[Lups]

Originally Posted by MiddleAgedAl

If you remove the bush altogether, your house will look bigger.

Sadly, not true.

[Taskmaster]

It doesn't have to be completely shaved smooth, but at least clean it up a bit.

[UncleWede]

Originally Posted by ShopVac

Yard work of any kind suck - wild and free for me.

That goes for cutting grass as well...but the Mrs will never see it my way.

Well, I'll have to remove your vote from the equation. The grass is tidy and done every week, unless it rains (RARELY in Cali) or the plum tree is dropping fruit. I leave it longer so less fruit is bruised from the fall. Nothing better than a fallen plum that has sat in the sun all day and warmed up. Well, MAYBE that rib-eye. . .

[tony20009]

Originally Posted by UncleWede

I always trim the backs of them about 4 inches from the eves, so that no bugs get an easy highway to the attic.

All the best.

[ShocknAwe]

Based on your roofline you need to decide whether it's a tree, or a bush. As it is now, it's too big to be a bush, and too bushy to be a tree. If you want a tree, clean up the lower parts and shape it, then let it grow wild. If it's a bush, lop off the top half of it and groom that sucker.

[tony20009]

Originally Posted by MiddleAgedAl

If you remove the bush altogether, your house will look bigger.

I don't know how true it is. I do know that well maintained plants and landscaping add to the curb appeal of a home and that has benefits all its own.

All the best.

[1MOREMOD]

Trim it to the ground or get a younger version

[Flying Ace]

My wife prefers full bush

[tony20009]

Originally Posted by ShocknAwe

Based on your roofline, you need to decide whether it's a tree, or a bush.

As it is now, it's too big to be a bush, and too bushy to be a tree. If you want a tree, clean up the lower parts and shape it, then let it grow wild. If it's a bush, lop off the top half of it and groom that sucker.

^^^ This.

It probably doesn't matter which way you decide, but either way, you got work to do.

FWIW, I'd go the bush route, dramatically pruning those things back and enduring their looking "rough" until next season when they'll have grown out and look nice and green, full and leafy again. I'd go that way with them because (1) I think it'd be less work than trying to make them be "tree-style," and (2) because that manicured "tree-style" that looks nice so close to a building is comparatively more work to keep it looking right year in and year out than it is to just shear a bush on four sides and the top. (If you have a gardener, pick whatever looks the way you want it to look.)

All the best.

[Whostheboss]

Nicely shaved and trim. Doesn't have to be completely bald.

[P1]

The second pic looks better, but everything else needs to be cleaned up also. Too much clutter on the ground. Really need it to look NEAT.

[UncleWede]

Originally Posted by P1et

The second pic looks better, but everything else needs to be cleaned up also. Too much clutter on the ground. Really need it to look NEAT.

THAT is a whole 'nuther difference of opinion. I only put plants and bark into the area, the rest belongs to the wife. . . I just can't wrap my head around why you put a plant in a pot in a space where the plant could instead be in the ground (and receive water like all the other plants in the ground)

[tony20009]

Originally Posted by UncleWede

THAT is a whole 'nuther difference of opinion. I only put plants and bark into the area, the rest belongs to the wife. . . I just can't wrap my head around why you put a plant in a pot in a space where the plant could instead be in the ground (and receive water like all the other plants in the ground)

Is your wife from a place where one must brink indoors certain plants in the winter? If so, that may be why she sees some plants as best belonging in pots rather than the ground. I'm not all that knowledgeable about flowering perennials, but I know Mother has some that she has to bring in side in the winter in order to make them "do their thing" at specific times of the year. Maybe that has something to do with it.

All the best.

[CANGRKE70]

Originally Posted by tony20009

Is your wife from a place where one must brink indoors certain plants in the winter? If so, that may be why she sees some plants as best belonging in pots rather than the ground. I'm not all that knowledgeable about flowering perennials, but I know Mother has some that she has to bring in side in the winter in order to make them "do their thing" at specific times of the year. Maybe that has something to do with it.

All the best.

Seriously? Did this actually turn into a thread about gardening?

[tony20009]

Originally Posted by CANGRKE70

Seriously? Did this actually turn into a thread about gardening?

Seems to me it began as a thread about gardening.

All the best.

[BwoodBMW]

Is that a window behind bush #2? If so trim it down to less than half way up the window and you will win at life. More natural light in your house and your treebush will have an end to its identity crisis.

[tony20009]

Originally Posted by BwoodBMW

Is that a window behind bush #2? If so trim it down to less than half way up the window and you will win at life. More natural light in your house and your treebush will have an end to its identity crisis.

Wow! That's one hell of a burden/payoff to foist upon/expect from a tree trimming.

All the best.

[UncleWede]

The wife is from south of the border, so I don't think that explains the pots.

There are windows behind both. I had them built as little "enclaves" (that's not the right word, but it sounds right to me this morning) so we could put a bench in each and sit in the open light/breeze. Again, my ideas fail. . . The windows are filled up inside with armoires then pots with plants on top, so even if more light could enter the windows from the outside, the inside is blocked.

[tony20009]

Originally Posted by UncleWede

The wife is from south of the border, so I don't think that explains the pots.

There are windows behind both. I had them built as little "enclaves" (that's not the right word, but it sounds right to me this morning) so we could put a bench in each and sit in the open light/breeze. Again, my ideas fail. . . The windows are filled up inside with armoires then pots with plants on top, so even if more light could enter the windows from the outside, the inside is blocked.

So are you thinking that you need both a gardener and an interior decorator?

All the best.

[UncleWede]

Originally Posted by tony20009

So are you thinking that you need both a gardener and an interior decorator?

All the best.

This is one of those times where "Yes, dear" just works so much better

[tony20009]

Originally Posted by UncleWede

This is one of those times where "Yes, dear" just works so much better

Oh, yes, but do I remember when I lived the "honey do" lifestyle.

All the best.

[Alfisti]

Originally Posted by ShocknAwe

Based on your roofline you need to decide whether it's a tree, or a bush. As it is now, it's too big to be a bush, and too bushy to be a tree. If you want a tree, clean up the lower parts and shape it, then let it grow wild. If it's a bush, lop off the top half of it and groom that sucker.

This