Describe what you mean by "high maintenance." What sort of chores must you do and how often? How much maintenance are you aiming to do in terms of days per week or month, or hours per week or month.

Lots of trimming with the shrubs. They run up to the house and are about 8 feet deep so trying to climb behind them to fully trim them is difficult.

1 hour/week or less for trimming and pruning would be ideal. Grass cutting and edging is not included in this

My wife is afraid that if we remove them, there will be too much space from the ground to the windows. We were thinking of removing some of them and placing window planters.

Personally I really like what you have. I do not generally enjoy that style of house because it seems overly stuffy. But the larger trees/shrubs at the corners do something that make the house very inviting to me.

Looking at it again and trying to pinpoint what I like about them, I think those larger trees soften the hardness of the brick and very rigid lines of the house and the tightly trimmed shrubs. There's a softness and looseness to them that gives the impression of coziness as everything else is very controlled and "managed." But I'm just an average homeowner, not a designer.

(I do not think my comment should have much weight, but ...) It is exactly the shrubs that flank the steps that are the ones I would initially remove. They seem to be the biggest source of trimming work. After they were gone I would step back and see what I think would work in its place (and allow room for seasonal color). I also think the limbed up trees look better than as it is now

I also thought that the shrubs flanking the steps were the worst offenders. I'd remove them first. Is that Liriope growing beneath them?

Hey everyone, thanks for taking the time to lend your assistance tho our project. There is nothing directly beneath the shrubs, in the foreground is bermuda (with some weeds mixed in).

Marcus, in order to advance the discussion, you need to react to suggestions/comments that have been made. Otherwise, the thread will likely die without conclusion.

I like the designs so far. Aardvark I like your overall design. Not sure that I want to switch over to the 4' shrub though. Would your design change if we end up painting the brick a lime washed or white washed color? My wife wants to add window planters and has played around with the idea of window shutters. I feel that we might have too many windows in a small space for the shutters to look good. I was even considering adding some spiral boxwoods right next to the steps once the shrubs are removed.

"Not sure that I want to switch over to the 4' shrub though."

Not sure what you're saying. 4' height? Your shrubs and my shrubs both come up to the bottom of the windows (which seems higher that 4'.) But you have 3 shrubs in front of two windows and I have one in front of the window pair. Then, instead of a mass of shrubs below the trees, I'm suggesting that you use groundcover. Please clarify.

Tear out the shrubs that require trimming to hold their shape and replace with smaller shrubs that hold the shape you want naturally without a lot of pruning. Golden globe arborvitae comes to mind. Had it at my last house and have it at my new one. Stays round and requires almost no care.

If you want low maintenance then skip the idea of the spiral boxwoods or any other topiary trained shrub. These require even more maintenance than does a hedge type plant!!

Hey YAARDVARK. I think your plan is a major improvement over our current situation. My issue with the shrubs isn't the 4 foot height, sorry for the miscommunication, but it seems to still be the focal point of the plant space. I like how the groundcover balances the colors from the perennials. maybe a smaller shrub like pink mountain would do the trick.

Gardengal thanks for that tip. just thought a more vertical plant like a boxwood might help declutter while also filling in the gaps. Didn't think about the negative of more maintenance. How often do boxwoods need to be trimmed/pruned?

"it [shrubs] seems to still be the focal point of the plant space." At the beginning of this thread you have what looks to be about 15 or so shrubs smothering the front of the house. I changed that to a recommendation of 2. In my mind, the "focal point" is the house generally and the steps/entrance specifically. What is it you envision to be directly below the first floor windows if it is not shrubs? And if it is shrubs at that location, how do you envision them? Are you hoping for some unique, eye catching plant to be in front of the first floor area? Please verbalize as best you can your description of it.

(althought I commented once on this, I clearly am no expert) I think it is a great looking house and clearly well maintained. I took away (much of) the goal to be making it remain great looking but less work. Maintaining the shrubs (as they seem to be maintained) seems a lot of work, That is why I think as a first step removing what is too much work (inherently) is a good start and a place to stop for thinking before proceeding (I personally can't visualize what is gone if it is there). From the pic, the shrubs adjacent to the steps look (to me) like a lot of work. If they were gone the work would be gone and some access to "deeper /closer to the house" would open up.

Love the house as it looks now. Maybe it's the artistic side of me which thinks contrary, but if I were to make changes, I'd start slowly and simply by removing the shrubbery under the trees and seeing how that opens up the space and reduces workload accordingly.

A key to lowering maintenance when it comes to trimming work, it picking a plant that naturally grows to the height that is desired AND also giving that plant the space it needs to spread. For example, if one plants a shrub in a foundation bed that is only 3' deep, they must trim it frequently in order to keep it from growing out of the bed boundary. If instead they had made the bed 6' front-to-back depth, they might never need to prune the width of the shrub. Virtually no shrub will stay within a 3' spread. Many can easily be accommodated within 6'.

I know I'm getting ahead of the process but having had window boxes along the entire front of a house, I want tell you my experience.

materials: expense & maintenance A nice house like yours calls for good materials. Wood requires maintenance and decent looking composite would be , fade or get dirty. They look dejected when empty so you'll still want to think about what to do with them in the off season. Does your wife plan on 4 season designs, changing the contents winter (holiday) spring, summer and fall?

Plants: are not free nor are they maintenance free. Granted easier to maintain if you don't have to jump over shrubs but annuals need to be replanted annually, perennials need to be deadheaded and replaced when they die; the window boxes need frequent watering, unless you put in some sort of tube irrigation system which calls for patience on your part or finding someone to install it. Where's the water, by the way, for these window boxes of the future?

The season someone gets a new job, a longer commute, a sick parent or a new baby may well be the last time the window boxes get planted. Then the weeds grow, a box splits. and they look as forlorn as an untrimmed boxwood.

If your wife loves to garden and is capable of being rather fastidious, she may have a blast with big windowboxes. or....

If you remove the shrubs at the doorway, a beautiful container on each side will fill the same role as windowboxes with less effort. The extra depth makes watering easier and you have more flexibility with the design and color of the containers.

If you are serious about containers look at Deborah Silver's website "Dirt Simple". She's a s landscape designer with a great interest in big scale containers for big scale business and residential clients. Her pots are amazing. I've made holiday/winter containers for myself, copying her design and materials. It looked professional and all I did was copy.

But first things first. Cut back what needs to be cut; remove inappropriate plants with resolve . It doesn't get easier by procrastinating and you'll love the opportunities that open up.