TIMBERRRR!!!

That would be the sound of trees falling in the backyard jungle.

This is BEFORE:

Note the expansive deer and tick habitat (I've pulled eight off the youngest planting assistant thus far this year) and the state of the so-called lawn.

Here's the view to the right-hand side, where I recently cleared a small patch of jungle myself to make room for the Mother's Day Cercis and the (now deer-destroyed) hydrangea and blueberries:

You can see, midground, the four-stemmed maple that I particularly like; and, through the encroaching euonymous, the stone wall that extends back from the Mile O' Shade.

Here's the same view, AFTER:

Of course it looks lovely now, with the wall all exposed and all that sun pouring in; but by the time we return from vacation the euonymous will be fighting their way back and a whole new host of weeds will emerge.

And I'll be spreading grass seed:

Of course the planting assistants are having a lot of fun with the chips:

And we did leave a few specimens still standing, including the four-stemmed maple and this beech growing out of a rock:

Still, I feel a bit like Saruman before the Ents got their revenge.