Come with me for a walk

This morning I decided to take a walk around the dreaded berm.

This area is the bane of my existence and I have pictured myself bulldozing the whole thing over many, many times.

This is it from of front bedroom window. It is actually part of our front yard as our home is passive solar and faces south, not the road. I is something I see every time I look outside.

Rarely do I look at it in all it's entirety as it causes too much stress. When I do a walk-around, I normally focus on some new greenery or blooms.

This area is at the back and faces a huge field. It will be the last place I tackle. There were many perennials planted here when we first moved in and I tried to save as many as I could. The berm was not properly edged or mulched so the weeds and grass took over. The previous owner also planted many shade loving plants on this south facing slope. They fried pretty quickly.

These Goatsbeard~ Aruncus dioicus are still doing wonderfully even though they are normally a shade loving plant. They don't bloom very long though in this much sun. I moved a baby one over to my side bed last year, I am anxious to see if it will bloom longer as it will have more dappled shade.

The next few pictures show all of the shrubs that have exploded. They were planted way too close together and are now reaching a critical mass. There are probably 40+ shrubs planted in this end of the berm.

We have been pruning them back but they grow very fast.

In the middle area, I have managed to save more perennials as there are less shrubs there and more trees.

The Vinca minor is spreading nicely.

What really makes me mad are the trees he planted in the middle of fast growing willow.

There are two Chestnut trees that are stunted and being swallowed by willow.

I have contemplated cutting some of the willows down as they grow so very fast but I can't bring myself to do it.

Here are the crazy willows.

I wouldn't mind one but we have eight.

That concluded the tour. I will not be taking this again this year. Time to focus on the small scale and what I can actually accomplish this year.