Moving earth and bush!

A bush outside the front of my house has been overtaking the porch for several years now. The bush was located in the flower bed that I shared with the neighboring house. The challenge was finding the time to talk to the owner about wanting to remove the large (ugly) bush. Finally on Saturday I made contact and was able to discuss the bush situation. It was agreed that the bush was getting in the way of the mowing and needed to be removed. I was so excited, because I had been wanting to do this for a long time, that I headed out right away and began dissecting the bush. Laura joined me for the fun and we began digging around the base of the bush. Once we had dug around the bush, Laura decided to heave the bush from it's earth-bound home. I think she might have grunted a little, and then just pulled, as I wedged the shovel under the bush. It was an amazing display of strength, I wish I would have had the camera rolling. I seriously think she does these things just to prove shes stronger than me. Here are pictures of the aftermath (the bush was so ugly that I never took beforehand pictures).

The conquerer herself!

There was plastic buried about 1 foot under the surface so the bush had no deep roots (just sprawling ones).

Here are the bush parts that I cut away to get to the base.

Much better - once the new plantings grow!