Well, it sounds like you have the 50's landscape which has become overgrown. The era is typically noted for plantings which are prone to become overgrown. My belief is that it is because residential development post WWII was very rapid and few knew that these things would be hard to maintain over the decades. Perhaps it was more that people were so into shearing and shaping that it was the right thing to do at the time.

Now the generation that grew up seeing these landscapes overgrow has become very negative on the plants that they associate with it. Yews are great plants, but anyone who grew up in the 70's (or reads garden books by baby boomers) will try to tell you that they are the spawn of Satan.

I'm not sure rhat you really want to go with the typical 50's planting simply because the perception other people will have of it. But, if you are secure and really want to be true to the 50's, go for it. No sarcasm intended. I am a big believer in "term landscaping". That is landscaping for a length of time and then relandscaping to adjust to life changes, to try something else, or just a fresh start (rather than "whole life" landscaping).

After WWWII it took the nursery business awhile to get up and growing. Cuttings do not mature overnight into ready-for-sale stock. Yet, demand was high; rapid new housing starts plus a young generation that had seen the gardens of Europe. For a time period the more quickly grown landscape plants such as silver maples and yews seemed to be all that was available. In the meantime large cities and their related suburbs which dated pre-war were maturing, reflecting the intense interest in horticulture begun in the Victorian era. It was an interesting time period. The average homeowner was slow to stop Victory gardening so back and side yard vegetable gardens were still very much in vogue during the 50's. In the 'new' suburbs landscaping generally followed the same pattern. Kids swing sets in the middle of the back yard, the obligatory sandbox, a picnic table plus some shrubs and fast growing trees scattered about. DH just reminded me that front yard landscaping was the new car replete with fins and portholes sitting in the driveway. There really was not a 'ranch design landscape plan'.

Suggest you move slowly. Have an arborist look at the overgrown maple with an eye to trimming it. It will take years to regrow the present privacy between you and your neighbor. Think twice about removing it. My best thought for you is to design to the site.

You sound like a very considerate neighbour!

The first thing that strikes me is that much of what you have there is amenable to fairly hard pruning - probably worth following Nandina's suggestion that some expert input wouldn't be amiss. But not everyone who calls themselves an arborist is an expert pruner so proceed with caution. And if you're a quick learner or a bit of a green thumb, it is within DIY capabilities - there are a lot of books out there on pruning.

The other thing that strikes me is that you don't have to remove what you have in order to add something new, if you don't look at the foundation as the only place to plant. You could put a couple of specimen shrubs in the lawn closer to the curb, which I think would be quite in keeping with a 50s mood, and only renew the foundation plantings once those attain some size. Nandina is quite correct in pointing out that mature plantings are something of value. It is worth trying out the pruning option to avoid that moonscape/fishbowl effect that comes with a completely fresh start.

KarinL

Great house!

It's nice that your neighbor cares for your hostas, but that's because she loves them. Her likes or dislikes (of change, I should imagine) should have very little to do with your landscaping decision.

What is more important:
-how much time do you intend to spend maintaining your landscaping?
-how much money do you have to spend installing it?
-do you have access to reliable help or this a DIY project?

Now, we DONÂT need to know these things - but they are what you need to ask yourself before you embark on anything big.

I love ranch style and it has a lot of sculptural, vaguely Japanese influence to it, along with a good dose of Prairie architecture. Think about the visuals on that - the house is set off by landscaping around it, not obscured by oversized green balls, as is far too often the case.

Your house is a beautiful architectural statement that is best emphasized by low-lying, long horizontals. You do not want anything to obscure those windows, since it not only loses precious light but also ruins the whole overall look of the house from the street. A ranch is a strong geometric statement - you want to co-exist with it, softening it gently without trying to compete with its rigid lines.

What would work well is a fence, set back from the sidewalk. This kind of architecture loves an open-style, low-height fence that mimics the window design. Not a cottage-y picket fence, but a rail fence  remember, the wide-open Prairie influence rules here.

The fence, set back about 4Â, would allow a sidewalk-facing bed with low- to mid-level plants and mini-shrubs for color and interest. Be very careful to pick plants that will work in your local region for as much 3- to 4-season interest as possible. Do not pick anything that gets over 3Â in height. A small flowering tree with dark leaves would be very pretty in the LH corner, closer to the sidewalk than the house.

This way you would have a full lawn running from inside the fence back to the house, keeping those windows unobscured except for roof overhang.

I donÂt usually like clipped boxwood hedges but these kinds of houses cry out for that kind of geometric link betweeen the house and the grounds. IÂd put one running parallel to your driveway/walkway, leading visitors up to your front door. Keep the hedge low  never let it get over 3 in height.

You have a lovely tree on the right  is that the Japanese maple? Establish a gently curved bed around it, and do some complementary plantings there for a surprise splash of color  and remember, color is not always about flowers! Consider interesting foliage; it has a soothing quality to it that interests the eye without tiring it. And that too adds to the overall architectural experience.

I love your house! While the existing plantings are a bit neglected, they can certainly be saved and much improved by judicious pruning. The ones in the yard are all lovely, even (grudgingly, she says) the burning bush, not a favorite of mine. As someone pointed out, these ARE quintessential 50's plants.

I'm not feeling the juniper/hostas. I like most of the suggestions so far; a low evergreen hedge along the driveway would look much nicer than the juniper, maybe you could GIVE your neighbor the hostas?

