Privet: the final frontier…

This year we've torn out the hydrangea, some lawn, a pair of Pieris japonica and a large rhododendron. You might think those projects along with ones from previous years means we’ve worked just about every square foot of soil on our small city lot.

Nope.

There’s an 11ft x 25ft chunk that we haven’t touched. It’s the land of the privet, ivy and vinca. See that large looming mass at the far edge of the garden? That's what I'm talking about...

For comparison the size of our lawn, before removing some of it earlier this spring, was 18.5 x 20.5. So that 11 x 25 is not an unsubstantial piece of garden soil. Why has it lasted this long? Because we’ve grown attached to the enclosure the wall of green (and white, this time of year) provides.

Of course I also have a long list of things I don't like about the privet...starting with the bloom litter which piles up everywhere this time of year.

It collects on every leaf...

And in every container nearby...

Looking west into the no-man's-land under the privet...

The plan is to pull it all out so things planted under it in the upper garden (which I planted when the backyard Rhody came out last year) can get more sun and grow up (the Loquat for example), and we can put in a real fence between us and the neighbors to the north. That will leave a huge area available for planting!

All that successfully grows under the mass of privet now is ivy and vinca, and I have to fight that back every spring to keep it from taking over the patio.

U.G.L.Y.

Looking out towards the patio...

And down at more bloom litter...

It's hard to imagine not having this huge mass of green, but it's overgrown and getting bigger and bigger every day. In case you can't tell I have mixed emotions about it all. Imagine a new 11 ft x 25 ft of soil in your garden where you could plant tall big things (trees!)...and imagine not seeing that wall-o-green but a fence and bare soil. Ugh.

Next spring, early in the spring...will it all be gone?

And to update you on another possible removal which was reversed this is how the Sasa Bamboo is looking these days. As you may recall I wanted to tear it out but after seeing all the new growth decided to give it a second chance. I'm glad I did. It's still not as full as I would like but it's coming along.

So I'm curious...would you have the guts to remove the privet? Or just leave it?

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