On the other hand..

There's an advantage to letting Nature run its course: our little urban Eden is beautiful this time of year. The roses have never been prettier. I suppose the best gardens are a balance between constant, finicky work (plenty of that around here) and leaving well enough alone (plenty of that too, because there's only so much one person can do.)

Of course sixteen yards of compost and 35 years of mature plantings help.  Things have evolved naturally into areas of shade and sunlight with lots of overgrown corners the birds love.  Add a little water and lay off the pesticides, and you've created a wildlife sanctuary.

Speaking of that, each spring we seem to hear more unusual song from nesting birds in the yard.  Yesterday I saw a baby wren just out of the nest (probably a Bewicks) sitting on top of the gazebo begging while his mom and dad went crazy in the hedge. He hasn't learned yet that "wrens don't do that" and hopefully he won't learn the hard way.  Wrens are shy birds and secretive nesters, so I think it's pretty neat they found a place a few yards from our house, probably up in the impenetrable holly tree or laurel.

This is not my picture but he looked just like this. Like all nestlings, adorable and pathetic.

As for the bamboo grove, removing this mess would leave five foot craters and a nice view of our falling down fence, some power lines, and the backside of other people's garages across the alley. That's enough to give a person pause, before bringing in the wreckers. The one good thing you can say about bamboo is it has a relatively short growing period here, then it mercifully stops for another year.  And it's beautiful, in a horribly messy sort of way.