Our back yard has received a lot of attention since we moved into our house about a year and a half ago. Now that we have whipped it into pretty good shape, it is time to focus some time to our other neglected child. Our front yard.

We have been purposely ignoring the fact that our front yard is overgrown. Calling it a yard is actually quite generous. Let’s go with swamp/thicket depending on the season.  Unfortunately, we don’t have many before pictures.  Why would we?  It was pretty ugly.

Overgrown front yard in the spring before all of the leaves come on.

But why have we been ignoring it? Two simple words can explain: identity crisis. Our home is like a little chalet in the woods. From the road, it is hard to see in the summertime due to all of the foliage blocking the view. Not only does this foliage provide us with some extra privacy, but it also gives that wild, unmaintained cabin look. So this is where the identity crisis comes in. Do we want to keep the wild look that resembles a yard that is let go? Or do we want to thin out the front, providing a cleaner look?

We decided to meet in the middle. We want to keep that woodsy feel without the sloppy, unmaintained look. There are a lot of thickets, small trees, dead trees, and poison ivy that can be removed. After they are gone, all of the large ash, black walnut, and locust trees will actually draw more attention to themselves. A different look and feel, but a pleasant one.

So I got out the chainsaw and went to town. It looked like a disaster zone. But what a great feeling! Do you know when you clean out your garage or closet and throw out old stuff that you have been hanging onto for no good reason? Isn’t it such a liberating feeling? That’s how this was. I’ve been wanting to hang on to all of these trees, but once they were gone it looked so much better!

Gathering all of the brush and burning it. The wood on the left was salvaged for our firepit.

Now that will roast some mallows!

After a nice little big bonfire, the only sign of what once existed is a pile of ash. Not only can our house now be seen from the road, it actually looks like someone lives there! Imagine that.

The final view of the yard after thinning out thickets and trees.