Working Hard: cleaning up the backyard

The cherry blossoms are just about done in my neck of the woods, which means it's time for some outdoor spring cleaning. This is my favorite time of year to be in the yard. The work is hard, but my two helpers rocked the back yard with me this year. They even helped me empty the composters!

The yard was a mess. Overgrown grass, weeds, dead perennials, and lots and lots of dirt. Thankfully, my backyard consists of two large planter boxes, a lawn, & some golf-course rough. Armed with an electric hedge trimmer, 2 rakes, gloves, & a shovel we went from this:

To this:

The composted food scraps, yard trimmings, etc...turned into a beautiful black muck just waiting to feed the plants and soil. After raking into the top planter box, and around some of the plants, we covered it with some soil from the deck containers. For now we have a clear view to the course, but in a month the tall grass will reach to the sky. Giving us a little extra privacy. Now I have to start thinking about what to plant. Black Eyed Susan's and a few other perennials will be back...and I certainly have plans for butternut squash!

How is your spring cleaning going? Do you compost?