Landscaping Dilemmas = to remove or not to remove??

last year

last modified: last year

Hello! We're doing some updating on our home we recently purchased. It is the epitome of a Fixer-Upper. Our back deck is lovely, but not without issues. I'm sure it seemed like a good idea to include these in the deck at the time when the plants were young and small. But, as you can see, they've outgrown their surroundings. First, the group of shrubs/trees planted up against the brick divider...one of them is DEAD dead! It definitely needs to be removed, and I feel like if it does then the others should as well. Thoughts on how to do so without completely destroying the adjoining brickwork? Secondly, the larger one near the house...cut it down and kill the stump? Try to pull it up somehow?

Any thoughts or ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!

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Norwood Architects

last year

I do not like having large shrubs so close to a house. Often times the wall will stay wet which will contribute to degradation. My vote is to remove the shrubs and start over with some new smaller shrubs.

Comments (8)

ShadyWillowFarm
last year
Congratulations on your new home!🎉🎊🍾. It looks really nice, and you are right that updating the landscaping will complement the house. The trees and shrubs have outlived their useful lives and are too big to be next to the house and wall. Do you have a landscaping budget?
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
last year
The photos are not at all clear to see but I would seriously consider removing some of that brickwork! Too much hardscaping and not enough green and it is squeezing any available planting area into much too constricted a space. That's why everything is dead or looks overgrown.
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New windows can help with noise if they are chosen with that in mind. Plants can provide visual buffer but do not buffer sound, even with density. I hear traffic despite being more than a half mile through dense woodland in either direction from highways. The only thing that will buffer road sound is something solid like a wall or solid fence, neither of which would look particularly appropriate in your setting. If you want the visual barrier to be year round it will need to be either an untrimmed fountain shaped and densely twiggy plant like forsythia or ninebark, or else evergreens like Rhododendrons or shrub sized conifers. Depending on the look you want, you can use a mix of several types of plants for a less formal look, or all the same kind for a more formal look. Look at large shrubs as opposed to trees because of the power lines. Good on you for thinking of that issue as many folks don’t. I don’t know what you mean by a boulder garden, but generally in the eastern half of the US, rocks are difficult to keep weeded. They tend to do better in areas that are more arid. Considering that grass appears to grow well in your area, it isn’t a choice I would be likely to make. Can you provide a photo of what you were considering? While growing zone is one helpful piece of info in making plant suggestions, eneral location is as well (nearest big city and state). For instance, there are parts of MA, WA, VA and NM that are in zone 7, but due to different climate, moisture, and soils, different plants will grow well. Is it full sun without the trees or are there some along the edges that aren’t visible in the photo?
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Well, it's not as entirely hopeless as all this sounds! If you want a planting around the tree I'd make the area larger, dig out all the grass and roots as you can, dig in some compost to improve the soil. plant it, give it a thick cover of mulch, and when Bermuda grass pops up give it a small spray of Ortho Grass b Gone. I don't like using "cides" of any kind, but since I have a mixed lawn of St. Augustine and Bermuda grass, which I didn't plant that way, but the Bermuda blows in, I have no choice. Grass b Gone doesn't harm broad leaved plants and kills Bermuda. It takes about a week for it to die, but die it does. I use G-b-G very sparingly, getting the nozzle close to the grass before spraying gently while holding my breath. After the bed is established I have very little problem with Bermuda infiltrating it. A brick, stone, or metal border and thick mulch helps keep it out.
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partim
last year
last modified: last year
Do you know what kind of shrubs these are? I don't recognize them so you must be in a warmer climate zone than me.

Where I live (Toronto), almost any shrub like that would be dead as a doornail with one cut at ground level, and there would be no need to kill the stump or pull it out. I would start there. You can plant right beside the stump because it will just rot in the ground. You can always kill the stump later quite easily if it shoots out. Or have someone drill it out if you prefer that.

Since only one of your shrubs is dead, you'll mostly be sawing green (live) wood, so get a bow saw with a saw blade meant for green wood, if you don't already have one. With a sharp new saw blade for green wood, this is not really all that big a job.

Congratulations on your new home!

https://www.gardengatemagazine.com/review/bow-saw/
Kim thanked partim
mrykbee
last year
Have a crew come and rip them out then plant something you like. They can do in a few minutes what it might take you many hours.
laceyvail 6A, WV
last year
Gardengal said what I was going to say.
arcy_gw
last year
In the first picture, the middle bush might be worth keeping but the dead and far right I would pull out. Obviously the brick border needs to be redone so it is all the same. The trees by the door look to be volunteers no one cut down. Seeds blow in and these saplings need to be pulled long before they get to where they are now. Chances are your foundation is being compromised. Pulling them might make more of a mess than you want...the roots will tear up whatever they are under/wrapped around. Nothing wrong with hardscape but it is a misnomer that it is maintenance free. I would improve your front steps. They seem shallow and a tripping hazard.
Kim thanked arcy_gw
decorpatti
last year
Remove all in the first picture along that brick wall...the "planter" is very narrow for these large and overgrown bushes. The one near the house should be removed also; I don't know about the chances that the roots may have compromised the foundation. You have a nice large tree on the grass area for shade. The beds close to the house and near that divider could be deeper, with low plantings in front, and some medium flowering plants closer to the divider; no need for anything tall.

Just curious: what is the purpose of the brick divider? Is it for privacy for bedrooms? It might be nice for them to have a view of the backyard (more light, easy access with glass doors). With some $$ invested, I can envision a beautiful space here, with the interiors integrated with the outdoors. Of course, you probably have other more important priorities with a fixer, but the steps leading to the yard from that door near the tree (near windows) seem quite dangerous. This seems like a really exciting project to undertake. Good luck!
Kim thanked decorpatti

Landscaping Dilemmas = to remove or not to remove??

Norwood Architects

Comments (8)

ShadyWillowFarm

gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)

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partim

mrykbee

laceyvail 6A, WV

arcy_gw

decorpatti

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