Which evergreen trees would be best in this front landscape?
I moved into a new house last year and the existing two main evergreen trees are dead looking on the side that faces my house. I want to replace them with new trees or bushes. What would you recommend? I live in Zone 6 and my house faces East, so whatever I plant there will get all of the morning sun but none of the brunt of the afternoon sun. Here are pictures of the trees from the front, where they still look green, but need a trim (I avoided given how ragged they are on the other side) and the back, where they are in poor condition.
I'd like to just pull them out and put in something else, but I'm not familiar enough with landscaping design, etc, to know what will look good there.
They are the two tallest trees flanking either side of the sidewalk:
Backside:
Closeup:
Comments (8)
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
3 years agoRelated Discussions
Shrubs and very small evergreens/tree for front yard
Comments (2)hey liz.. royal oak eh?? [from your members page] .. grew up in livonia... and bought my first house there ... first.. refer to the link .... for a suggestion as how to proceed ... linds ... did it right.. by catching us.. when we were bored out of our minds.. prior to the weather breaking ... note the pix we requested.. as well as having her define what her goals were ... and they did not end up being what she started with ... and its your use of common terms.. that is confusing you .. and us.. as to where to go with this ... e.g... evergreens... well.. that covers a wide range of things ... i THINK you are talking about conifers ... if you are.. that is where linds started .... and that is usually the backbones of the front of ones house ... but there are many other plants that are .. in essence.. evergreen ... so you need to define what you are talking about ... and technically.. conifers are NOT shrubs.. though i also called them such for decades .... but it is not helpful in defining where we want to go .... BTW .. your link doesnt work.. and that pic is not going to be helpful to anyone defining a plan ... and take a walk some evening.. and snap a pic or two.. of what other peeps have done with the front of their houses.. to help you define what you like.. and give us some guidance as to where you want to go ... you are spot on with the foundation ... when i had my first house in livonia.. i learned that 3 feet AT THE FOUNDATION .. should be left blank ... so i could get a ladder in there.. to do gutters.. paint.. xmas lights.. window washing.. etc ... and if you agree with that.. then you should 'see' that your bed is horribly out of configuration .... lol .. i just glanced up.. and i see the neighbor still has the ugly old improperly planted conifer .... and the root of your problem might be this forum.. but you never know ...... the conifer forum is much more active.. than the shrub forum.. and not every one of the peeps there.. come thru here ... so if this post dwindles.. try over there ... my best suggestion ... is to define and build some great beds.. for planting in fall .. the next proper season for planting conifers .. and trees.. as i doubt you can properly build those beds in time ... you simply should not plant such.. in the heat of summer ... but .... once you define the beds.. and add some of your annuals.. and perennials.. then we can get the backbones in place in fall ... of my 600 conifers.. about half came in the mail ... and that is how you get truly unique things.. rather than JUST what the bigboxstore offers ... well.. that and a budget.. lol .. of course .. as compared to me in adrian mi ... you have some great large upscale nurseries in the area including bordines .. english gardens.. etc ... so.. get us some better pix.. that perhaps we can photoshop ... and lets try to find some words that explain where you want to go .. oh.. i would expand that bed to about 10 feet from the house.. which would make it only 7 feet deep to work with .. it would NOT be straight across.. and we would have to figure out how to deal with what i will guess is an arcing walkway .... [any chance you want to replace that with brick as a part of the process] ... and i would insure.. that some part of the plants introduce a vertical element.. as compared to your 1950's metro detroit ranch ... good luck ken Here is a link that might be useful: link...See Morewant the 'best' evergreen tree
Comments (12)Yup, it has to be a tree. Home Owners Association requires at least one tree in the front yard. Our neighborhood has somewhat detiorated homeowners landscaping to almost barren or a compilation of palm trees with a yucca cactus Or, a pine tree next to a succulent. (Even cutesy little signs that say, 'these aren't weeds, they're wildflowers.") But, back to your question(s). We had 2 trees that dropped seeds and leaves almost all year long and, of course, went into the next door neighbors yards. We feel obligated to keep 'our' leaves off of their yards. One neighbor next to us has a tree that leaves fall for months from fall into winter. It looks nice because we get to experience actual autumnal variations (in AZ), even our neighbor admits it's a lot of upkeep weekend after weekend. We'd rather be watching football (and all the commercials :)...) On that thought, yes, we'll never be able to retire and vacation knowing our yard is piling up with tree stuff all over our other gorgeous landscaping and additionally rolling down the street on windy days. (Well, we do have some gorgeous parts.) Whew! I've been rambling... but, seriously, I must've been rambling for years because we kick ourselves for our options & choices of trees when we purchased our house (14 years ago). We've been grinning & baring it ever since. Now we get to plant whatever tree we want. We've even considered a citrus tree or two but not sure yet if HOA is OK with that. We are waiting for approval. So, there I have it. Back to what tree to get. We thought a weeping willow, but Treeland put us straight on that, too. Maybe an apple or pear tree? At least we'd get fruit for our labor. Thanks, Ken, for your sense of humor, honesty, and therapy session. Haha!...See MoreWhich of these oaks would make a better street tree?
