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.
r8chel says
We have this same weed problem with our sidewalk, so I’ve been secretly hoping that you would figure out an environmentally-friendly solution before all of the manual weeding drives me crazy! :)
lemur_lass says
Kudos for removing the tree before it causes more trouble.
Reading through the comments, I have to caution anyone from using herbicides like RoundUp. Yes, in theory, it is supposed to stay suspended in soil and not leach into water, but more and more scientists are linking problems with fish, amphibians, and many other organisms to the chemicals (active and inactive) in Round Up. And of course the chemicals are not good to humans and other mammals. http://water.epa.gov/drink/contaminants/basicinformation/glyphosate.cfm
Just remember that DDT was used liberally for almost a full CENTURY before we knew the implications on the environment.
lemur_lass says
I forgot to mention that Camellias often will not resprout, so you might be in luck. But time will tell.
Trisha says
Hideous half-dead pine tree, growing right next to our house, blocking our bay windows, giving us a view of the dead side of the tree from our dining room. Had. To. Go.
Hannah says
I have used a weed and grass killer from ecosmart that does wonders on killing grass and weeds in our driveway. Here is a link to the product if you want more information.
http://www.ecosmart.com/shop/individual-products/weed-and-grass-killer.html
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for the tip!!!
xo,
s
Jennifer says
I had to cut down a tree growing between my house and my a/c unit (smack dab in the middle, just a couple inches away from each one). I have no idea what kinda of tree it was, but decided my house and a/c were more important to save than the poor tree, though it did make me sad. After cutting it down, that little bugger was determined, and another trunk sprouted an inch away from the original. The tree grew super fast, seemed like 8 feet in a week! Needless to say, I had to cut that one down too. I sliced up the trunk and poured a TON of salt on it and rubbed it in. Your post served as a reminder, so I must go check on it tomorrow to make sure it hasn’t sprouted a third trunk.
Also, I have a paved driveway and still have to weed it, though I’m sure not nearly as much as you do! I have to pull weeds along the seams (that’s what I call the cracks they intentionally create to prevent jagged cracks later).
Good luck in your weed-solution-hunting, and thanks for the reminder to go check on that thorn-in-my-house’s-side tree!
Emily E says
Our landlords have trees growing all over the foundation. (We live in the other half of the duplex). I offered to pull out a few for them, but they said that they liked them there. Oh well, not our house.
rhiannon says
as a long time follower of your blog who has patiently waited while you tackled all sorts of projects, i have to say, i am positively DYING to see what you do with your yard.
Amy @ this DIY life says
I’m completely anti round-up! I’ve heard all the “it’s not that bad” things from my husband and his family, but this organic farming girl isn’t buying it. Since ya’ll compost, you may want to consider that when deciding whether to round-up the tree stump or not. My aunt is a master gardener through our local extension and anything that is grown there for four years after treating with chemicals shouldn’t be used in composting. So any clippings you would take from things you replant there shouldn’t be composted :(
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yeah- no chemicals in the compost bin for sure!
xo,
s
KarenH. says
Oh I hear you about the trees. I don’t have any tree planted that close to the foundation, but I have a nearly dead dogwood that’t got to come down, and I’m considering taking out one of the massive maple trees out back. In addition to it beginning to overhang the powerline that serves my house (and crosses the neighbor’s front yard), at some point I want to put a garage in the back yard and the tree is pretty much in the way of the driveway which will need to be put in.
That will make me feel terrible as I suspect the maple trees were planted by the original owners, from whom I bought the house. And they lived there nearly 60 years.
I also need to cut the front shrubs way back. My house is teeny tiny, and the shrubs are beginning to look like they’re eating the house. (I put a link to my blog so if you want to see how tinythis house is, you can. :) but if not, let me put it this way. I downsized to this house from a condo.)
LauraC says
Oh my! I’m sorry! But at least I feel a teeny bit better; when we bought our house two years ago there was a beautiful evergreen right. next. to the garage. Literally 5-6 inches. I wanted to keep it, but actually our home inspector was the one who said it needed to go. So a few months later my husband borrowed his brother’s chain saw and he and his dad cut it down. Very sad, but necessary. Here’s a short post Josh wrote about it, with a couple of pictures:
http://jljourneys.org/node/41
At least now I know we’re not the only ones who have to do that!
Louise C says
The thing about camellias is that they are hardy and are a pain to get rid of! Talk to your local garden centre and see what they recommend.
The other thing about camellias is that you can take cuttings and grow new trees from them to plant elsewhere. Google “camellia cuttings” and see what you can find. My mom ran a nursery and she used to take cuttings from my grandparent’s camellias every year; eventually she could sell them. So, if your tree is still alive, you may be able to keep its memory going.
