Let's Go Outside

A couple of months ago, I showed you some photos of our ivy-covered trees.  Quick reminder:

We didn't take any real "before" photos, and what you're looking at here is my husband after an hour of bushwhacking to get in there as far as he is.  To imagine a true "before," picture the ivy that's surrounding Ray coming all the way to the ground.  There are a couple of other things to which I'd like to draw your attention in this photo:  see all the small trees sprouting up to Ray's left?  The bald, grass-less patch (where a random clump of bamboo used to be) behind him?  And the branches popping out of the ivy at the top right?  How about all the ivy growing on the ground-- see that?  And that tiny sliver of red to Ray's right-- it's our neighbors' garage.


Okay, well here's a shot I took today after lunch of the same spot:

Yes, that is is the same view.

First things first: what we've done.  

Ray has spent every free minute attacking the ivy in what we thought might be a too-late attempt to save the trees.  Good news: they're both alive!  Bad news: they're really weirdly shaped because the ivy was strangling their trunks.  Good news: the one on the left appears to be a healthy cherry tree!  Bad news: mature fruit trees = rats.  More bad news: somebody limbed the tree a million years ago and the fruit will be way too high for us to reach.  Even more bad news: the neighbors' garage isn't fully painted.  We didn't know that before.  Because we literally couldn't see it.  Still more bad news: we're going to have to replace that fence.  Obviously.  

We've also uprooted all those saplings and spent hours of our lives pulling ivy roots out of the ground-- some of them were easily 15ft long.  

This picture (featuring the right-hand tree) was taken in the middle of the process, just to give you some idea of what we were up against:

We've also seeded the bald patch where the bamboo used to be, and it's filling in nicely.  Today we seeded the dirt you see in the second photo-- where before there was nothing but ivy, there will now be lush green grass.

Here's another view (taken from our covered patio two months ago):

And a view from the same vantage point this afternoon:

 

Here's another view from the covered patio today.  Behold our verdant kingdom!

 All the dirt you see there was covered with ivy in the very recent past.

And speaking of our covered patio, we're making lots of changes out there and we'll get back to you as soon as we can.  In the meantime, can I get some applause for my incredibly hardworking and handsome husband?