The Old Bushes

The 3 big bushes are gone! We chopped 'em down today. We'd noticed they lost their leaves very early instead of just falling in the Autumn, like normal, so something was wrong. Maybe old age...they were over 25 years old. All summer we talked about pruning them back. I think we'll finishing 'pruning' them by pulling the rest out, roots and all. As I moved limbs I noticed rings of holes in the bark, so we did the right thing with them...I think they were doomed anyway.

Here they are this spring. You  can see them behind the vertical Rose-of Sharons. I hadn't realized it before, but when we walked out this morning they were twice as tall as Hubster.

By the time we were finished (sorry, but I finished before he did)... I was exhausted and could barely make it back to the house. I'd gotten little sleep last night and this just pushed me over the edge. After a couple of quick hot dogs for lunch I put my pjs on and Abby and I went to take a 2 hour nap. It helped (some).