A little overgrown

One week before Easter we moved into a house that we feel has great potential. It's a four level split level home that was built in 1987. The house has had two previous owners, and the first owner of the house was a gardener. The backyard is lined with gardens and trees  but still has a large grass area for kids to play. It has been brought to our attention that the owners before us tended to neglect anything outdoors, and it is evident in the gardens. Some might look at this as an overwhelming challenge, but to me this is a score! Ripping out weeds and getting dirty sounds just about perfect.

These pictures of the gardens were taken in early May when the weather was cooler and not much had come up in the gardens. This first picture is of the garden in the back corner of the lot, under 3 large pine trees.

This garden didn't look too bad to me by just looking at it. However, once we got our hands on a couple of rakes we realized that last fall there hadn't been any kind of clean up done to the gardens. You can see the chain link fence lining the back of the lot, and intricately woven into it is a vine. I now believe the vine is made of some kind of natural heavy duty velcro. It had crawled into the garden and began wrapping up on the trees. Through a lot of yanking and cutting, we did free the garden of the vine, and the trees can rest easy without being strangled.

The next garden is in the other corner of the lot.

Just by looking at this garden I knew without a doubt this would be my victory. Once I get this garden cleared I'd feel like the queen of my own yard. The vine once again has woven into the garden, tree sprouts had been allowed to grow for a few years, grass was invading on the wrong side of the rocks, and the dirt wasn't visible through the thick layer of dead leaves.

I haven't had my victory yet. As of right now the garden has left us with sore backs and scratched up arms. Hidden behind the tree is a large wild rose bush. I believe it has small daggers for thorns. The vine is super glued to the ground, and the grass is rooted in the cracks of the rocks lining the garden. 

It has been over two weeks since I've taken these pictures, and the plants have exploded in size. Tomorrow I will finish this garden and will have finished, clean gardens to pride upon. You never know, I might make it to a garden center before July!