Ding dong! The bush is dead!

Moving into our rental home (which upon closer review appears to have been abandoned for awhile) our landlord said he would fix up the yard. He did mow the six-foot tall weeds in the back of the home ... but the front still needed help.
The worst part was the scary weed-like bush. There were smaller dead plants and weeds along this planter area -- all of which had roots entwined with the monster bush.

This was no regular large bush. Spiders spun their webs overnight connecting the eave of the home to the bush. Small animals and almost every species of spider lived within its leaves. Norman Bates could be hiding in there, wig askew and kitchen knife ready -- and no one would be the wiser.
Since the bush was at the apex of the front walk and many small children would be walking up to our home tonight, Lane thought it wise to try and rip it out.
Here's Lane taking it out one stalk at a time. By the time this photo was taken, about one-third of the bush had been taken out.

And here it is finally gone.

Sure, the yard still needs some work. But at least I won't running (something rapidly becoming more akin to a bowlegged waddle) up the walk with the image of Norman racing through my mind.