As for weeds…. ugh. this is the kid who spent summers weeding the plants in her mom’s nursery. Keep in mind for weeds, that they don’t need a lot of dirt/sand to grow in, because the root systems are very shallow (only a few will grow really deep, like dandelions and thistles, but they are still easy to pull out). Remember to remove every single bit of root you can find! Because some weeds only need one little bit left in soil, and they’ll be growing again. Everyone else that has left comments about different sand for your paving is probably on the right track.
Have fun de-weeding…! I feel the pain.
Rachel says
We just bought our first home in a 10-year-old development that had a pretty large, extremely ugly, droopy evergreen-type tree right smack in front of our front porch. That alone wouldn’t have been as huge of a deal except we purchased our house at the point of a cul-de-sac and the tree completely blocked our view of the play area for my two little girls. It was too big to transplant so I took it down to the trunk myself, replacing the area that the one tree took up with about 16 new native bushes, plants, a small tree and grass. I still feel sort of guilty for cutting down a healthy tree, but the line-of-site safety of my kiddos was more than worth the sacrifice.
Kelly says
Hi, I’m a little late with comment – sorry
I tried boiling water as well, it worked but was time consuming. My step-father suggested using a small plumber’s torch to burn the weeds.
Juliette says
A lot of people here in Germany are against chemicals on the weedy driveways and use something that looks like a weed whacker but is really a long blowtorch thing. Maybe Home Depot has something similar?
YoungHouseLove says
You’re one of many to recommend that actually! I worried it would burn the pavers but a bunch of folks have said it works without leaving singe marks- and John would certainly have fun with it. Haha.
xo,
s
Emma says
Ok – you guys do NOT want to see what we have been up to over at our ramshackle farmhouse since we moved in 11 months ago…
The place was a JUNGLE and we have removed about 60% of the shrubs and bushes, but leaving all the lovely established trees and planting a heap more of our own. Here’s a progress report: http://www.ellaatbella.com/2011/06/update.html and here’s where we knocked down our cypress trees (requiring a bulldozer and lots of heavy machinery) http://www.ellaatbella.com/2011/01/demolition-derby.html We have HEAPS of established camellias in our garden though, which I have all named! Here’s a look at Milly, Amelia and Camille http://www.ellaatbella.com/2011/06/pleasant-surprise.html
Aaaand…here are some of the new trees we have planted in the new section of yard we made (it used to be the field surrounding the farmhouse): http://www.ellaatbella.com/2011/04/holy-smokes-batman-theres-tree-out-my.html as well as some more jungle destruction http://www.ellaatbella.com/2011/04/amelia-camellia.html
In other words: DON’T FEEL BAD! :)
YoungHouseLove says
Wow- you guys have been busy! Good luck with everything!
xo,
s
Erin says
I think that it is hilarious that you guys were doing the same thing as us this weekend, although we were removing a 12’+ diameter tree stump of a tree that my husband cut down last fall.
It took us half the day to dig it out. Sam has a sore arm still this morning after all the axe chopping and sawsall cutting and of course digging. I pulled a muscle on my side, but we won! Sam ended up using the hose to flush out the roots (lots of clay dirt).
Now we have a big hole to be filled in and a side entrance yard that can be prepped for interlocking. We only have 2 more tree stumps to remove (growing too close to the house/ac unit and the pool) !
Yah, not so excited for the work.
Just so you are aware, that tree stump you cut, will likely sprout up shoots in the Spring and all Summer long if you don’t dig it out. If you are able to pound a copper pipe into it, this will kill it (this is what my husband did as a experiment on the stump we dug out, and maybe some salt?…I forget).
Thankyou for reporting a about using vinegar on the weeds in the interlock, we will stop doing that.
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks so much for the tip about the copper pipe! Others have added salt with success to, so that’s good to know!
xo,
s
Rob O. says
I absolutely HATED to do it, but we bit the bullet and had a fairly mature pecan tree cut down last Fall:
http://www.2dolphins.com/2010/10/when-life-gives-you-trees-make-firewood/
But that made all the difference in the world in our backyard this Summer! I still feel guilty, but I’d sure do it all over again. And I’ll have a bunch of firewood this year (wood was still way too green to burn last year).
Katie says
We had exactly the same thing, removing it was the first thing we did when we moved in to our new house, it was a pretty tree but it had already cracked our garden path and we spent hours cutting it down digging up the roots. Unfortunately the path didn’t survive which has created a new project for us. Can’t wait for summer so we can dig in.
