Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > House
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 04-27-2013, 01:36 PM
 
Location: Brentwood, Tennessee
49,932 posts, read 59,640,807 times
Reputation: 98359

Advertisements

I would move the rhododendrons if you can. They are so much better when they can grow freely the way they do in nature. They are not meant to be foundation plants.

If you can plant them under tall trees, they would do great! There are a ton of them here in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park:


Site Builder

Are the others boxwoods or yews? Boxwoods are tricky to prune. I would Google it for tips.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 04-27-2013, 05:33 PM
 
Location: Lexington, SC
4,281 posts, read 12,628,221 times
Reputation: 3750
Major change suggestion but rip the shrubs out, install a front porch and put window boxes over the front edge of the porch railing.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-27-2013, 10:15 PM
 
Location: Pittsburgh area
9,912 posts, read 24,561,641 times
Reputation: 5162
Not a fan of the monotone look there. If those are yews in the middle though they should all have no problem with trimming. It will be green all year I suppose, but man, yeah, I'd take them out. Another option would be to just widen the walkway or make a new one, but personally I'd want more color variation, plus none of those varieties are particularly appealing to me. (I just removed a lingering rhododendron in fact. It was surprisingly resilient to being crushed or mowed over. And I'm in the process of removing some yews.) I think window boxes and smaller shrubs would be great. Although, yes, drastic. I've been there and am still there, and it is scary at first but eventually you get it where you want it.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-28-2013, 03:39 AM
 
41,815 posts, read 50,834,307 times
Reputation: 17863
Quote:
Originally Posted by karen_in_nh_2012 View Post
... what if I got rid of all of them and put flower boxes in the windows instead?
If you go to get rid of them you can hook a heavy duty rope or heavy nylon strap like a tow strap to the base of the bush and the other end to a truck. Hit the gas and before the slack is taken up let off the gas, just let the weight of the vehicle do the work. Might have to repeat a few times and it might not even come out at all like that.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-28-2013, 07:38 AM
 
Location: Southern New Hampshire
10,027 posts, read 17,950,287 times
Reputation: 35732
Quote:
Originally Posted by kadylady View Post
Love your house! If you're planning on tearing them out, anyway, do it now. Put up your window boxes or just plant some pretty flowers. The shrubs do look a little "heavy".
I thought about this ... but if I plant flowers (which I would like way better than these shrubs), I would just have to pull THOSE out in a few years when I have the porch built.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Hedgehog_Mom View Post
I have shrubs along the walkway to my house. I just use a pair of pruning shears and snip the parts that are growing out over the sidewalk. I usually have to do it three times a year.
I will go buy pruning shears. I am just a total novice about this.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Hedgehog_Mom View Post
If you pull the shrubs out and put in flower boxes, won't you have a strip of bare dirt between the walkway and the house?
Yep. As a stop-gap (for the few years before I have the porch built), I guess I could put down some grass there, since most of the front yard is lawn.

Quote:
Originally Posted by luv4horses View Post
Personally, I would either widen the path to accommodate the wider shrubs, or, abandon the current walkway but add a new and parallel one to the fore, thus creating a new (3 ft wide) bed which you could use for planting flowers or a low ground cover like periwinkle or ajuga or liriope. It would look wonderful and solve the problem.
This sounds very logical, except that the plants would still be encroaching several inches onto the path -- not a look I like. I likely WILL have to make a new pathway once the front porch is in -- i.e. if I want the porch to be more than just a few feet deep! (I would like 10' deep but that might violate setback requirements, so I may have to go with 7-8'.)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Pitt Chick View Post
The arborvitae - trim away, any time (I have)
The rhodies - trim right after they bloom. I trim just enough to maintain the space I want them in.

The third plant - have no idea!
Quote:
Originally Posted by mkarch View Post
The first thing to do is find out what they are then get specific directions for the type of plant. From the somewhat dark blurry photo, it looks like you have boxwood (or maybe a yew? hard to see the leaves), rhododendrons and arborvitaes. The boxwood takes hedge trimming well. Rhododendrons should be cut back in 1/3's (1/3 per year), and the arborvitaes depend somewhat on the species, but can generally be shaped (haven't pruned one of those though).

I usually err on the side of keeping mature plants and just trimming them back to where they're not in the way.
Yeah, I think I'm just going to go buy some pruning shears! Thanks for the info!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Wmsn4Life View Post
I would move the rhododendrons if you can. They are so much better when they can grow freely the way they do in nature. They are not meant to be foundation plants.

If you can plant them under tall trees, they would do great! There are a ton of them here in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park:


Site Builder

Are the others boxwoods or yews? Boxwoods are tricky to prune. I would Google it for tips.
I had a rhododendron at my last house and it looked beautiful when it bloomed (although that was only about a month out of the year). In the year I've been here at the new house, these rhodos have NEVER bloomed. I think I will cut them way back.

Quote:
Originally Posted by accufitgolf View Post
Major change suggestion but rip the shrubs out, install a front porch and put window boxes over the front edge of the porch railing.
Yep, this is my ultimate goal, but it's a few years away!

