My wife and I bought this house recently and inherited seriously overgrown bushes. I’m just looking for ideas. Is there anything I can do with them other than rip them all out and start fresh?
Some of these can be sheared and pruned some of them cannot. Generally conifers once cut down to hard wood will not regrow however the holly i think I’m seeing there would make a really fun pruning project. Short awnser rip out the yews( good luck with that) and learn some pruning techniques for the holly( the one you showed the base of).
GWbag
Look/call your local nurseries and ask about a consultation for your landscaping.
The foliage is overwhelming the house. Trim or Remove some to bring it back into balance.
Want2BnOre
The structure, and the foliage are out of balance. Trim or remove some of the foliage
tortleidiot
Remove & replace a few of the very large overgrown shrubs.
It is definitely not necessary to remove everything.
It looks pretty good, just overgrown.
tortleidiot
Most of them can be trimmed.
I would do a hard cut back to where you want them to be. They will look like crap. Next spring, you’ll know how they will green up & then you can decide which one have to be removed.
Save your energy, time & money & just trim, then wait.
Cute home 🏡
The_Poster_Nutbag
I would remove them and plant something more interesting. There don’t look to be any flowering plants in most of the landscaping here.
PinnatelyCompounded
I would rip out those monsters and start fresh. They’ve been pruned to death. And they should never block windows.
AmaranthusSky
I’d keep the small, light green ones. Rip out the huge ones. I couldn’t even see your front door!
PriscillaPalava
You’ve got a perfect hedge doorway! Plant a secret garden behind it.
turbinepilot76
I’m going to be contrary to the other comments, and say that I would trim the shrubs back a little bit at a time, and expand the beds by about 12-16”. Trim the left-hand hedge into a jumbo bonsai style and expose the base.
Then in the expansion plant some complementary flowers and leave room for planters of annuals. I think the big mature shrubs look great, and you mostly need some color and variety.
Some burgundy and orange daylilies would look great along the yews. Maybe a purple smoke bush at the corner of the house to add to height and color variety.
Pull the weeds, remulch, and get some pre-emergent down to keep the weeds under control. Time is one thing you can’t buy, and these mature shrubs have it in spades.
_1Ok
I would try cutting out no more than a 1/3 of top overgrowth, canopy or extra width to allow light to get into the middle branches encouraging new growth. Once new growth starts you can continue to reduce to the new shape or size. You could do it to your other shrubs to reduce their overall height & width. If you cut too much & it dies or you don’t like it then take it out. Good luck
craigrpeters
Bushes that are very woody in their interior don’t look very good when pruned back pretty hard. Or, you’ll be waiting years for them to flush back out. I’d say take out the very large, woody shrubs and replace.
Similar-Stable-1908
Roses all along that front curve it would suit the architecture
allinmaxtip
Sell it to a developer and let him doze the place
27803
I think they’re overgrown and would remove some of them, something that flowers or at least has some visual interest would be a lot more appealing g
parrotia78
Very little I’d rec retaining. This is an outdated landscape of high maintenance largely chromatic. This Tudor can shine with an inexpensive phased install with a comprehensive long term plan.
msmaynards
Sheared shrub/trees like this were part of the Tudor garden playbook. You’ve got some you could keep then fill in where the others were with all the flowering SMALL shrubs and perennials.
I’d remove the ones up against the house and leave the rest. You might end up wanting the large shrub left of the front door gone as it hides the door.
That enormous one could look amazing if you continue to remove the dead twigs. I know I’ve seen this in a British gardening book somewhere but no photo to show you. It may transform into something completely different if you continue to remove small twigs, branches and dead stuff and get creative with shearing but for the first time ever I wouldn’t mind it staying an enormous blob.
No_Complaint_9339
I’m on the west coast so I’d pull em and go drought tolerant with native plants. Outside my area, no clue but starting over is probably worth the long term investment
Constant_Wear_8919
Keep the yews
Upper_Weakness_8794
This looks ugly to me. I’ld probably remove it.
