilled space, so they may get moved eventually, but they are staying put for now. To celebrate the new space, we also added a few flowers brought over from our house, planted a new redbud tree, and put up a couple of birdhouses.
The Silver Lining
Some people prefer a giant wall of thick bushes for privacy, but we were craving the extra space. Because we cleared it all out, we finally have the clearance to put a deck on the back, right off our bedroom sliding glass doors.
And a major bonus we didn’t even realize until the plants were out of the way?
From our bedroom window, we can now see right across the street to where there is a pond. So, even though we’re not technically on the lake… ShiftingGeers officially has a water view from bed now. LOL.
