Tearing out front landscaping. Will I regret it?

[Anonymous]

We moved in to our house this spring and I didn't make any big garden changes because I wanted to see how things grew. The more I look at the front of the house, the more I want to dig out the azaleas and old box woods. They just look overgrown and lumpy with a bare spot where the old owners must have already pulled out a bush. I'm thinking we'd start fresh with some smaller shrubs or plants, but I'm afraid the house will look to bare without the big bushes. Thoughts? Anyone did this and loved it or regretted it?

[Anonymous]

We ripped out most of our front landscaping this year (bought house last year) and it made a huge difference. Soooooo much work and expense went into tearing everything out and starting over, but it's starting to look really good and I glad we did it. Yes, it does look bare in comparison, but I am taking bare over overgrown and dying... My husband keeps reminding me that building a landscape is a multi-year project.

[Anonymous]

If you like azaleas, you may be able to severely prune them back, resulting in a smaller, better shaped plant. Google for instructions. It will be cheaper and easier than buying new. Research online if you can do this for boxwoods too, but it may not work. If you don't like what you have even if they were smaller, just rip them out.

[mjsmith]

Shrubs like Azaleas, and box wood would respond well to rejuvenation pruning. Just keep in mind that they will look bad for a couple years until they fill in.

just do not prune them until later in the season. if you do it now... the new growth might not have a chance to harden off before the first frost, which would end up killing the plants

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We moved in to our house this spring and I didn't make any big garden changes because I wanted to see how things grew. The more I look at the front of the house, the more I want to dig out the azaleas and old box woods. They just look overgrown and lumpy with a bare spot where the old owners must have already pulled out a bush. I'm thinking we'd start fresh with some smaller shrubs or plants, but I'm afraid the house will look to bare without the big bushes. Thoughts? Anyone did this and loved it or regretted it?

We live in a very mixed age neighborhood. All the young people moving in remove all the bushes and put in a low row of evergreens. All the older neighbors leave the big bushes. So you can tell how old the family is by the landscaping. We did a combination. Old box woods are valuable, old azaleas not so much. Both can be pruned into a better shape. We moved the azaleas into the back yard, where they look much better. Very cheerful in the spring. It does not make your home look "new" to remove all the landscaping. It just looks bare, and it take years for it to grow in. You can try it in photo shop and see what you think.

[Anonymous]

I ripped out a bunch of stuff (boxwoods, azaleas, some really really big bushes of unknown provenance) right after we moved in to put in my own plants. Some of what I planted didn't take, and if I could go back I'd leave the azaleas alone, but getting rid of the giant bushes was a great idea, and I'm really happy with the plants that did grow. I didn't wait a whole year like you did and if I had it to do over that's the change I'd make. So if you still don't like the plants at this point, I say get rid of them!