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A few years back, the reporter Aaron Alberty and her husband bought a condo just below the H. Rock in Salt Lake.

And like a lot of new homeowners, they had a plan for the yard.

But in Utah, growing something and keeping it alive can be a test of wills.

They wanted native plants, and Aaron told us they thought they had a head start because

right there on the hill in the backyard was a plant that looked kind of pretty even though

it had a brutish name. Mertil Spurge.

We didn't even know what it was. It was covering the mountain.

We figured it was a native plant.

You know, it must belong there.

And then we found out that what was carpeting our backslope was a noxious weed with caustic sap that blinds children and deer or something.

And we were like, oh, no.

Because that was pretty much all that was growing.

So I started pulling it, and it was hard to pull.

But it was fun.

Every time you get one out, it's sort of like popping a zit.

But then, you know, I kind of turn around and there's a long, steep slope of naked mud

behind me. I fell so many times. This is gardening that you really need a helmet for. But we did

clear it. So then we kind of had to figure out the garden on our own after that.

And I hadn't ever gardened before.

So it was a bit of a project.

We'd wanted to do all native plants, especially because we were abutting the green space.

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