When we bought the property in 2017, we still had weeks of snow left before we would first realize just how neglected the grounds were, despite an old street view image that showed some effort being made then.
Among the damage was evidence that auto or some sort of mechanical repair–possibly both–had been done in the backyard. Safety glass in one of the beds (see those small gray rocks in the picture above? They’re not rocks. That’s safety glass.), mechanical parts, wire bits and more lurked in various spots in our yard.
This was on top of oodles of little pieces of toys and garbage. So much garbage that we are still finding it this year as well. There were also lots of broken beer bottle bits, and many, many, cigarette butts. Some pennies. I think we might have hit ten cents by now.
On the topic of smoking, full disclosure that I am a smoker and I have no intention of quitting–I joke it’s my only bad habit. Still, I do not throw my butts on the ground. Years of doing work on various Adopt-A-Highway sorts of projects made me realize those filters never break down, and many of those were done before I became a smoker.
The mechanical bits even had a huge pit dedicated for them in the SW corner which we initially thought was the only one–ha! There was also a fire pit where we found evidence of furniture burning, thanks to both the hardware in the ash as well as some of the unburnt wood bits with obvious finish.
We still haven’t gotten it all cleaned up since then, but we made headway on both that as well as some of the overgrowth while I also opted to let the yard go a bit wild so I could see what was here–whether from prior gardeners or wild brought volunteer. Despite the smallish lot size, and the amount of which that is not house, driveway or garage bound which was obviously meant to be “lawn”, there was an abundance of growing plants of all sorts here and a few established beds. Some plants may still be discovered, many still need to be identified. Some needed immediate attention for various reasons, some got what time we could give.
Progress has been in fits and spurts. Each year, our estimates of what we can do get pulled back a bit because we find more surprises of the “oh look at this mess” variety. Still, we’re doing our level best, and a each year more has changed. Some for the good (our kitchen garden bed), some for the worse (oriental bittersweet and Japanese knotweed–don’t even-I just-UGH.)
Only time will tell what we manage to get done or not.
If you haven’t already perused some of my posts, grab a beverage and let your fingers lead to the beginning of my writings and photographs here. I hope you enjoy at least some of what you find. (And if you find any mistakes like an erroneous plant ID, please let me know! I prefer to learn rather than get angry for making a mistake.)