Vanessa says
You could try steam to kill the weeds, there is an article on ehow http://www.ehow.com/how_6622095_kill-weeds-steam.html plus a steam cleaner is a great way to clean your home without chemicals
YoungHouseLove says
Interesting!
xo,
s
lili the lurker says
I’m sorry if I’m stating the obvious, it’s just that from the photos it doesn’t look like you’ve done this. When we want to transplant a bush/tree we water it for many hours until the soil around it turns to a very soggy mush. This loosens the roots and is much much easier to dig in and around. Of course it’s after the fact too! But just by way of a suggestion, why don’t you uproot it now in this way and plant it somewhere else in your yard? It’s easier to do now that it’s been chopped, it saves you the worry about killing it completely, it will make you happy if it ever does sprout, and if it doesn’t you won’t lose anything! Win win all around!
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for the suggestion- I thought about that a few hours too late (poor John, that dirt was really hard).
xo,
s
Hil says
This totally works! I heard it recently too, so when I was transplanting a rose vine, I tried it.
The soil where I was putting it was really dry and hard and I could barely make a dent with the shovel. I poured on a little water, waited a few minutes for it to soak in, and then could easily dig a hole.
This was a fairly small hole (probably about 6 inches deep), so if you need to dig deeper, I imagine more water over a longer time would be good.
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks so much for the tip! Sounds like magic!
xo,
s
Leslie says
There is a natural way to get rid of those weeds…
Use horticultural vinegar (20%) mixed with 2 T. Orange oil per 1 gallon container. Put into a spray bottle and spritz the little demons. You can get these products at Lowes and they won’t damage the pavers…we have used this around pavers for years.
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for the tip Leslie!
xo,
s
DeeJay Conley says
Yeah, so this comment doesn’t have anything to do with today’s post, sorry. Am in the middle of repainting my living-room and thought of you guys and your painting escapades at Young House Love. Been taking pictures of my progress as you guys do so that I can post it and was wondering about the post title. I think I’ll call it Old House Love. lol Hubs and I are old after all. The house is old and I do love this house. So. There ya go.
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, we keep joking that we’ll need to change our name to middle aged house love.
xo,
s
Monique says
Can definitely feel your pain about cutting down tree but it’s far cheaper to cut tree than risk having costly work performed on your foundation.
I so understand how you feel though. We had a huge tree near the house that had to be cut down because lightning hit it. The tree shaded the patio and kept the patio much cooler than it is now. Our choices were keep tree and risk it falling on the house or take it down. Not much of a choice. But I do miss it.
Annette says
Hace you though of putting a branch of the old camelia in water just to see whether it sprouts roots? If it should work, it would be kind of like transplanting the tree.
YoungHouseLove says
Others have recommended that and I love the idea! It has been thunderstorming for the last or so, so I haven’t been able to get outside to try to grab anything, but here’s hoping it works!
xo,
s
Amber says
I do everything I can to avoid using Round-up- being that we have extreme dislike for alot of the things that company stands for and produces (GMO crops….). Anyway, was just reading today about using Borax on weeds- supposed to keep it out of garden areas, but sounds like a good bet for a driveway!
Aryn@LivingonADimeorLess says
Hmm. . . .I’m getting ready to paint my kitchen cabinets white and I think I’m going to try the BM paint that you guys liked. If you like it and think it covers well, it’s probably the perfect paint for me! However, I wonder if the BM dealer would honor the deal that you guys got if I asked? I think I’ll try mentioning that I saw their paint being featured on a blog and see if that helps me score the same discount. Can’t hurt, right?
YoungHouseLove says
I would just do the same thing we did. Just mention that Sherwin William’s is doing 30% off and ask if they can match it. You might get them to do it (which would be way more loot than 10%) and if they say they can’t do 30% just ask if they can do 20% or just say “what can you do?” which was my approach. He came back with 10% and I said “sold!” I think if you told them you saw it on a blog they’d say “did you print anything out” or “we don’t even know who the heck that blog is” – haha. So the Sherwin William’s method might work better since they’re obvious competitors.
xo,
s
Maria says
Have you two ever thought of purchasing an HPLV sprayer? We picked one up at a garage sale for $20 and it was the best investment we ever made! We’ve painted a number of pieces of furniture and everytime the application is fast and NO BRUSH MARKS! I have to admit we found oil paint works best since the paint kind of melts into a totally even surface as it dries, but we have used latex as well and it’s turned out great. I’ll have to check out the paint you mention above that settles evenly.
