Burning bushes

   Every spring and fall, I hack the burning bushes behind my house with electric shears, trying to tame them. But these Jurassic holdovers still grow almost to my roof line. Dad needed a project, and this seemed a likely candidate...

   First he cut off the branches, leaving only the massive stumps. Based on their size, these bushes may well be as old as my house. And that is OLD.

   Before long we had two very long rows of branches from the five bushes. I went down the row with loppers and split them into manageable pieces, then bundled them with jute, so I could carry them to the curb. It was TWENTY-SIX large bundles in all! I saved as much viable firewood as possible, so I can throw it in my firepit and see why they're called "burning bushes".  ;)

   Kismet supervised, and enthusiastically approved of the new view. I've never really seen this wall or these windows before. And I've been in the house for 9.5 years!

   The stumps were fantastically difficult to remove. They had grown deep. It was almost a shame to destroy such healthy plants, but my yard feels twice as big without that mass against the house.

   The brush pile rivals the size of Dad's monster truck:

   Update: the trash guys actually took everything!!! I can't believe it, but my back yard & drive are clear once again! It took us 16 hours to remove and bundle all this.
   The dogs seem to be wondering where the giant bushes went. They loved racing across the deck and darting behind the bushes, rustling the leaves as they chased each other. They'll have to devise a new game now...