Upper_Weakness_8794
These 2 are having problems. Dying from inside (it looks like). Maybe trim all the dead out. Possibly remove the one closest to the house. Maybe trim off all dead off the next shrub.
Blessings & good luck. Pretty home!!
MydogMax59
Nothing…..absolutely NOTHING dates a house more than overgrown shrubbery. Personally I’d rip every one of those out and start over with SOMETHING…..
ANYTHING….that didn’t scream 1960. Large old overgrown shrubbery make a house look small and old. Sorry.
Intrepid_Train3277
I would get my measuring wheel and measure everything and locate it on graph paper. From there, I would design a plan, based on my area. Remember try to only use plants that flower. Green bushes don’t get remembered. Use plants like the sasanqua camellia that bloom in late fall or maybe even winter depending. Roses are too much maintenance.
Use rock, big ones to make a point and 12” river rocks to make a border. Under the border it may be wise to locate drainage pipe covered by pebbles.
MinPen311
Pull them all up. They are dated and do nothing for the house. Low growing greenery. Maybe hydrangeas would be nice.
-Apocralypse-
Would you consider adding perennials to this mix of evergreen shrubs?
This planting scheme is like painting with just 1 or 2 colours. The picture is readable, but lacking depth.
Serious-Fun7379
I’m all in for the secret garden. Cannot stand the “front yard for others business” (who drive by I guess?). Frederick Law Olmsted is to blame for us give away our front yards. Make a space you can enjoy; sometimes even with the neighbors. I grow fruit and veg and now it’s mostly a hummingbird/butterfly/fragrance/cut flower garden with the anchor trees at the borders.
menellus
Just do a nice trim, they look wonderful. You don’t want to be sitting on empty field
nnikbunt
Those were nice yews over the years, but now overgrown and need to be replaced.
IrishProblem
Rip out the two on the left big giant hedges that have been pruned to death and stop with the balls
botulinumtxn
Rip out the bushes for sure. Those are way old school. You can get bushes that will be larger but also have flowers and bring more interest
Flies-like-a-banana
Niwaki?
DIY-exerciseGuy
Sure you can trim them way back at the proper time but those particular looking bushes make any house look older / out of style. The effect is multiplied in this case since the house also looks outdated. I would get rid of them and get something more modern / fresh looking.
34 Comments
Some of these can be sheared and pruned some of them cannot. Generally conifers once cut down to hard wood will not regrow however the holly i think I’m seeing there would make a really fun pruning project. Short awnser rip out the yews( good luck with that) and learn some pruning techniques for the holly( the one you showed the base of).
Look/call your local nurseries and ask about a consultation for your landscaping.
Here’s how I pruned some old overgrown junipers. https://gardenrant.com/2022/07/bonsai-like-junipers-were-revealed-not-planned.html
The foliage is overwhelming the house. Trim or Remove some to bring it back into balance.
The structure, and the foliage are out of balance. Trim or remove some of the foliage
Remove & replace a few of the very large overgrown shrubs.
It is definitely not necessary to remove everything.
It looks pretty good, just overgrown.
Most of them can be trimmed.
I would do a hard cut back to where you want them to be. They will look like crap. Next spring, you’ll know how they will green up & then you can decide which one have to be removed.
Save your energy, time & money & just trim, then wait.
Cute home 🏡
I would remove them and plant something more interesting. There don’t look to be any flowering plants in most of the landscaping here.
I would rip out those monsters and start fresh. They’ve been pruned to death. And they should never block windows.
I’d keep the small, light green ones. Rip out the huge ones. I couldn’t even see your front door!
You’ve got a perfect hedge doorway! Plant a secret garden behind it.
I’m going to be contrary to the other comments, and say that I would trim the shrubs back a little bit at a time, and expand the beds by about 12-16”. Trim the left-hand hedge into a jumbo bonsai style and expose the base.
Then in the expansion plant some complementary flowers and leave room for planters of annuals. I think the big mature shrubs look great, and you mostly need some color and variety.
