Conquering the Jungle

In my previous post I wrote about how my neighbor has left a strip of his property go wild, and how his weeds have invaded my adjacent flower bed.

We have been having a rainy spell here in Ohio, and more rain was forecast for today.  I didn't think that I would be able to do any gardening today.  However the rain held off, and we even had a few peaks of sunshine.  I was able to go outside and tackle the jungle.

I trimmed back the vegetation that was hanging over onto my property, pulled weeds, and dug out some of the plants that had become invasive (such as the gooseneck loosestrife and the ostrich ferns).  Those nasty prickly weeds that I mentioned previously were identified by a friend and frequent reader as a type of thistle.  After working for about four hours, and filling a fifty gallon trash can with garden waste, this is what it looks like now...

I still need to do some more primping and manicuring, but it now looks like a flower bed instead of a weedy mess.  Just in time too, since my red and pink astilbes will be in full bloom in a day or two.

Looking down the length of the gardens along my property line...

Yeah, it's still a jungle, but it's a jungle of my design!