Perhaps this screenshot of our old header will give you a hint as to what we tackled in this outdoor update (which is most likely number 7 of 582, since we like to tackle outdoor stuff in bite-sized stages so we don’t get too sore/overwhelmed or blow the budget)…
Yup, that’s the Camellia tree that we first mentioned back in March (you guys actually helped us identify it). It’s a beautiful tree, but we’ve always bemoaned the fact that it was growing just inches (maybe even just one inch?) from our foundation… which made us tres nervous about permanent damage if we allowed it to stay.
After showing it to a few plant expert friends of ours, they all recommended removing it asap so the root systems didn’t cause any issues. And we had to admit it was kinda like a bushy, overgrown sideburn on our home’s pretty little face anyway. You know, the tree equivalent to a mutton chop? Or maybe one of those weird extra long “feeler” eyebrow hairs? Whatever the face-hair analogy you prefer, it wasn’t good.
Unless you enjoy the whole tree-tickling-the-gutters look.
Long story short, we finally decided to serve Miss Camellia an eviction notice.
Our first instinct was of course to transplant it. We generally liked the look of it and figured there was no reason not to at least try to save this gal. So I got out my shovel and went to town on her for about 30 minutes. This is as far as I got:
It may look like progress, but certainly didn’t feel like it. The roots were so tight that it was hard to maneuver around them… and I was in constant fear of knocking out a brick or two from the house as I dug into the earth with some pretty serious force (we have very dense hard soil here). So after about another hour of digging (where we discovered just how close some of the roots and the foundation really were) and some thoughtful discussion, we knew what we had to do. We apologized, told her we had done our best and that it was just the wrong time and (more importantly) the wrong place… and I got the saw. It was sad, but it was necessary. And we made a promise to plant another camellia somewhere in the backyard in memory of our gutter-tickling friend.
When it came to the removal process, first I took off the big limbs and then I spent the bulk of my time sawing through the trunk right at ground level. About another 30 minutes later, I was left with this little stump that (after snapping this pic) would be low enough to bury with level dirt so it wouldn’t be seen. I contemplated further cutting it out, but was still waaay too nervous to upset the ground more around the foundation, so I decided just to leave it be and cover it up with dirt so everything was nice and level.
I generally don’t like cutting down perfectly healthy trees. At all. So this bummed me and Sherry out more than we should probably admit. But we consoled ourselves with the fact that we had already planted six new trees since moving in (remember these) and reminded ourselves that removing this one poorly placed camellia meant that we were making room for new better-fitting plantings in that spot, that would, among other things, not lean on our house or threaten our home’s foundation.
The replacement plantings will definitely be smaller and more low-profile. It’s our general theory that short stout houses like ours need lower, airier landscaping to help them look taller (aka: not so darned squat). Our last house was so weighed down with a a heavy row of azalea bushes when we moved in that it practically made the thing seem half as high (see how we remedied that in this old post). So taking out this taller-than-the-house tree helped us earn back some much needed visual height (thanks to the fact that a tiny tree no longer towered over our house, making it appear even shorter).
Though when I stepped back I realized that one very overgrown bush was undoing all of my hard work. Sheesh. You know you’re in trouble when a bush is taller than your house.
So I gave him a little haircut with the ol’ clippers.
Not amazing at all. But better. That whole swarm of bushes is something that we’d love to transplant in order to open things up as we go. We’re actually really looking forward to revamping our front yard because the house still feels very closed off to us. Pretty much the only thing not blocked by greenery is the carport, which (though it has grown on me) is not exactly the part of our home that I want to highlight (we still very much look forward to turning that into a proper garage down the line).
Maybe now that it has cooled off a bit we’ll finally gain some momentum outside. Heck, late last week was so beautiful that Sherry did some weeding in the driveway to keep me company (and Clara and Burger “helped” – which means they pranced/toddled around and played with sticks/leaves). And yes, I did just say that Sherry did some driveway weeding. As much as we love our double-wide paver driveway, the fact that we’re one of the few folks who have to weed our driveway doesn’t escape us (as opposed to all the blissfully weed-free paved ones out there).
