Angela - I highly encourage taking half of it out
We just removed the back half of our long driveway that led up to a shed-sized garage (no modern car would fit in it, as the house was built 90 years ago), so we could replace that side of our property with more garden space (including semi-dwarf fruit trees as it's the south side of our home). Rather than do the backbreaking work over a long period, we paid a local contractor $600 and he and his big guys smashed it up and hauled it away in less than a day. Since it's almost the start of winter, we then got free arborists woodchips via ChipDrop website to cover up the dirt (and prevent a mudpit during the winter rains!) until we're ready to landscape it in the spring. We LOVE it and highly recommend it!!! Plus we still have the front half the driveway for visitors to park in if needed (we don't own a car). We used to do potted veggies in the driveway (see a picture on my blog at:
http://ecogrrl.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/drivewaygarden3.jpg but this is going to allow WAY more and look SO much better! Photos will be up on my blog ecogrrl.net this week if you want to see what it looks like now! This way we retain the property value of having a driveway while INCREASING it by having a much bigger backyard!!!
