Defeated by a tree pretending to be a shrub

One of our biggest projects this month (#2 on the master TO DO list - I'll tell you about #1 next week!) is to re-do the front lawn. Our realtor told us that there are two types of buyers, those who can see potential and those who take one look at a disaster zone and run as far as they can. Well, lucky for us I'm the former. My first apartment (before 524) was a disaster zone and we ended up knocking down walls, redoing the kitchen, installing new doors etc. I guess you could say, I love home projects (until I start them and realize I've bitten more than I could chew).


So back to #2 - so I'm working with a landscape designer who is helping me redesign the front. The only problem is, I'm not sure if we're going to be able to afford to do EVERYTHING in the plan. Seriously, who knew trees started at $400 each??? She's even included a sweet bench in the plan. I'm trying to go for an English Cottage feel - intimate, whimsical, not too manicured.

So since we don't have much money for the project, we've decided to do all of the execution ourselves. So all of the shrubs and trees need to be removed. In theory it all sounded feasible until...

So I decided to tackle what looked to be the easiest thing - a shrub, it looks like a pine shrub but I'm sure that's far from what it actually is. It's the thing directly in front of the center window. So this thing was so overgrown, wish I took a picture before I edward scissorhanded it. After 7 mosquito bites later (two on my face) and shearing all of the smaller branches off, it looked like this.

So now time to remove the roots out of the ground.

I was digging with my shovel for lord knows how long and still this thing wouldn't budge. Sweat was literally dripping down my face, including the OFF mosquito spray - dripping into my eyes and causing major stinging. Round one. SHRUB. Oh, but it's not over shrub, I'm bringing my Hillsy back-up tomorrow. So you better be ready!

The gardening day ended with me sawing and shearing the branches into smaller pieces so we could add it to our new compost.


So other than the roots still being in the ground, my first gardening/landscaping day was pretty successful - despite my achy back, neck and right hand.