For six years _ yes, SIX YEARS _ I have put off some dirty, detestable work. And, for six years I have cursed my weak resolve.

Planted too close to the house and too close to each other, two shrubs suffer in my front yard. They get very little water. They have very little room to grow. They are right next to the faucet and get abused by the hose as I water other plants in the yard.

Every winter I vow to kill them. Every spring I have a change of heart. One year, I want to chop down the high-bush cranberry. The next year, it is the arborvitae that must go.

Both are obviously miserable. Neither are aesthetically pleasing.

What would you do with these poorly planted shrubs?

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Greengirls Connie Nelson, Robyn Dochterman and Jaime Chismar are dishin' the dirt from the backyard garden and beyond on their blog: http://blogs2.startribune.com/blogs/greengirls/.

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(c) 2009, Star Tribune (Minneapolis)

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