See, the driveway is very long. And, thanks to the weed-friendly paver-ness of all those cracks, it’s proving to be pretty impossible to keep free of super annoying green sprouts. We’re not down with those chemical spray-on weed killers since we have a bean and a pup who play outside (they’re not supposed to be great for the planet either), but we’ve done our fair share of research when it comes to more natural weed killing alternatives like these:
- Pouring boiling water on them
- Using course driveway salt
- Implementing a mixture involving vinegar
Sadly after a bit more research (like calling the paver manufacturer directly) we’ve learned that using salt or vinegar on our pavers can permanently damage them (leading to erosion, cracking, etc). So we’ve only tried the first method (using gallons of scalding water from the stove repeatedly dumped over various sections of the driveway). The result? Cue the sad trombone sound effect. It didn’t do nada. Even after waiting a few days (holding out hope that it might take a while to burn down to the root or something) those weeds were still sitting there smiling up at us. Grr.
So we decided to give up on the boiling-pots-and-pots-of-water technique and resort to good old fashioned hand-pulling every so often. Which isn’t exactly every day (yup, we’re those neighbors with the weedy driveway). So if you ever come over, forgive us if the front of our driveway looks like this (here’s hoping it’s at least partially weeded, which seems to be our pattern). And maybe someday we’ll get around to using polymeric sand which is supposed to cut down on weeds…
Okay, now someone make me feel better about having to take out the camellia. Has anyone else has had to move/remove a tree or other planting that wasn’t working for them? And if you’ve ever had success moving a tree with dense tight roots right near the foundation, what are your tips? I just couldn’t keep digging away without crippling don’t-break-the-house anxiety. We’d also love any and all driveway weeding tips. Especially the all natural ones that might be more paver-friendly than salt and vinegar.
Tomi Ann says
We just did the same thing! We had a mysterious little tree that had grown up from nowhere. It was so pretty and grew so much faster than our other trees that I wanted to let it grow, but the hubs was worried about foundation damage. Watch out, though — he chopped it down and buried it, and it’s already sending out suckers and doing its best to come back. We’re going to have to take more serious action.
ellen says
My husband uses the “flamer”!! for weeds. It is an attachment that goes on our grill’s propane tank…very manly. You can see it here if you scroll about halfway down. http://designingmainstreet.com/2011/07/11/seven-yards-of-mulch/
We also got rid of trees and I was bummed but like your house- it looks so much better!! The funny part was that I got all these tree followers after that post.
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, John would have too much fun with that thing!
xo,
s
Jeff Platt says
The way that you have portrayed your house on the blog is amazing. It has given me some ideas of how to go about the same obstacle on blog. The frame of the shots leaves just enough to the imagination while providing enough visual that one can get a good grasp of what the property looks like. Also it makes me happy that the closest tree to my house is a good 20 ft from the front door and is only about 10 ft high. Hopefully that all works out for the best.
Emilie says
I don’t have any advice for the driveway, but if you still have the camelia, maybe you could slice it into little waldorf-like blocks after it’s dried sufficiently?
YoungHouseLove says
Ooh that’s a fun idea!
xo,
s
Tara says
Just curious – what are waldorf-like blocks? Are they blocks for Clara for playing with?
YoungHouseLove says
They’re like this: http://www.bellalunatoys.com/tree-blocks.html
So cool!
xo,
s
taraHatz says
i have 5 small children and am therefore unable to read through all of the comments (so sorry if someone’s already mentioned this!) but i had heard before that corn meal was good for weed control so i looked it up to be sure.
