...pay a guy $250 to clear out the jungle of my backyard. We've been here 2 years this month, and the people who lived here before us let the yard go for at least a decade before we got here, judging by the fact that the yard guys unearthed a large number of baseballs and wiffle balls under the thick carpet weeds and scrubby bushes near the fence. (The previous owners had 2 grown sons.) And that's *after* Pedro had spent about a month's worth of weekends spraying the worst parts with round-up and cutting down the wisteria with a chainsaw. And we paid the same guy $35 to chop down the bamboo that was overtaking one side of the yard, too -- a neighbor planted some in his yard, and it spread into everyone else's.
It took our lawn guy and his helper 2 days of hard labor to clear everything out, and I discovered that under all the vines and brambles there is actually a large garden plot already laid out, bordered by 4x4s. It's unbelievable how deeply it was buried -- it wasn't even visible under all the scrub, but now it's actually a nice area where I might be able to plant some vegetables in the spring. I'll have to keep and eye on it and see how much sun it gets.
I am not an outdoor person; I hate yard work with a fiery passion. But even *I* cannot imagine how the previous owners let the yard get that bad. My understanding from neighbors is that, before they moved in, the backyard was nice and had an above-ground pool, and then the previous owners moved in, took down the pool, and just let it go wild.
Anyway, it's nice to be able to let my kids play back there without worrying about them getting poison ivy. That's a definite bonus.