Background When we moved into our home our front side garden was totally overgrown with ivy and various bushes. We unfortunately do not have photos since we did not take any before we dug in and started cleaning up. The shrubs were so bad that they were scratching cars as they drove. Our neighbors were very happy with our first improvement. We found old beer cans, old medicine bottles and a very large animal bone. Apparently, our property was an old farm. We then moved on to the back of the property which was taken over by ivy. We spent an entire summer pulling out ivy and cleaning old debris. My favorite find was an old concrete slab which looked like a foundation for an old barn or smokehouse. As we cleaned the area up we found old wagon wheels, more medicine bottles, pieces of depression glass and an old chimney. At the end of the summer we decided to get beds ready for planting. We took advantage of fall sales of overstocked perennials. By the way, this is a great way to save money. We had a very tight budget and a large piece of property to fill. Our local garden shops were running sales and we leaped at the chance to start our garden. We started with two hydrangea trees and a few perennials that will give us color into the fall. Our plans are to eventually have a beautiful cottage garden and less grass. It will be a big job especially with our limited schedule. There may not seem like much project now but we are hoping when everything grows in it will look amazing.     Garden Progress 2005 Garden Progress 2006 Garden Progress 2007 Garden Progress 2008