“Corn Meal – Corn meal doesn’t really kill weeds, it just stops the weed seeds from ever developing. Corn Gluten is a pre-emergent, which is a fancy way of saying that is it is a seed birth-control. Corn meal scattered around an area will keep any seed in that area from growing into a plant. This means a weed seed or a desirable seed. This method is a good option for areas that you plan on planting grown plants in.”
so that might work for your drive way. i would push it into the cracks as if it were paver sand.
i’m lucky enough to live on a secluded 4 acres in new england where everyone just mows whatever grows so it all looks like grass (trust me though. it isn’t) and my super long dirt driveway looks rather lovely with all the vegetation popping up between the wheel ruts…
YoungHouseLove says
I love that tip! So smart!
xo,
s
[email protected] says
I hear you guys, we had to remove a large hawthorne tree from the back yard ( I lovingly called it my overgrown bonsai tree). I was pretty bummed at the time as well. My tree love must have been fickle, as now that it is gone I hardly miss it all. The new shed that has taken it’s place is well worth the hasty tree chop. Your front yard is definitely getting there, Cheers!
Nikki Kelly says
I think I just recently just killed a Russian Sage that my BF and I tried to transplant. We are still watering it in hopes that it’s just in shock, but I’m not holding my breath.
http://theambitiousprocrastinator.blogspot.com/2011/08/because-everything-looks-better-after.html
Jess @ Little House. Big Heart. says
Much better! I was wondering when those guys were going to get a haircut! You can actually see your happy, yellow door from the drive now!
Ami says
Here I’ll tell you a root foundation horror story to make it all better: When we were house hunting we found this one little ranch we loved but on inspection one of the BIG reasons we backed out (or rather they said they wanted MORE money for a house w/ major damage so we said no thank you) was the big beautiful tree somebody had planted a mere 3 feet from the foundation had in fact grown into the foundation, cracking it and allowing water to seep into the rebar thereby causing it to erode and produce gas that created a giant BUBBLE in the foundation. Yeah. They’re going to have to jack hammer up 20% of the foundation, cut out ALL the old rebar, re lay new rebar and repour the foundation and fix all the structural damage caused by the bubble. And sadly that turned out to not be the WORST of the problems that house had. Such a sad thing to happen to such a cute house…
Heather says
One question about the tree roots near the foundation: Could this become a termite issue if the roots aren’t removed? I ask because I had a co-worker that had a tree cut down in her yard but didn’t spend the extra money to have the stump removed. Then, when they sold the house, the inspector found termites in the stump and they had to pay for termite treatment for the entire property! Of course, you probably wouldn’t have to worry about that with it being underground, but it worries me being so close to the house…
YoungHouseLove says
Someone else mentioned that so we actually plan to dig out the stump a bit more and make sure it’s not a termite haven. Our house gets annual inspections (and we got to look back at the records at closing) and has never had a termite issue – so the termite guys guess that it was treated with one of those crazy heavy formulas that settles deep into the dirt and protects things for like 50 years (but is also super toxic, so it’s not something we’re proud of). So although we suspect we might not have any issues, it’s nice to be safe anyway!
xo,
s
Cindy says
We have a 1-acre, mostly-wooded lot and had to cut down several trees when we moved in because they were either sickly or leaning in directions that made me feel very uneasy. I think you can take solace in the fact that you guys will plant things over the years to make up for it. Around here, we move chestnuts and acorns into areas where we would like to see more trees grow, thickening the woods around us as opposed to close to the house.
liz @ bon temps beignet says
Don’t feel bad about pulling out that tree! Your home is much more important that 1 little tree. We removed 2 hideous ‘fire’ trees from our front yard since they were super close to the foundation and we already had major plumbing issues (like roots growing into 50 year old cast iron pipes). But after the removal, it only seemed to put a spotlight on how unattractive our front yard/house exterior really is. Smh… and I thought it was just the dang trees. We’re in desperate need of landscaping but I can’t seem to keep ANYTHING alive in this dry California weather.
Here are a few pictures of the hideousness. http://bontempsbeignet.blogspot.com/2011/05/fire-trees-are-gone-now-youre-eyes-can.html
Lelo says
You don’t have to use any chemicals for those weeds/grass in the driveway. We have lots of gravel paths and areas in-between sections of concrete and the technique I use is so simple. Put on the tea kettle. Pouring boiling water over the unwanted plants kills them (it does smell like steamed greens while you do this) and doesn’t disturb the grouted area like it would if you pulled them. Make sure you watch out for your toes though: you don’t want to pour boiling water on them.
