Clearing the Weedy Garden: A Photo Series

While I didn't get as much raking done as I wanted to this weekend, I did finish clearing out just about all of the plants from the side of the garden that needed it the most.  Here's a look at my progress, from the beginning of the clearing project through this weekend.

To begin with, the garden and the fringe outside the garden were overgrown with weeds.

I started at the edge of the fringe, and uncovered an entranceway to the garden.

I finished the fringe first, and left a couple of healthy-looking shrubs in place.

Next it was time to tackle the inside of the garden.  This was tricky, because along the edges, the weeds had grown right through the wire fencing.

I cleared out the pesky thorny plants first.  I didn't want to get pricked by thorns trying to get to the other plants; plus, the throny plants were the ones holding the whole thing together.

I uncovered a well-preserved piece of newspaper in the soil.  Unfortunarely, it crumbled every time I touched it, and I couldn't find a date or a point of reference to help me identify how long the garden has been out of use.

It doesn't show up too well in this picture, but this is the one and only hole in the garden that I've found to be dug by the groundhog.  There must have been something good here.

And, finally a couple of looks at the unfinished product, as of now.   The bigger plants in and next to the garden have been cleared out.  Not quite ready for planting anything yet, but slowly getting there...