Before and after ~~~~ a lot of work!

Click pics for details

Before - this back corner was looking awfully untidy. Ivy was encroaching on, up and under our potting shed. My own fault though because I planted it with good intentions - to disguise the neighbor's storage shed!  It hasn't made much of a difference on that shed yet, but is growing everywhere else! So this week we spent several hours pulling ivy, raking leaves and then moving what had become more than vintage 'yard art', more like rusty junk!

A few years back I went through a phase of dragging home old stuff for the garden - a bicycle, old shutters, lanterns, windows, wood trellises, a big framed mirror, galvanized watering cans and buckets etc.

Through rain and snow, hail and wind, the yard art gradually turned to yard junk. What was neat and arty suddenly looked a nasty mess ~ and we want to get out from under all this extraneous stuff around the cottage and garden.  Downsizing somewhat, and serious tidying up is definitely in the cards.

To dispose of this oversized junk we requested a 'special pickup' from the city - miraculously they arrived as promised early yesterday morning and hauled it away.

After - it does look much better. I kept the mirror glass, like how the garden is reflected there,
just threw out its rotten wood frame.

Will feel safer sitting on the bench for a garden break now that huge tangle of ivy has gone - snakes came to mind, although we've not seen any yet this spring.

Planted two small potted hydrangeas used indoors over Easter - hopefully they will grow tall there in partial shade, and eventually help hide the old shed. The shallow concrete 'bowl' holds water for butterflies - it was the top of a birdbath until recently, then most of the edge crumbled when I tried to relocate it! Butterflies are already visiting the garden, a good sign.

Coming up next in the garden, planting seeds - herbs and flowers - a few more pots of petunias, a couple of those bright green sweet potato vines, and who knows what else might catch my eye at the garden center…….it's so hard to restrain myself when it comes to plants!

Are you planning a weekend in the garden?
Here in North Carolina the weather is perfect and working outdoors such a pleasure.