YoungHouseLove says
Alas, I tried the boiling water thing a bunch of times. Never worked :(
xo,
s
Aron says
I have about 8 camellia trees along the side of my house. When I bought the house last year they were so tall that they blocked all of the side windows (7 windows) and you could not drive down the driveway without them scratching your car. But oh were they beautiful. My Mom almost cried when I cut them back. I hope they are far enough away from the foundation… Had not thought of that :(
Carrie says
I had to cut out a tree that was growing super close to my house and one that was growing weird- it was LEANING into the alley. My boyfriend’s father is a licensed arborist and he told me it needed to go. Then I had 2 lovely trees left. Until an inland hurricane (for real? Yep. Who the heck has ever heard of that?!) came and knocked the perfect shade tree ever down. Well half of it. I tried to save it but we had to take it out the next year. Then my final tree bit the dust to a May tornado and now I am treeless (my year is NAKED!) and looking at fast growing trees.
I felt like karma was paying me back for killing the other trees.
Oh wait- that doesn’t make you feel better! :)
What if you scattered rock salt on the drive, then used a brush to push it in the cracks and onto the dirt and then watered it? I heard repeated use of salt on concrete asphalt and pavers is bad but a one or tow time thing won’t hurt it. But it’s just what my father told me. He is often right but occasionally wrong. :) I am getting ready to salt the earth and kill they weeds where my decorative rock was. Ugh- weeding it is a nightmare!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, the guy at the paver company said even using it once could be bad for the seal/erosion thing. But so many readers offered up some great ideas that I can’t wait to try!
xo,
s
HeidiG. says
I’m sorry for the loss of your tree. I bet it was a hard decision.
The people who built our fence cut down part of a tree that ‘was in the way’. I cried, but I cried even harder when they built the fence wrong & had to cut down the rest of it.
Corinne says
I have a mulberry that just refuses to die. It’s also way too close to the foundation for my liking. Last year when I moved in, my step-dad came to visit and made sure to bring the chainsaw so that we could cut it down. I’m not kidding you when I say that it was touching my neighbors’ house! Seriously, one branch was a good 12 feet long and touched one of their windows! We spent hours chopping that thing down. I thought we’d chopped it down far enough to make a difference, but OH NO IT CAME BACK! It now resembles more of a bush, but it went from a little tiny stump to a 6-foot tall bush in the course of just a few weeks!
Gina @ Running to the Kitchen says
The builder of our house stupidly planted two trees right against the house as well. One of which is a Japanese lace maple worth quite a pretty penny. It makes me sick to think of how I have to butcher that tree back every year so it doesn’t grow too big and take over. We’ve actually tried digging it up but it was just too big to do it and guarantee keeping the tree alive which I wasn’t willing to risk with such a nice tree.
Anna says
Yesterday we ripped out 6 (yes, 6!) HUGE burning bushes that served as an entrance to our driveway. They were way huge and kind of out of place (not to mention, a little bit of a view-blocker when backing up). Also, tore out 3 large evergreen shrubs and another evergreen tree that was dead on one side. We don’t exactly have a plan of what to put there yet, but we’re thrilled that we’re actually able to see the house!
Kelly says
I feel your pain. I have moved back into my childhood home that sadly my parents did not proactiavely maintain as well as they should have and we had a laurel bush that was at least 30 feet tall. Yes, this bush, though airy, was taller than our 2 story home and covered over 1/2 of the front. We also had an old, old, old, pine tree in the front yard. After a full home inspection that I had done after I inherited the place, we learned that both plants were doing visible damage to the 85 year old foundation. So, both had to go. Now that they are gone, we have learned about some beautiful artechitectual elements of the home that we never saw and we can actually see the rest of the house from the street. I was upset to see them go (as were many of the neigbors in this must-have-permission-from-the-city-to-trim-a-tree town.) But, it will make way for something that makes more sense and will be much better in the big picture. Good luck with the weeds!
mp says
You did the right thing by taking out the camellia, and I’m sure she understood. The fact that you’re going to replace her elsewhere goes a long way.