I don't think you should curve the bed too much, however it appears that there is already the suggestion of a slightly curved shaped bed there already, a little weedy but mulch is an easy fix. If you really want a 50's flair, don't use perennials, plants clumps of annuals in summer.

It has been really interesting for me to read your responses to my original post. I've been a bit nervous to do much pruning on the shrubs out of fear of doing damage that would require removal and replacement before I was ready. It sounds like this shouldn't be a concern. I might add that the Japanese Maple (right side of picture) is a ladder for a racoon that seems to enjoy getting on my house.

A couple of things I'm curious about from comments that have been posted.

Prairiegirlz - I was leaning toward perenials, so I'm curious what types of annuals you are suggesting. I hadn't given annuals a lot of thought, so I am curious where you are coming from on this. Would you include mums treated as an annual in this category? From what you are describing I can see clumps of marigolds, zinnias, or similar flowers.

Does anyone have any opinions on window boxes for this type of house? The problem is that there would need to be some major pruning of the shrubs to make them visible.

As some of you have noticed, there is the potential of a curved bed in the front of the house, under the shrubs. The house was a foreclosure and the beds weren't taken care of so they are full of weeds and I was disappointed that I did not find anything but a few stray tulips. I would like to revitalize this bed.

I would like to avoid the fishbowl. I am wondering about the yews in front of the small porch and front door. I like that I can set a chair out there and sit in relative privacy, but at the same time I don't paticularly care for the yew. I would be interested in trying arborvitae. I trimmed the yews back considerably and that helped, but I feel like if I trim them any more there wouldn't be any needles left.

Here is a book on pruning that I highly recommend:
"The Complete Guide to Landscape Design, Renovation and Maintenance" by Cass Turnbull. I think you will find it very helpful in your situation. She's also written a book on pruning.

Ms. Turnbull also has a Web site with some helpful hints on maintaining full grown trees and shrubs. You'll have to root around for the most helpful links that pertain to you.

Here is a link that might be useful: Plant Amnesty

Turnbull may be have very good helpful hints and pruning info but I find her whole "shear madness" and "madness gallery" to be really offensive. I mean, if people are having a good time tending their plants in their own yards, then what exactly are they doing wrong? I see no redeeming value in ridiculing them, or in exposing them to the ridicule of others.

Besides, shearing is very '50s!

Anyway, you should probably wander around your local nurseries and think about what plants you see there appeal to you for either replacing the yew or for putting in the bed beneath the shrubs.

I would agree that the yews are a plant that is nice from a distance or as a background, not what you want to be face-to-face with. I'm not sure arborvitae are that alluring up close either, though, but it depends on what you think. I would maybe consider Rhododendrons if they are hardy for you, maybe interplanted with smaller japanese maples?

Cutting that maple back to the point where the raccoons can't use it to get to the roof may be a long process, if done according to the books. I think they'd have you do it over a period of a couple of years. A more aggressive approach could be used - I would do it myself, but I wouldn't necessarily advise someone else to do so! The plant would look like heck for a few years!

KarinL

Hello again. I believe it's commonly accepted practice to prune no more than a third of the total foliage at any one time, but Strongly urge you to look into hiring an arborist skilled in pruning techniques for a one time consultation/rejuvenation pruning. There is no substitute for professional help on this project, and you'll be rewarded for many, many years to come.

You may have to call your county for help trapping or otherwise removing the raccoon; we have them here, they're very territorial and WILL simply climb the tree.

I would keep the yews, can't fathom why you're considering arborvitae as a replacement? You will benefit greatly from taking lots of notes and pictures this first year, including in winter. I predict you'll really come to like the yews then, esp. if inclined to decorate for the holidays. (Use big, fat ceramic bulbs in crayon colors for optimal nostalgic effect!)

I would indeed treat mums as an annual, maybe that's just me. I like the way you were thinking: mums, marigolds, zinnias, exactly! Also snapdragons, impatiens, whatever. The reasons I suggested them in the first place are twofold. First, my mom, who was a young mother in the early sixties (is that close enough?) planted annuals every year, so I (maybe wrongly??) assumed that was a popular landscaping technique during that era. Secondly, they're cheap now, and you can experiment with colors and forms that you can later duplicate with more expensive perennials. I would mulch that curving bed you "see" and throw a few flats in now. No permanent commitment. Later, down the line, window boxes could hold annuals, for summer long color.

I just had to log back in and post a comment. I haven't been back on here for a few weeks and just saw your last post, prairiegirlz. It made me laugh. I was in the store today and saw some Christmas lights and was thinking how I would like to decorate for the holidays. When I was growing up in central Nebraska we lived in the country and had several very large pines growing in our yard. We filled them with the large lights that were solid and twinkling, but all in blue. when you had snow or frost on the trees it was one of the prettiest sites to see.

The mums are in the stores as well. So it is time to pick some colors and pop them in the ground. I am planning to keep the yews for now. I have never really liked yews, but that is primarily because i think they are often left to become overgrown. Knowing that I can severely prune them back next year gives me hope of getting them back in shape. I will be doing the same with the burning bush. I agree with a prior post about calling an arborist in to decide the best alternatives for the Japanese Maple, but I just haven't had a chance to do that yet.

I'm also looking at putting in some daffodils, tulips and crocus this fall, though the neighbor tells me not to mess with the tulips. Seems the rabbits in the neighborhood like them. I still have to try.

Tulips are fodder for deer AND bunnies...but give it a go. After all, I've still got roses, hostas and hydrangeas. Of course, I also have a twice-monthly spray schedule for deer repellent...

melanie