Quote:
Originally Posted by greg42 View Post
Not a fan of the monotone look there. If those are yews in the middle though they should all have no problem with trimming. It will be green all year I suppose, but man, yeah, I'd take them out. Another option would be to just widen the walkway or make a new one, but personally I'd want more color variation, plus none of those varieties are particularly appealing to me. (I just removed a lingering rhododendron in fact. It was surprisingly resilient to being crushed or mowed over. And I'm in the process of removing some yews.) I think window boxes and smaller shrubs would be great. Although, yes, drastic. I've been there and am still there, and it is scary at first but eventually you get it where you want it.
Thanks for the encouragement! I'm not a fan of the monotone look either. I love flowers and have a bunch of those in containers nearer the driveway; I'll also be planting raised flower beds parallel to the driveway (too far away to see in the photo I posted in this thread).

Quote:
Originally Posted by thecoalman View Post
If you go to get rid of them you can hook a heavy duty rope or heavy nylon strap like a tow strap to the base of the bush and the other end to a truck. Hit the gas and before the slack is taken up let off the gas, just let the weight of the vehicle do the work. Might have to repeat a few times and it might not even come out at all like that.
Thanks, I will keep this in mind!


You have given me lots to think about ... reps to all!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-28-2013, 08:03 AM
 
5,075 posts, read 11,019,665 times
Reputation: 4664
Well, it is your house so it's within your right to go in an butcher everything. I just think it's a shame when people buy older homes and decide to cut down or remove most of the mature landscaping. FWIW, when we moved in last year there were approximately 50 varieties of plants in the yard, and we researched care for all of the ones we hadn't owned before. A dozen of them needed to be moved, some of the trees required the help of a professional to trim. In addition, we added another 50+ varieties, not counting the vegetable gardens. Granted, this took some serious thought and planning, but it's worth it having a beautiful yard and garden to relax in. Not everybody has the energy or commitment to do that though.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-28-2013, 08:32 AM
 
Location: Brentwood, Tennessee
49,932 posts, read 59,640,807 times
Reputation: 98359
Quote:
Originally Posted by mkarch View Post
Well, it is your house so it's within your right to go in an butcher everything. I just think it's a shame when people buy older homes and decide to cut down or remove most of the mature landscaping. FWIW, when we moved in last year there were approximately 50 varieties of plants in the yard, and we researched care for all of the ones we hadn't owned before. A dozen of them needed to be moved, some of the trees required the help of a professional to trim. In addition, we added another 50+ varieties, not counting the vegetable gardens. Granted, this took some serious thought and planning, but it's worth it having a beautiful yard and garden to relax in. Not everybody has the energy or commitment to do that though.
Plants grow. Sometimes they get too big. There's no shame in pulling out overgrown shrubs that are out of proportion with the house.

It's not as if they're cutting down 100-year-old oaks.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-28-2013, 08:54 AM
 
Location: I gave up being nice for Lent.
2,502 posts, read 6,302,322 times
Reputation: 5281
Pruning would definily be the easiest option. If youre not comfortable doing it I would get some prices. Might be cheaper than looking at wonky bushes.


If you like the Rhodies I would move them now instead of later. The bigger things are the harder they are to move. You might check on having them moved by a landscaper. Mature plants are big $$$$. Also I dont know much about Rhodies. Maybe they havent bloomed cause people keep messing with them. Some plants need to be left alone.


Question. Will the future porch cover the existing sidewalk. Cant tell how deep the shrubs are from the pic.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-28-2013, 09:03 AM
 
Location: Southern New Hampshire
10,027 posts, read 17,950,287 times
Reputation: 35732
Quote:
Originally Posted by mkarch View Post
Well, it is your house so it's within your right to go in an butcher everything. I just think it's a shame when people buy older homes and decide to cut down or remove most of the mature landscaping. FWIW, when we moved in last year there were approximately 50 varieties of plants in the yard, and we researched care for all of the ones we hadn't owned before. A dozen of them needed to be moved, some of the trees required the help of a professional to trim. In addition, we added another 50+ varieties, not counting the vegetable gardens. Granted, this took some serious thought and planning, but it's worth it having a beautiful yard and garden to relax in. Not everybody has the energy or commitment to do that though.
Um, I asked first about TRIMMING, not about "butchering" anything. (And I rep'd you for your first reply and everything. Should have known you'd come back with something contrarian. )

In a few years the shrubs will have to come out for the porch. This is NEW HAMPSHIRE, which is full of houses with big beautiful front porches, so my house will fit in just fine.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-28-2013, 09:06 AM
 
5,075 posts, read 11,019,665 times
Reputation: 4664
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wmsn4Life View Post
Plants grow. Sometimes they get too big. There's no shame in pulling out overgrown shrubs that are out of proportion with the house.

It's not as if they're cutting down 100-year-old oaks.
Believe me, I know. When we moved in our yard was severely overgrown. We've probably disposed of 5 cubic yards of plant waste in the first 9 months. Some of the fruit trees hadn't been pruned in a decade and required professional help. That said, it took a lot more than buying a set of pruners to get things in order - more like several saws, 4 sets of pruners/shears/loppers and a lot of planning. In addition, I brought in nearly 3 tons of rock, 6 yards of soil and amendments and moved another 10+ yards of soil, rock and mulch.

The plants in the original photo don't even look overgrown, not compared to the stuff I was dealing with. I agree that her whole front is in serious need of re-landscaping to really complement the house. I just think it's going to require more effort than hacking out few old bushes to improve the appearance, and might actually make it worse if not done properly.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > House
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top