I LOVE your pavers, although I understand your weed battle. The wheelchair ramp has weeds galore popping up through the Trex, and all I’ve really done to control them is attack them with the weedeater. Like y’all, I’m not down with Roundup (I have five pups and love my planet), but it astounds me how folks use it without thinking.
meryl rose says
OMG we had a nearly 25ft monkey tree planted maybe 3 inches from the foundation when we moved in. It was HORRENDOUSLY ugly and tearing up our foundation and the neighbor’s driveway. The whole taking down of the tree was quite an adventure and a neighbor driving by actually stopped in the middle of the street to watch and then clapped when we were successful and drove off. It was quite hilarious. Once the tree was removed we were left with the stump. We tried to kill it and bought some chemicals (I know, very bad, but it was a very mature tree and was already starting to grow through the foundation). The chemicals didn’t really kill it so we eventually hired someone on craiglist who came over with a bunch of tools and cut and sawed the crap out of it underground so we could be sure to kill it.
http://picardyproject.blogspot.com/2010/11/saga-of-stump.html
And, as morbid as this all sounds, we also REALLY don’t like killing or taking down trees, but for the same reason, this one had to go. We did plant a beautiful Japanese Cherry Blossom in the backyard and have plans for some great landscaping in the front yard, although a little while down the line….first we gotta finish the backyard
Catherine says
Even if you did get the tree out successfully, it may not have even survived. We tried transplanting a tree and for various reasons it just sat there all limp, and eventually died. It made me so sad, especially since we tended to it twice a day for about two weeks.
So don’t feel bad! You knew the transplanting thing wasn’t going to work, but you tried, and that’s what counts! Look at it this way…the tree would have suffered if it hadn’t taken to it’s new position, and you kept it from that misery.
Jennifer says
When we moved out of our rental house a few years ago we noticed a basement wall was bowing in a little bit. We immediately notified the landlord and it turned out to be a $20,000+ renovation job. One side of the house had essentially caved in from a tree similar to yours growing too close to the foundation. Apparently our large, heavy sleeper sofa was the only thing holding that wall up & it started caving in when we moved it. Thank heavens it held the wall up because that wall was in our children’s playroom! So, while I always feel sad to see a good tree die young it’s better to be safe then sorry!
YoungHouseLove says
Wow- so scary! Glad you caught it in time!
xo,
s
Sara says
These cabinets looks like they are going to be amazing! Super jealous on the $6 steal of deal at ReStore…I have to figure out if there is one of those in the St. Louis area. Can’t wait to see the finished product!
jo says
So sad to read someone cut down a very expensive Japanese Maple. I loved ours, but didn’t love the placement (squeezed by the back porch for no one to really see). However, when I started digging the roots I thought it was done for because I ended up chopping them to a small root ball. Despite this it survived and thrived beautifully by the front walk. Yeah Success!
Kim says
We have 9 old large camellias in our yard. Some we like better than others, and some I would be fine if we didn’t have at all, but like you we do not cut down trees. However, we did an addition and our favorite camellia was right in the way. But we didn’t want to not do the addition because of it. We tried to call people to move it, or see if we could at least sell it. But it was going to be so expensive to move it, and we couldn’t sell it to a nursery because they couldn’t guarantee it would live. I actually cried when it came time to remove it. I just told the guys working on our house that I didn’t want to be here to watch it. Maybe they felt sorry for me, because they kindly dug it up and transplanted it for us! I was so happy! I watered it, bought pine straw, talked to it,etc. But then came the horrible and unusual cold winter we had, and well-it’s gone. After looking at brown leaves all summer I guess I finally admitted it and we took it out. I saved part of the trunk and I’m hoping to make some sort of yard art from it, and I want to plant a new one in it’s honor. I guess that’s weird. If it had been one of the “ugly” camellias, I could have cared less.
If i were you guys I would be concerned that leaving a dead trunk might attract termites, so better to get rid of it asap.
