This is the view from the deck to the hill at the rear of the garden a number of years ago. We've always called it the "Buddha Mound" in reference to the stone grouping on it.

This is what it looks like at the current moment. Not too bad from a distance, though the afternoon sunlight is making the evergreen trees look silvery and sick. Twenty years of increasing shade has put paid to all that lovely green sod in the image above; last winter's cold killed the Bloodgood Japanese maple.

The bird is standing on the rock that is in the pond. Look closely behind him and you will see what the hill looks like in reality. This hill and its partner across the path are perfect candidates for Tell the Truth Tuesday, the meme originated on Bonney Lassie's blog.

I decided to take a black and white photo to help me figure out what was happening on this slope and what interventions were necessary. The four areas circled in pale green are the plants that can stay (from left): green Hakonechloa grass, a European ginger patch and groups of ferns.

When you take a closer look this is what you see. This patch with wild strawberry, violets and Aguga is as good as it gets on this hill at the moment.

There's Virginia waterleaf (lower right), a plant that would be ok in a woodland setting, more violets and a grassy looking weed.

The most prolific ground cover on this hill is this unknown weed which has tried all summer to take over my garden. Look closely and you will see it is present in many different sized generations.

It's easy to pull out but keeps returning. I can't denude a slope without instantly re-planting it — which is what I've started to do on the back side of this mound.

The back side of the Buddha mound is less steep and easier to work on since it is next to an accessible path. The green circles mark new ground-covering Junipers, the orange notes a patch of moss and the pink arrow indicates a swath of assorted ferns. All of these are keepers. The purple circle is a dwarf Mugo pine that died after two miserable winters. When I dug it out, I realized it was quite root-bound which is this gardener's fault. I am admitting partial responsibility but letting the weather also claim part.

The ferns, central dark green moss patch and some of the shrubs are all clearly visible here. I replaced the Mugo pine with a boxwood from elsewhere in the garden.

The whole curving top of this mound is covered in the same weeds growing on the front side. I am slowly pulling them out and replacing them with assorted varieties of Carex.

I'm planting different Carexes on the adjacent Turtle Mound which is smaller, less steep and accessible on all sides. These are planted on one foot centers and I'm hoping a few of them will fill in enough by next season that we won't be stuck staring at bare dirt for years.

This is the reality that even many visitors don't quite notice let alone you folks who are looking at garden images on your digital devices. Proof that our garden is not as perfect as I sometimes make it look in my photos.