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So I moved into this house just about a year ago. The shrubs in front of the main part of the house are badly in need of being trimmed as they are encroaching on the pathway to the front door (not that I go in that way, but when I have friends over, THEY do!). Here's a photo:
Am I right in suspecting that they probably seemed small enough when they were planted (who knows how long ago that was!), but now that they are grown they are just too big? CAN I trim them, and if so, how? Sorry for the very basic question -- at my last house the shrubs were just in front of the house away from the driveway/door so I never had to do anything to them.
Thanks in advance! (And let me know if I should post in the Garden forum instead of this one!)
Last edited by karen_in_nh_2012; 04-27-2013 at 11:09 AM..
And P.S. I am thinking ... what if I got rid of all of them and put flower boxes in the windows instead? The windows are 54" wide each. I love window boxes. At SOME point -- probably in 2-4 years, depending on finances & other home improvement priorities -- I will have a big front porch constructed to turn this Colonial into more of a farm house look, so all the shrubs would come out at that point anyway. Hmmm ...
I don't have advice on how to cut the bushes but congratulations on your new beautiful house! I think flower boxes would look fantastic.
Thank you! I am loving living here. Wonderful neighborhood. And boy, am I tempted to do flower boxes ... I am just afraid of doing something that drastic!
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.
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.
So are you saying these particular shrubs don't look trimmable? I just know nothing about shrubs.
I am actually adding raised flower beds parallel to the driveway, which is to the far right of this main part of the house.
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 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.
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?
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.
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!
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