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for the tip. We haven’t really thought about it just because we’re pretty happy with our method and the clean-up of a sprayer sounds like a lot to deal with, but you never know where we’ll end up!
xo,
s
Tabitha says
What a difference it makes, it really opened things up (after trimming the bush too – what is that, any idea?). Are you planning on transplanting to the spider plants as well, or do you plan to list those on Craigslist like the first house (let us local folks know first!!!!!!)…
I remember having to weed the paver-walkway in my parents back yard growing up, NOT my idea of fun.
YoungHouseLove says
We’re so bad at landscape identification, so we have no idea what that bush is and we’re not sure about how much monkey grass we’ll keep – but we’ll definitely let the locals know if we’re ready to “donate” some. Haha.
xo,
s
june long says
we had a similar situation last fall with a tree. we cut it down in the same way you did and covered it up. The problem is even though you cut the tree top off the root system it is still alive and will send up new shoots. we have suffered through that problem this year. we needed up having to drill holes into the small trunk piece left that was buried and put a tree killing stuff on it that you can buy at lowes. so just keep an eye on it and dont be suprised if you have more work to do to get rid of it next year.
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for the tip! Lots of others have mentioned the drill-holes solution and said that regular old kitchen salt can kill it so we might try that since it’s free/natural!
xo,
s
Tracey says
I feel exactly the same way you guys do about cutting down live plants… It totally breaks my heart. Having said that, last weekend I kinda maybe went ballistic on two arborvitaes living on either side of our front door. In the pouring rain. The one was starting to die, so there were big rusty brown bands of death all over it and it looked terrible. The other one was fine and healthy, but they’re huge and right up against the house. My hubby was a little hesitant, because now he says the front of the house is so plain, but at least people don’t feel like they’re going to be smothered by shrubbery when they come to the front door!
P.S. – We have a honeysuckle out back that I hate too, just because it’s huge and blocks the sun from my other plants… I sheared that thing down to the ground with a chainsaw two months ago and it has now recup’d 1/2 it’s height again. Honeysuckle for the win! ;|
Emily says
Another tip to get rid of stumps- drill holes and pour buttermilk in the holes. Probably the same idea as salt or sugar- helps rot out the stump. Might be a good idea to do something like that to your little stump, just in case it decides to start growing new shoots :)
YoungHouseLove says
Love it!
xo,
s
kimb says
We had to cut down and remove (stump and all) 4 – 150yr old oak trees to make way for a new septic system, it broke my heart. But, luckly there is still over 20 oaks left on the property (side note not fun raking in the fall).
Carrie says
On a completely different topic…You don’t have a comment page for the “where we got it” section, and I am in the market for new sheets. I know you two are also in the “prefer organic when possible” camp, so I was wondering if you had organic sheets and if you would consider adding that to the page, it would be great to know. Thanks so much!
YoungHouseLove says
We got our organic sheets from Target, when they went on sale. Maybe it was $30 for a queen sized set and $20 for the ones in the guest room? That was probably four years ago, so I hope they still have them!
xo,
s
Bboss says
Big trees and overgrown shrubs are just a fact of life in older houses. What looked small and quaint 30 years ago can now be a behemoth. The developer on our street selectively kept some trees when building which was a nice thought 30 years ago. Now we’re dealing with truckloads of leaves every fall and dying 60+ foot trees.
Vonda says
We just moved into our house in June and have a Dogwood in the front yard. But at some point this summer the whole thing turned brown. I’m going to give it some time and see if does anything next Spring, but I fear we will be cutting it down late Spring. I sure hope it will prove me wrong and show some signs of life.
Amanda says
While borax is indeed a chemical, it is a naturally occurring one. Borax mines are like chalk mines – lots of white powdery rocks used pretty much in their natural state. The deadly borax is the refined, corrosive stuff you buy in little bottles at the drug store to be used with care on wounds. The borax that can kill weeds and still be safe for your family is laundry borax, like 20 Mule Team. I’ve used it in my diaper washes to get things extra clean. Sprinkle it along the cracks and use a hose to wash it down into them. It isn’t toxic to humans, but it is a nice way to get rid of ants and weeds. It changes the pH of the soil, making it inhospitable to plants. Mixed with sugar, it is taken back to ant and wasp nests and kills the lot of them without having to use dangerous chemicals. Check with your vet as to whether dogs react to borax.
laura says
I have the same weedy problem with my pavers, I thought it would look so nice to have a paver patio. Why spend so much on beautiful pavers with all of the problems?! Ugh. If you ever end up using polymeric joint sand please post about it so I know if it works for you. Here’s hoping that it does!:)
Kate says
I do the boiling water trick and it usually works after the first application. Sometimes I need to do it twice before the suckers are G-O-N-E. Here is my tip: Boil a teapot of water and go to town directly on top of the weeds- so that the water seeps into the ground directly and doesn’t cool on the surface first. I like the teapot method because it is easier to target areas without wasting the water. Since your drive is large thought, this could get tedious.