YoungHouseLove says
Yeah, we’re planning to dig it out a bit more and make sure it’s dead thanks to smarties like you! We had no idea about that stuff. Haha.
xo,
s
Jenn says
We’re getting a Canary Island Date Palm cut down this week because I was talking to the mailman while I was out doing yard work a few weeks ago, and he told me that it broke the water main a few months ago. That would explain why the street is repaved only in front of our house. The palm tree has also outgrown the cement cut-out that it was planted in in the driveway and will damage our driveway if it’s not removed.
Casey Coleman says
I have no tips for you, but. Oh. My. Word. I am still laughing about the tree version of mutton chops!
Jenb says
I know you have already ruled out salt. And that is good- we tried it and it didn’t work at all. I don’t miss weeding that walkway at our old house.
Sarah says
We had to take a full grown tree, like 16 feet, out of the side bed of our house. We documented it here: http://ardmorecottage.blogspot.com/2009_08_01_archive.html
We both felt so bad, but we couldn’t let it go on. I also can’t figure out why the previous owners let it go on so long. We also have a Camelia that’s taller than the house in our front bed. I really need to trim it back, but all of the neighbors love it and beg me not to trim it too much.
No help with the weeds. Good luck!
Karen says
Has anyone mentioned yet that soaking the area first would have made digging a whole lot easier?
Sincerely,
She who has dug many holes in compact earth
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, I thought about that about two hours too late. Poor John. Haha. Although I did wonder if soaking the dirt would make it heavier and harder to move, so I wasn’t 100% sure it would work/ loosen things up.
xo,
s
CJ @ STC.com says
I tried to check all of the comments to make sure this wasn’t already said, but have you looked into using Stump Out?
You can check out the product here: http://www.gemplers.com/tech/faq-stump.htm
I work at a True Value store and our customers have been pretty pleased with the product. It may be a more “green” option for you guys than roundup, but I’m not exactly sure since I don’t have both products to compare in front of me. Also, you do not need to burn the stump in the end like directed — it can also decompose naturally so you wouldn’t need to worry about burning it so close to your foundation.
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for the tip CJ! We’ll have to check it out.
xo,
s
Tiffany T. says
ahahhahaha double dose..ha larious!
Nicky at Not My Mother says
Oh yes, I feel your pain about the camellia. We’ve got an absolutely gorgeous almost 100-feet tall eucalyptus gum tree at the top of our driveway. It is so beautiful and even better we’ve got a dozen or so Galahs (large pink parrots) who roost in it every night. But the problem with gum trees is they spontaneously drop branches, and ours did – a 30-foot long one fell down our driveway with a huge crash the other night. We were so lucky it wasn’t the one on right (which would have taken out our loungeroom) or the left (ditto our neighbours bedroom, where they would have been at the time). So, it has to go.
We’ve had an arborist come over and he says the way the branches fork make it a bigger risk that it will do it again, so we’re just waiting to hear from the council that we’re allowed to take it down. I’m really sad about it, but it just can’t stay.
I wish I’d gotten around to blogging about it already so I could show you the pictures – that branch was terrifying!
Tiffany T. says
and by ha larious I do mean hilarious!
Carolyn Back says
there is an all natural weed killer on the market, “Burnout” that will kill weeds. You have to use it in weather that is 75degrees or hotter, but it works well!
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for the suggestion!
xo,
s
Jaeyde says
Be careful about those roots. Some trees can be very tenacious and if you don’t properly kill the root, you may have the same problem in a few years, as the original (still alive) root network continues to grow and then tries again to reach for the sky, only this time much more quietly, but just as dangerously. The web and/or a local nursery would be a good resource.
