Dead shrub

I don't really like to destroy the vegetation in our yard-- check that.  I *love* getting out the tools and working on removing dead/dying bushes.  But it's sad to see them go.  We had a large bush that used to produce these beautiful white puffball flowers in June, but a few years ago it got some kind of fungus that kills all the leaves every spring (picture below from 3 years ago; sadly, I have no pictures of it in bloom).  The bush would gamely produce more leaves, but these too quickly brown and die.  It's sad, but that bush is in one of the few sunny spots in the yard, so we finally decided it had to go.




After a call to Dig Safe and the requisite waiting period (turns out only the water line runs right under that spot, but the water department claimed the pipes are 5 feet under, so no problem), out came the lopper, 36" bow saw, maul, shovel, and pick, and soon:

Our neighbors have raspberry shoots they're willing to donate to the open spot.  I'm thinking some easily accessible August raspberries will be awesome with two kids.