The Battle for the Backyard

When we purchased our Roswell home last spring, we moved into a beautifully re-done house built in 1955. The yard, however, looked every bit like a construction site. Odd pieces of construction debris lying around - or lying in wait for us to dig a hole to plant something. Hard pan ground that laughed at us when we tried digging it up...alternating with sections of pea gravel as deep as 6 inches. Crab grass moving in from under the fence.

After a while we discovered there was more to the yard than we thought. Springing out of this seemingly lifeless dirt were scores of baby elm and locust trees, springing up from the roots of trees, most of which were long dead.

So, we began a program to remove roots from our yard. I think the roots were laughing right along with the hard ground. Earlier this week I decided to dig up a root that had been sending up little ones on the side of the house. I uncovered the offending root rather quickly. However, just as quickly I discovered the root had friends. And relatives...
So, I took my ax in for sharpening this morning, and we will hack away this weekend and reclaim another space in the yard. Eventually there will be a small deck there for enjoying outdoor living.

The back yard is coming along, though...
We love to sit on the back patio to eat our dinner in the evenings - and we often linger until it is time for bed. Later this summer the fire pit will be finished. For now it is a work-in-progress...
 The "keyhole" design is so that I can use the shallower portion on the right for my Dutch oven cooking :) I am really looking forward to having our fire pit finished. It will be a nice addition to our outdoor living space. Oh - surprisingly, we only uncovered one or two small-ish roots while Chuck was digging the hole :)

As for the battle against the crab grass - it is still continuing.

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