Wonderful site, Jon. Puts me in mind of Ruth Stout's Gardening Without an Aching Back, from long ago. A gardening friend took a leaf from her book and developed a marvellous garden: She buried a briar patch "under the weight of public opinion" with newspapers, catalogs, cardboard... The following year, she had a lovely spot for a garden. The briars were "composted", the earthworms had aerated the soil. She planted, weeded and harvested.