Back again

It's possible that the big project for this year will be the back yard.  We have a little triangle of dirt in the back, accompanied by oodles of deck and a maple tree.  The back is enclosed by a tall fence.  

The light the little triangle of earth gets is not really enough to support flowerbed like the one on the side.  In the morning it is in the shade of a) the tree b) the fence and c) the tall building next door.  In the afternoon it is in the shade of a) our house and b) the house next door.  It gets a little bit of the hottest, harshest light of the day, though ... so it's not really a safe place to put shade-lovers, either.  

I can't decide what is to be done with this sad little plot.  Right now it has a couple of shrubs and some chives.  It used to have a couple of rhododendrons, but we dug those up and gave them to a friend who put them in a sunny patch and they've been growing happily for her ever since.  

The chives are easily moved (although I'm not sure where to, given that I'd like to be able to eat them and I'd hate to eat anything from the cigarette-butt, road-salt, dog-piss laden front and side yards.  The shrubs are less easily moved, but they were there when we got here, so it's not like I have an actual emotional attachment to them or anything .  Basically, I suspect the best thing to do would be to dig the whole sad lot up, turn over the patch completely and start afresh.  I doubt that is going to happen this summer.

Over the weekend we did a nice bit of cleaning up in the backyard.  The improvement is tremendous and instant.  I do want to do something nice back there.  I'd like to give the flowerboxes another go, for example.  Last time they basically flooded and that was a disaster, but I have learned a thing or two since then.