So I moved into an 83 year old house. The house is beautiful and completely rerenovated. That's outside on the other hand has been neglected for a very long time. We moved in on new year's day. Google Street view shows this property completely surrounded by over grown shubs, an old crab apple tree and various other trees and bushes. They clear cut the property and didn't dig up any of the stumps or anything. So far I've identified some Crocus, tulips, peonies and what I think are day lilies. I had the crab apple tree cut down and a couple of other trees that were an eye sore. So I've attached a few pics to give an idea what I have going on. I've also started a garden gallery which I will keep track of the veggie garden progress.
It looks as though you've got a lot of hard work ahead of you there. However,I'm sure that, I time, the garden will flourish under your care.