One of the most common landscaping errors that people make is with the type of shrubbery that they plant close to their houses. When the shrubbery is planted, it is young and small. Unfortunately, shrubbery has this habit of growing and people discover that, when they attempt to look out their windows, all they see is vegetation. Most people would rather not see overgrown shrubbery when they are looking outside. Another reason for not wanting overgrown shrubbery is that houses tend to look unoccupied when the shrubbery and weeds are out of control. So they have two options:
- rip out the offending shrubbery and start over or
- prune the heck out of the out-of-control shrub and prevent it from achieving a new status as a tree
The garden that I tended today featured two overgrown shrubs behind the house belonging to my customer. She let me know that she got no air in her bedroom, even when she opened the window. As you can see from the picture above, you can’t even find the window. The shrub is definitely working on becoming a tree.
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A post after my own heart! I am constantly going around my yard and pruning. I have a tree in my back yard that I swear grows 3 feet every year. I call it "The tree I love to hate"! I let it live because it has beautiful burgandy leaves, sweet smelling white flowers in the spring, and berries for the birds. I have no idea what kind it is though. Thanks for the post!
Alice, you are speaking my language! My mother lives in an area of Denver, where juniper bushes were planted at the front corners of the homes, in the 1950's. All of the junipers are now the height of the roof and a bit bald looking near the core. Whenever we walk the area, we fantasize replacing them with some other shrub, with what height and characteristics. There's no trimming them to size at this point. You would just have brown trunks, and people would know you were rather odd :-). As you say, sometimes you can trim them, and sometimes you have to replace them. I've had pink-blooming oleanders (I'm in Phoenix)that I gradually trimmed into the appearance of cherry trees, and they gave everyone great joy. Thanks for raising this really important topic! Blessings!