(Un)Landscaping a Monster

Happy Fall, everyone! 
You may be like me, stubborn and refusing to believe that summer is coming to a close.

But yesterday I did smell some cinnamon-scented pine cones in the store and it brought a little leap of joy to my heart.

Could just be that I've been craving chili for months, though.  

Either way, Fall is here whether I want it or not.  And Joe and I are trying to race the clock and get all our yard work done before winter.  

Here is the latest news on our proclaimed

SUMMER OF DESTRUCTION

This is the post you've all been waiting for.

When we moved in, our yard was...indescribable.

We told our friends to just look for the "house with all the weeds."

One friend could find our house on Google Maps just by looking for the jungle on our street.  

How Embarrassing.

Here she is, in all her terrible glory:

Sorry about the weirdness, this is actually three pictures patched together into one.  


But it does have some eeriness fitting for the sight, right?

This picture somehow makes it look about 10 times better than it actually did. 

 Partially because it was taken about a month before we actually took possession of the house, so the weeds hadn't totally gone out of control yet.

Imagine, though, a huge patch of three-foot thistles on the right side of the picture, next to the road.

Jealous?

But a few weeks after we moved in, one of our other friends came to the rescue.

Remember "L" from An Upholstered Chair Fit for a Princess ?

Well in case you had forgotten, she's awesome.  And she contacted a bunch of our friends from our church small group for a WEED-PULLING PARTY!!!  We were so. excited.

Here are some up-close and personal pictures of the disaster that we proudly own(ed).

I know what you're thinking.  "Wow, I wish someone had gone insane and planted an entire nursery of plants in our yard, then left them to grow untended for five years!"

Yes, that is in fact what we thought, too.  Which is the main reason we bought the property.
Obviously.

But our wonderful friends came to the rescue and came with tow strap, truck, crow bars, reciprocating saw, muscles and smiles.  They were absolutely awesome.

The weed-pulling party mostly morphed into a "Men pulling bushes out with the truck" party.  And they even took out a bad little maple tree in the backyard.
Yeah, they blew our minds.

Here are the results of that one night of mayhem:

CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT???  In case you didn't realize, this area looked like this before:

There are trees in there!  With trunks!  Who knew??  

This was the home of some low-spreading creepy crawly evergreens which took over this entire area.  Oh, and the log?  It was in there all along, we just didn't know it.  Hey log :)

Wow.  We were amazed.  And so grateful for all the help.  It would have taken the two of us a heck of a lot longer to get that all done ourselves.

Here is the pile of bush bones, not including the tree from the back or the thistles that had already been pulled

And now a few weeks, five truckloads of junk to the city compost pile, some sweat and a lot of work, we find ourselves living in a house that no longer looks like a jungle.  Thank goodness.  I snapped this picture today.

We're not done yet, obviously.  But our neighbors love us :)

We have grass seeded on each side of the drive, and those weeping crabapple trees on the right have some little borders around them.

I suppose for all their...unique...ideas, the previous owners did leave us a lot of rocks to make borders.

We're feeling pretty good.  Though we haven't really beat the thistles yet.  

There's an underground root system that is tough to beat, but lucky for me I married a farm boy.

Chemicals do wonderful things.

Here's a side-by-side for your viewing pleasure:

Until next time, enjoy your fall, don't plant a plethora of bushes, and maybe make a pot of chili!  Yummmm.

~  The Doodle Bug

I'm usually partyin' at these hangouts:

Friday Feature @ Redoux

Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage

Furniture Feature Friday @ Miss Mustard Seed

Show & Tell Friday @ My Romantic Home

Flaunt it Friday @ Chic on a Shoestring Decorating

Frugal Friday @ The Shabby Nest

Simply Creations Link Party @ Simple Home. Life

It's a Hodgepodge Friday @ It's a Hodgepodge Life

Spotlight Saturday @ Classy Clutter

Trash 2 Treasure Tuesday @ Kammy's Korner

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday @ Coastal Charm

Tuesday's Treasures @ My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

Be Inspired @ Elizabeth & Co.

Wow Us Wednesdays@Savvy Southern Style

Make It Pretty Monday @ The Dedicated House