Today was the hardest work I have done in the yard so far this spring. The area I worked on is in the front yard up against the fence on the south side of the house.
BEFORE:
Is this curb appeal or what!
Once again I am dealing with vines. I had this bright idea years ago that English ivy would look so "di-vine" growing up the fence! As if that wasn't bad enough, I also planted it, along with some Boston Ivy, up against the house and it has trailed up the brick on the front and south sides. What a mess! I have pulled it off the house multiple times. It is going to be hit hard this year with Kilz and/or Round-Up. I am determined to conquer them this time! The thing about this project that was so hard is that all of those vines had to be pulled out by hand. My hands and wrists are aching tonight! Some of the ivy main stems were probably 10 years old with stalks well over 1" in diameter. This little area also "featured" multiple volunteer trees that had to be dealt with and a stump from a Crabapple tree that I had cut out a year or two ago. I will call my tree guy to come grind down that stump someday soon.
AFTER:
This may just look like just a bare patch of dirt to the untrained eye, but to me, this is beautiful compared to before! Now that's "de-vined"!
The debris that came out of this small area alone filled up the entire back of the pick-up. Under all of those vines that covered the ground, I found some long forgotten Lirope that I had planted. I cut those back and will try to save them. If they survive, I will probably move them to a different location in the garden. I am thinking that after a summer of intensive chemical vine control, I may plant some Burning Bushes up against this fence.
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