Comments (17)To provide year-round privacy, the Darlington Oak (_Quercus hemisphaerica_) is a peerless choice for urban residential landscaping. It is a beautiful native evergreen oak, hardy from Zone 7 through Zone 9. Its color is green all seasons of the year. The Darlington Oak screens you in and screens others out, thus providing privacy. It is extensively used in Columbia, SC, and is equally at home in 'Lanner and its environs. I have one and can testify to its worth. The Japanese Evergreen Oak (_Quercus acuta_) and the Chinese Evergreen Oak (_Quercus myrsinifolia_) would also be fine evergreen exotic oaks for use in Zones 7 and higher. They add a certain panache to the landscape and, being evergreen, a little privacy....See MoreBest tree for front yard in East Bay California
Comments (16)Well I'm going to break most of your rules but give you something you haven't asked for. The most beautiful tree with wonderful edible fruit. It is less than ten feet tall at maturity. Blooms in spring, with gorgeous white flowers on a weeping tree. "Weeping Santa Rosa Plum." It was developed by Luther Burbank and the fruit is better than Santa Rosa because it has a lot of apricot in its background. Great fresh or in jams. The winter silhoutte is beautiful and since you are south facing you may just appreciate that extra sunlight in midwinter. The fall color is yellow. The spring flowers are beautiful pure white. I can email you a photo if you'd like. I grew up in the East Bay....See Morenjsmom
3 years agolast modified: 3 years ago
PROYardvaark
3 years ago
PRODig Doug's Designs
3 years ago
niccidhg
3 years agoBoxwoods are evergreen, slow growing , easy to trim either into a round shape, pyramidal shape or can be left frilly, but contained. They can be used in containers for added height because they are slow growing .There are different varieties, some which are dwarf, which all have pretty much the same general characteristics. You could just plant them in the ground and be distinguished in height from your other shrubs, while not becoming too tall or large ( so as not to crowd the walkway ) , by trimming them into a conical shape. We have a “green velvet boxwood “ in a very small space by our front steps/porch which has been very easy to contain in size.
Muaxx
3 years agonjsmom
2 years agolast modified: 2 years agoThanks again to everyone who gave their input 11 months ago when I first posted about those evergreens. I neglected to give city name - Louisville, Kentucky.
I had the dying evergreens pulled out last fall, and I finally figured out what I wanted to put in their place. I bought these two trees/pruned bushes at the nursery yesterday and the landscaper will plant them on Tuesday. I thought they added interest and would keep the walkway looking open, rather than closed off, as you guys recommended. I had looked into tall planters, etc, but the cost was so expensive for really nice planters - hundreds of dollars each plus whatever I planted in them. These trees were lovely and were $200 each for a one-time purchase. They are very slow growing and they are "Bergman's Gem Oriental Spruce" and they can be pruned to stay in their shape each year.
Yardvaark