Maybe it works on my drive because I have bigger cracks (whoa TMI! hah!).
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, maybe I need to give it one more shot. I was literally pouring gallons of boiling water right into the cracks and the weeds were smiling back at me.
xo,
s
rita says
I’ve had success getting rid of most kinds of weeds (grassy and otherwise) in my front yard by covering the ground with black plastic sheeting for several weeks to block the sun. If all else fails and you don’t feel like hand-pulling… :) Good luck!
Pamela says
No worries! I had some half dead, hideous, overgrown juniper bushes in front of my house when I moved in that we had to tear out of the ground with a truck and chains lol! It was quite the event :D
Jae says
I would definitely recommend the “drill into the stump and fill with salt” method to ensure the tree dies. I cut one down that was tearing up a concrete patio, and darn if that thing didn’t continue to sprout for months and months until I salted it. And yes, it took me months to get around to salting it. :)
Stacy says
Removing trees or even large shrubs that are growing too close to a house’s foundation is never a easy task, but it isn’t something you should feel bad about either. I think like you gus do. If you take one out but replace it with another elsewhere ( or even other species of plants) on the property, it’s all good.
When we bought our house, we had hideous shrubs growing in front of the house. I can’t even pretend a guess what they were other than really fugly. We ended up cutting them down to stumps which finally rotted to the point where we could pull them up 2 years ago.
In place of the fugly shrubs, we planted Holly Bushes. Birds love the red berries that Hollie’s produce, but those too got massive and had to go. We still have a Holly Bush near the driveway that produces berries so we haven’t eliminated a natural food source for the birds come winter.
Now we have Hosta, Coral Bells, Butterfly Bushes and Korean Grasses ( Korean Grass is a species of ornamental grass) along the front of the house. The butterflies and hummingbirds enjoy the Butterfly Bushes. The chipmunks, squirrels, spiders and other critters enjoy using the other plants as a place to hide or chill while gnawing on acorns ( or bugs in the case of spiders) on a nice day.
I figure that if all the critters feel comfortable enough to hang out on a regular basis on our property, I must have done something right.
Kelly says
You must have hardier weeds in Richmond.
Boiling water works well here in WI.
DH does it once a week.
YoungHouseLove says
Maybe we just let them go too long and they’re too big and strong? Once a week might beat them down (or prevent them from growing that much, haha).
xo,
s
Mandie says
I had to remove some old boxwoods- but be sure to spray it with vinegar or round up- for a bit- or it will come back. :)
VickiP says
From your picture of digging around the stump, I could see that your soil is indeed pretty hard and compact. You may want to consider heavily watering whatever plant you plan to dig/transplant in the future. It makes the soil much easier to dig, and if you are trying to transplant, it prepares the plant for the shock. Of course, in this situation you may hesitate to add a bunch of water right next to your foundation. But out in the yard, water away!
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks so much for the tip! Smart about not doing it right on the foundation too! Might not have thought about that…
xo,
s
Jane says
Corn gluten purchased at a feed store will prevent weed seeds from sprouting.
Pamela says
We use the butane weed torch. It doesn’t touch the pavers at all, you just quickly flame the weeds so that they shrivel. It doesn’t take much – a quick swipe of flame. It lasts a long time and is so easy on the back!!
Robyn says
“Once the tree is no longer alive (it dies when you cut off 90% of it) the roots won’t continue to grow. You can always have those roots ground if you want to plant new things in its place (we might have to dig more out or grind them when we move on to replanting that area).”
Five years ago we were having a new roof put on our house and the roofers sawed off our pink Tabebuia tree completely to the ground to get the trusses in the front yard(to our horror as we were not there!) The next spring, two branches were growing out of the stump of that tree and we now have a double-trunk tree over 12′ tall. Might want to keep watch on that stump :) It was a good thing in our case, may not be in yours!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, thanks for the tip! We have heard other stories like yours so we’ll definitely be keeping a keen eye out!
xo,
s
Kathy S says
Your front yard looks pretty shady by the house. Why don’t you plant some nice ferns where the camellia used to be? Japanese painted ferns and the bushier lady ferns would be great texture!
YoungHouseLove says
Always a possibility! Love it!
xo,
s