Why We Removed Perfectly Good Bushes
6:00:00 AM
One of the things that I've wanted to share more with you is some more DIY and home type posts, so here we go... We've been in our home for almost 8 years. That amazes me. After taking a few years to recover from having twins, we're starting to work more out in the yard and add on to the landscaping of the house. We created a front bed to shield the view of the path to the front porch not long after we moved in with loropetalum and knock-out roses, and then after Lil Bit was born, we expanded the bed around one of the trees and added some carnations and phlox. We've become a big fan of perennials since we were unable to really get out and maintain the yard beyond the basics for a few years after the twins were born. But now, we've done something that my husband has been itching to do for a while: remove the boxwoods in front of our porch.
A couple of weeks ago he cut down the boxwoods on one side of the porch without conferring with me first (it was really alright because we had discussed it—I just wanted to get a "before" picture). So this weekend, I snapped a couple of shots before he got more than a couple of pieces out of the shrubs. 
We did this with hand tools only—my small pruning shears and his big lopper.
Why did we remove large, mature shrubs? Several reasons:
- We didn't like the look. It blocked our view from the house out to the pretty shrubs.
- These shrubs were hiding places for all kinds of creatures, especially insects and arachnids. Every fall, we didn't need to place any fake spider webs in the bushes for Halloween—we had them naturally
- These bushes were cramped in the space allotted for them. Every year the bushes tried to take over our front porch. Not very welcoming.
We still have some work ahead of us—we need to get rid of the stumps and roots. Anyone have any tips on how to easily grub up stumps? I can't wait to get rid of them so that we can plant something more fun!
I love to party! Sometimes I link up my posts to Serenity Now, Organizing Junkie, Tidy Mom and these link parties! You should come party with me and check out some awesome new bloggers!
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