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for the tip! A few others have mentioned the same thing, so we have plans to go back in and “finish off” the poor girl. Can’t be too careful!
xo,
s
Rachel @ Common to Moms says
We inherited crazy trees next to the foundation of our house… we called them “weed trees” because no matter how much you trimmed them they would grow as tall as the house in one season. Hubby dug them out and cut them down until the roots were completely gone. One tree had even pushed the siding of our house up to make room for its trunk- yikes! Why do people plant trees so close to their foundations?? I will never know…
Jennifer K says
Someone earlier mentioned a large Japanese Maple they had to remove since it was too close to their foundation. We have the same situation – and thanks to your post, I’ve just contacted a structural engineer to check things out and let us know if we need to remove this beautiful tree:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/powerjen/5905469474/in/set-1127978
I will probably need therapy to deal with the grief over the potential loss of this tree. I’m hoping the engineer will just tell us that if there is damage, it’s not going to get any worse.
Kari says
That is one gorgeous tree. Here’s hoping for your sake that there is no damage!
YoungHouseLove says
I second that!
xo,
s
Sally says
Yeah, we had to remove a Sky Rocket juniper that looked great for the first five years, then really “rocketed” up until it was just a great tall tree. It would fall down when covered with snow – and in northern Pennsylvania it really can snow that much – which was a huge pain when we had to use the sidewalk. So this summer we pulled it out using a come along, which worked great. And now, I love the wide open look, and my favorite bush, the boxwood is really loving its new view. It must have been shaded all those years by the juniper cause its really growing now!
Renee says
speaking of little outdoor changes…..i just today drove past a cute yellow mailbox (the metal box itself) and thought of you guys. it was so cheery!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw, so cute!
xo,
s
Sarah M says
Check with the Dirt Doctor! Cornmeal mixed with dried molasses is one solution… http://www.dirtdoctor.com/Weed-Control-Natural-Way_vq62.htm
good luck!
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for the tips everyone!!
xo,
s
Melissa says
We removed two enormous burning bushes from our foundation plantings. Sorry to see the structural wildlife habitat go, but not at all sad to get rid of two non-native and invasive plant species. We used a sawzall (sp?) to remove the shrub above the ground, then dug around the roots and attached a comealong to yank the rootball. Several years (and two children) later, we’re still pulling little seedlings from those areas but are finally planning to install some native evergreens this fall to provide winter habitat for birds.
Andrea Ross says
We have taken out 3 trees and have only been in our home a year. They were blocking out the sun for our backyard (we still have a ton of trees back there). The other was in our front garden and was shaped like an egg and basically an overgrown bush we hated. I replaced it with 3 plants but it made a huge difference in the appearance of our home. I felt bad too but knowing I was actually making other plants/grass better for it, I realized sometimes they just have to go!
Shannon says
When we moved into our teeny Cape Cod 3 years ago, we couldn’t wait to redo the front landscaping. Huge unruly evergreens covered up most of the bay windows. One big leafy bush went up to the gutters and almost engulfed the mailbox.
We ended up replacing them with twice as many less unruly plants that really brought more light into the house. The mailbox also bit the dust. It turned out that it was held up by the plants roots, paint and rust! I just keep reminding myself that we planted the right plants for the area.
Now, the 500+ daffodil bulbs that keep multiplying and nearly killing the new plants is a whole other story!
Zach says
I used my truck to pull out 3 bushes that were planted in the most random places in the back yard of our 100 yr old house. It really cleaned up the yard and took the roots out in one big piece. Definitely easier than shoveling. I didn’t feel too terrible about it because they were more like weeds than bushes.
Lindsay says
We’ve used the polymeric sand on our paver driveway and have hardly had any weeds at all – maybe 10 all summer. We haven’t used any sprays or anything other than the sand. Give it a shot! (Now only if the sand worked on my garden…)
YoungHouseLove says
Wahoo! That’s so exciting to hear.
xo,
s
Dacia says
Just found your website. Have really enjoyed reading so far. Is there a place where you mention which paint colors you have in your house? I have been trying to decide on a few for my home and I just love yours. thanks for your help :)
YoungHouseLove says
Yep, there’s actually a button our sidebar that says “Our Paint Colors” right under the picture of us that will break everything down for you.
-John
Sara says
You could pretend it just came down in the Hurricane, we lost 2 trees in our yard last weekend, one that provided a good amount of privacy to our yard from the road and I was sad :( But couldn’t do anything about it, so just pretend Irene took her down :)