first.. sharpen your shovel.. and get your tree saw ... cut everything off the shrub.. leaving some good trunks for leverage ... start digging around the shrub about 2 feet out.. it will be miserable work ... avoid the oak root ... get the plastic out of there ... get the shrub out.. then take a few more pix.. and we can come to some realistic suggestions about what to do with the area ... i dont know why you would put a circle there ... maybe a quarter circle .. using the drive and the sidewalk ... and please do not replace that plastic carp ... its menial labor.. but someone has to do it ... because for sure.. that ugly thing.. has to go ... ken

I have left a plant amongst other plants until it has bloomed just to be sure if it was actually a wanted plant (though not in the right place). If it is wanted it can be transplanted. If it turns out to be a something I don't care about or a weed it gets removed. Other times I have transplanted it when it was quite small and grown out in a container or a holding bed. If the plant is actually growing right next to or inside another plant it should be removed and either discarded or transplanted. I have gotten pretty good at recognizing the weeds in our area. There are many seeds I am sowing that are new to me and some seedlings look like weeds. Also with plunk and run I am sometimes surprised where a new wanted plant is going to appear. Knowing the plant that is "dead" is important because some plants are very slow to come back in the spring. If it is an annual pull away. If it is a perennial and you are not sure, wait. If all the others of the same perennial have new growth the dead one is most likely dead and can be removed.

Thank you for the follow ups. Yes, long term storage is quite important to me. Last year a great many of my squash were not ideal even when not stored long (as stated in the OP, I picked the bulk of the crop on August 15). I resolved to leave 2013 squash on the vine until well into October come hell, high water or an army of critters (in my yard that means squirrels). Some years ago, IIRC, squirrels weren't a problem, but for around 4 years running now, they are a huge problem every year, that in spite of my having deposited two of them in the park ~6 miles away and killing one with a rat trap. I stopped setting rat traps, I've found the squirrels trip them and generally seem unfazed. One time, however, one did die. This year a squirrel (I assume it's only one, but who knows?), has tripped my trap but somehow not been caged. I figure sooner or later I will get him/her, or else the beast will wise up and stop hitting the trap. They do seem clever at times. I'm seriously contemplating buying a pellet gun. I'm curious, is there a way I can configure things so I get emails when someone responds in this thread? I have not seen that in these forums yet, and I did look today when I registered and posted this. I only see something about allowing people to post me directly through email, which I'm not sure about.

Thanks for your input :) Unfortunately many of them are peeling up, and one of the drawers looks like it has been stapled back in place. So they cannot remain. We'll try painting them!! We just replaced the appliances and the dishwasher is trapped. They put travertine flooring over the existing ceramic tile with the dishwasher in place. With the height of the floor and the height of the counter top we can't get it out without lifting the counter top. Plus the counter top is screwed in place right next to the dishwasher. The fun involved with a new home!!! Christy