operation destroy bamboo

A couple of photos of our latest progress on Operation Destroy Bamboo. We're working on the upper area now, above the wall. It's going faster because the bamboo mostly isn't as thick up there. First the before:

Now the after:

All those volunteer saplings will be cut down. They're mostly dead already, smothered by the bamboo. That wooden fence in the back is going to be in full sun. Maybe that's where we'll plant the Russelliana rambling rose. The soil up there is surprisingly good. I guess because leaves have been falling from the trees and just rotting where they lay for years. And the bamboo never got too thick because it was shaded by the thicker bamboo in front of it, in the parking area? Not sure. In any case, my hope is that we'll be able to plant up there, if not this year then maybe next year.

We also spent some time cutting vines off the chain link fence (on the left in this photo) because our neighbors are going to put up a privacy fence. Just reed mat but it will get the job done. It turns out that while the bamboo was going crazy in our yard, they started cutting it back, last year I think. And they only have one spot near our yard that still has bamboo, which they worked on cutting down today. It was kind of weird for us all to be out there working at the same time.