Starting to transform a (new) garden

The previous owner of our Quebec house and property had had the landscape tidied up, fortunately, before we came.  It had gotten away from him, and his ability to maintain it, for sure, but he hired his helpers to trim, mow, and rake.

But, there's still a LOT to be done, as we tweak the landscape more towards natives, start converting lawns to meadows, etc. And of course, gardens are always changing.

There are a gazillion sugar maple seedlings everywhere, lots of variegated Astilbe gone feral, unknown grasses (fescue from the nearby hayfields?) popping up, and dandelions everywhere.

Nice, in their place, but not necessarily clustered around the front door.

So, we've been busily pruning and weeding, while buying plants to add (natives and veggies), looking around for things to transplant, what to save and what to remove.

We've already uncovered a wonderful view of a nearby farmhouse and barn that was obscured by a shrubby honeysuckle - it had spread to become a giant multi-trunked shrub.

I cleaned up the dandelions, knocked back the Spirea, and pulled up a lot of grass mats yesterday in the front entrance.  This was early on -- I suddenly thought that I needed to take photos!