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Landscape Design

Help please! no

last year

Our usual landscaper closed his business and we hired someone “unknown” to help with our spring clean up. He cut the dead branches on our big evergreen and now we are stuck with a huge eye sore (after having spent $10k two summer ago for our backyard plantings).

Any ideas on how to fix/fill this? Grateful for any/all help!

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Comments (11)

littlebug Zone 5 Missouri
last year
last modified: last year
What exactly are you considering an eyesore? The bare trunk on the evergreen?

If so, simply underplant around it with shrubs that do well in your yard.

Looks to me like the shrub to the right of the evergreen could use some shaping up.
Jennifer
last year
That is so sad. I agree with Littlebug, underplanting will be a good solution. My neighbor had a new gardener "trim" her Japanese maple with a hedge trimmer. I nice lollypop shape.
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ddrake25
Original Author
last year
Jennifer.. that’s awful (and I feel similarly…) we have this beautiful yard but now one is immediately drawn to that corner and the hideous gap.. (first world problem I know…)
ddrake25
Original Author
last year
Littlebug- the eyesore is the wood pile and the fence/corner of the yard and general hole in the landscaping. I have no sense of landscape design so working this out on my own after having paid a professional a lot of money to do it is disheartening.. sigh. Thank you for your suggestion. We have a few other plants crowded in the other corner.. maybe we can move one of them.
Sigrid
last year
Put a fothergilia in. Dead branches are rarely pretty. Or underplant with a flowering groundcover.
PRO
Dig Doug's Designs
last year
Here are some ideas:
laceyvail 6A, WV
last year
You wanted to keep the dead branches or what the guy cut were not dead?

Never let a "landscaper" do anything important on his own. Many of them are just yard guys who call themselves landscapers and know absolutely nothing about plants, pruning, or even basic lawn care. I even had a guy do a terrible job on simply edging a bed.
littlebug Zone 5 Missouri
last year
What laceyveil said about nonprofessionals. I heard a fellow say this about mowing the lawn: “It’s not that hard. You just mow around the perimeter and then keep going around and around till you’re done!” 😵‍💫
ddrake25
Original Author
last year
@laceyvail 6A, WV I think they were dead underneath, but I really should have said "maybe next year" and given it some thought. I honestly don't know if the bracnhes will grow back, and/or what else I should do now to fill the space...
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
last year
" I honestly don't know if the branches will grow back, "

They won't. With almost no exceptions, this is not how trees grow. btw, if the tree looked like the last photo, I see no dead branches nor any other reason to prune. Or hack, as the case may be :-))

The solution now is to fill in the very visible empty front area with some sort of broadleaved evergreen shrub. Without knowing your location, I have no idea what to suggest but make sure it is evergreen, not deciduous like the fothergilla. Otherwise you will still have a bare gap for a significant part of the year.
einportlandor
last year
I like to repeat plants in the garden. Take a look at nearby plants and find one or two that are doing really well -- plant more of those.

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