He Knew He Was Right

So, when I bought the house in 2005, I had this huge shrub at the top of the driveway. I had no idea what it was at the time, but it was suggested that I do something with it. It was a tall, fat, and unwieldy forsythia. A landscaper told me that he would clear it out and grind out the roots for $400. When I said I'd think about it, he asked me if he could at least take a couple of pictures to show others what happens to these plants when they are not maintained! Others told me that I would never be able to prune it down to look the way I want. I decided to hold off on any decision until the spring, so that I could see what it looks when loaded up with those little yellow flowers... Yeah, something needed to be done with it. So, mostly with loppers, I went to work, reducing its height and girth a few feet at a time over the next two years. I ended up with many debris piles, like the one shown here. I also hacked out chunks of it with a pickaxe, transplanting it to other areas of the...