The fences along the property lines on both sides of the house are in bad shape. The posts are leaning drunkenly (they are in wet ground) , many of the pickets are falling off (although I keep trying to put them back up, and some of the sections just won't stay on the posts. The paint is also very worn.
I thought I would do something with the fence behind the tent garage first, but on a whim Friday, I started on the swamp side. Here are the before pictures 

I unscrewed each of the fence sections from the posts and placed them next to the mailbox - hoping against hope that someone would pick them up for bonfire wood and I wouldn't have to take them to the dump (which charges by the pound for demolition)
Here is how it looked Friday night when I quit. I had already performed the first mowing of my and the neighbor's yard that afternoon and was pretty bushed at that point.

Enbiggen this next picture and look behind the 3rd picture from the right - you should be able to see the stream that comes down and turns to follow the property line.

I left the posts as my half-hearted plan was to clean up remaining invasive roses directly behind the fence, the probably put up a new fence. Leaving the posts would ensure that the holes did not get filled in before I got new posts put in.
Yesterday, the fence panels were still out by the mailbox. Bummer. However, I had set them further back than I do most things that I'm trying to get rid of, so I put a "Free" sign on them. That did the trick and I watched a neighbor scoop them up not too long afterward.
Well, the more I looked, the more I liked the view without the fence. Since I don't need to remind neighbors of the property line, there is no "need" for a fence anyway. And, for a bonus, without the fence there the mower should be able to most of the work of keeping the invasive roses over on "their" side and it will be easier to see if poison ivy starts trying to encroach again. So, yesterday afternoon I removed the posts. It was a harder job than it sounds because the posts were 2' into the ground, the wet ground that wanted to suck everything into itself. But, whacking the posts around with a sledge hammer, wiggling them around and using brute strength and pig-headedness, I got them removed (thank goodness there was no concrete).


One of the post holes that filled with water quickly once the post was out - that hole is 2' deep and it is most of the way filled. And, note the sedum that was growing behind the fence. I dug it up and placed it elsewhere - hopefully it survives.

View from the back porch. I left a couple of sections of fence as a boundary reminder to the family catty corner since that is where they take their dog to do his business.
I found several clumps of roses on my side of the ditch and dug them up (seriously, they were much harder to remove than the posts as the roots were so numerous and thick)
Most of the posts were in really good shape since they are from treated lumber so I didn't put them at the side of the road. Not that I have a plan, but they might come in handy.
A neighbor came up to me later in the afternoon as I was weeding the driveway garden and asked if I was getting rid of the posts too (turns out she was the one who took the fence sections). I told her I had planned on keeping them. She explained her project, to hide a propane tank, and she just wanted first dibs if I was going to put them at the side of the road. But, she also said she would just get some from the local farm and garden store. I told her to take whatever she wanted since I really didn't have a project planned. She won't take what she wants until Monday or Tuesday, but they aren't going anywhere so I don't care.
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