Some burgundy and orange daylilies would look great along the yews. Maybe a purple smoke bush at the corner of the house to add to height and color variety.
Pull the weeds, remulch, and get some pre-emergent down to keep the weeds under control. Time is one thing you can’t buy, and these mature shrubs have it in spades.
I would try cutting out no more than a 1/3 of top overgrowth, canopy or extra width to allow light to get into the middle branches encouraging new growth. Once new growth starts you can continue to reduce to the new shape or size. You could do it to your other shrubs to reduce their overall height & width. If you cut too much & it dies or you don’t like it then take it out. Good luck
Bushes that are very woody in their interior don’t look very good when pruned back pretty hard. Or, you’ll be waiting years for them to flush back out. I’d say take out the very large, woody shrubs and replace.
Roses all along that front curve it would suit the architecture
Sell it to a developer and let him doze the place
I think they’re overgrown and would remove some of them, something that flowers or at least has some visual interest would be a lot more appealing g
Very little I’d rec retaining. This is an outdated landscape of high maintenance largely chromatic. This Tudor can shine with an inexpensive phased install with a comprehensive long term plan.
Sheared shrub/trees like this were part of the Tudor garden playbook. You’ve got some you could keep then fill in where the others were with all the flowering SMALL shrubs and perennials.
I’d remove the ones up against the house and leave the rest. You might end up wanting the large shrub left of the front door gone as it hides the door.
That enormous one could look amazing if you continue to remove the dead twigs. I know I’ve seen this in a British gardening book somewhere but no photo to show you. It may transform into something completely different if you continue to remove small twigs, branches and dead stuff and get creative with shearing but for the first time ever I wouldn’t mind it staying an enormous blob.
I’m on the west coast so I’d pull em and go drought tolerant with native plants. Outside my area, no clue but starting over is probably worth the long term investment
Keep the yews
This looks ugly to me. I’ld probably remove it.
These 2 are having problems. Dying from inside (it looks like). Maybe trim all the dead out. Possibly remove the one closest to the house. Maybe trim off all dead off the next shrub.
Blessings & good luck. Pretty home!!
Nothing…..absolutely NOTHING dates a house more than overgrown shrubbery. Personally I’d rip every one of those out and start over with SOMETHING…..
ANYTHING….that didn’t scream 1960. Large old overgrown shrubbery make a house look small and old. Sorry.
I would get my measuring wheel and measure everything and locate it on graph paper. From there, I would design a plan, based on my area. Remember try to only use plants that flower. Green bushes don’t get remembered. Use plants like the sasanqua camellia that bloom in late fall or maybe even winter depending. Roses are too much maintenance.
Use rock, big ones to make a point and 12” river rocks to make a border. Under the border it may be wise to locate drainage pipe covered by pebbles.
Pull them all up. They are dated and do nothing for the house. Low growing greenery. Maybe hydrangeas would be nice.
Would you consider adding perennials to this mix of evergreen shrubs?
This planting scheme is like painting with just 1 or 2 colours. The picture is readable, but lacking depth.
I’m all in for the secret garden. Cannot stand the “front yard for others business” (who drive by I guess?). Frederick Law Olmsted is to blame for us give away our front yards. Make a space you can enjoy; sometimes even with the neighbors. I grow fruit and veg and now it’s mostly a hummingbird/butterfly/fragrance/cut flower garden with the anchor trees at the borders.
Just do a nice trim, they look wonderful. You don’t want to be sitting on empty field
Those were nice yews over the years, but now overgrown and need to be replaced.
Rip out the two on the left big giant hedges that have been pruned to death and stop with the balls
Rip out the bushes for sure. Those are way old school. You can get bushes that will be larger but also have flowers and bring more interest
Niwaki?
Sure you can trim them way back at the proper time but those particular looking bushes make any house look older / out of style. The effect is multiplied in this case since the house also looks outdated. I would get rid of them and get something more modern / fresh looking.