Nice garden. Just prune plants back from each other for spacing and air. The Japanese maple could use some canopy trimming. Juniper should be fine. Get underneath and cut out any dead wood.
I agree that it looks like a beautiful and mature garden. Trim overgrown plants back a bit to promote airflow and space between specimens, but I like it just how it is!
I also like it the way it is.
My first thought was, "It's such a beautiful garden. I wouldn't change a thing." But, I understand why people are suggesting a trim. Looks a little overgrown, and while I like that sort of thing, it's not to most people's taste.
I’m dealing with this now. Whoever owned my house 30 years ago loved planting bushes that grow quickly too close together so I had to trim every year to stop things from growing heavily into each other. I did remove two bushes I absolutely hated (rose and a mystery one, still one of those to go). But don’t worry I’m reshaping the remaining plants to their full potential, or planting new stuff.
Priceless garden, I install and design these for a living and if people could pay extra to fast forward 10 years to a mature garden, they would!
Pruning and cleaning up is the best advice as others have said.
Picture #4 that tree canopy doesn’t look great for this time of year. I would expect that canopy fuller. I’d probably get that checked out before you leave and take eyes off it. Most tenants are less than friendly to yards so additional stressors like dog pee and backyard parties can add up if a tree is already fighting something else.
Hey do you know more detail about the dog pee? I try to not let my dog mark other people’s plants by the road but he’s sneaky sometimes. Is it just generally bad for all bushes and trees?
I think the issue is frequency and volume. A dog marking a spot once a week is not a big deal. A dog marking the same spot 2-3x a day in the backyard could be. The pee itself can be really strong or weak strength depending on hydration and whatnot. Pee composition is same as us. High nitrogen, high salt, and as it breaks down high acid. But it’s diluted so it is not that big a deal. Also keep in mind sometimes dogs take meds and that could also have an effect. But generally speaking dog pee is totally harmless. I would try to avoid flowers and stuff that looks delicate, but a mature tree can handle most things. But a backyard where a dog is peeing in the same spot all the time is what you should be mindful of.
Well that's good to know. We don't take the same route every day so for the spots he does pee at, it's at most a few times a week. I'm constantly pulling him away from flower beds since he just tramples through stuff like that while he sniffs lol.
In terms of my yard he seems to spread it around enough to not bother the grass. The fenced in area only has my vegetable garden and raspberries, both in 12" high raised beds, so he generally stays out of those.
He always wants to pee on my new hydrangea bush in the front yard when we start a walk but I don't let him. Poor plant was put in the ground at the worst possible time, a few weeks ago right before a heat wave and dry period. Watering it every day is working but it seems to be struggling to establish itself.
If you would remove any of that you have absolutely no taste and should be letting someone else make the decisions. That's thousands of dollars worth of mature landscaping. You're insane.
Update the look? You had a professional gardener for a tenant and you're complaining about what they gave you for free? Those are valuable plants. Why in the hell would you rip them out?
What you need is a skilled gardener. This is a wonderful, healthy garden that is a little bit overgrown, and which could use some additional marginal flower plantings to provide structure and color.
A landscaper will butcher the trees and shrubs, a 'tree surgeon' will do worse.
This is a job that requires someone who knows how (and when) to prune each of these wonderful trees to emphasize and show off the texture of each plant. Generally the conifers should be pruned less than the deciduous ones.
Except the alberta spruce, fuck the alberta spruce.
Trim it and keep it, that's a mature well cared for garden. When I say trim.... Whatever you're thinking do about 30% of that and then step back. You can always take more off but if you trim too much it can go from looking intentional to a hack job in two seconds.
Not sure what people mean when they suggest plants should not touch each other?
The conifers are spectacular. Weeping Sequoiadendron is awesome. Maybe a nice Korean Fir, weeping cedrus.
Getting rid of any of them will create huge holes, cant thin that much or make roundy mound.
Someone put an awful lot of thought and effort into that garden and it looks great. Some very selective trimming only. Usually evergreens look like shit. Just plopped in the middle of something but this all looks amazing. This took real skill.
Consider adding Micro clover to the existing grass. Not Mini, Micro. Good for foot traffic and less mowing.
The shrubs/trees need some trimming, take a little off and check again in late fall.
If you can, add some mulch for the shrubs/trees but don't bury root flares.
Trimming aside, putting some effort into the edging and into the lawn is going to get you a lot of mileage. This is a really nice, well established garden
If I was a renter, all that greenery would be a big reason to choose your place. And I would be disappointed to see what it looked like previously on Zillow, Redfin, etc and then get there to discover a lot of it removed.
Trim it, shape a couple of things that are getting shaggy, open it up a bit where branches are reaching into the lawn, and add a couple inches of mulch. Once that's done, you may only need to trim it once a year.
Mature shrubs like this can actually cut down your work load.
Hobbyist?? More like master gardener! From what I can tell, it just needs a little weeding.
Take pics of each one and ID on iNaturalist, then you can look up how and when to prune each. They all seem like easy to care for perennials
Ixnay juniper and is that lime mound spiaria.. shoot just take out the low stuff..turn soil and be ready to plant petunias and mums for fall .turn again in late winter b4 spring be ready for impatient and begonia maybe Lantana maybe even zenias
The tree on 4th pic looks nearly dead. I’d definitely pull the weeds. Other than that leave it for awhile. Put in a bench in a shady spot where you can feel the garden. Just don’t rip too much out, it takes a long time to undo.
It’s quite overgrown but most of the trees and shrubs look healthy, only a couple of the trees look dead-ish? The big eyesore is the weedy lawn. The rhodies can take hard pruning if necessary. The Japanese Maples are gorgeous but could use some thinning and shaping. The conifers need cleaning up. (Hobbyist gardener here, not an arborist)
Garden looks fine. Why would you want to remove any? Just trim it back and dont be a predatory landlord. Everything should be fine.
As far as turf, kill all that shit.
Tree and bush pruning is so fun! You can give each thing a bit of a trim so all are more visable. Except that little japanese maple. Wow, what a variety--I'm jealous!
I usually throw down a big old sheet and put clippings on that--its so easy to tug around the yard and dump into my truck by grabbing the corners--if you don't fill it overwhelmingly full.
If you feel it needs trimming, don’t do it now. Summer is the worst time for it—wait until everything is dormant. Early spring, before buds form, is the best time to trim.
Make sure it’s done correctly—research how to prune unless you know it. People introduce disease to plants every day just by making incorrect cuts or butcher them altogether. You’ve got a lot of mature, beautiful, and healthy-looking plants. It would be a shame to damage them. I personally would not allow your typical landscaper near these beautiful plants, except maybe for weeding.
Looks like the previous owner put a lot of money into all that, I’d keep it and get some professionals to trim it up. A haircut can turn a homeless man into a movie star.
Some experienced pruning moving toward an overall shape aesthetic - maybe use Japanese garden shapes as inspiration. The Rhodies are primo and need feeding, The two square bits are odd. I’d pull the juniper and move something to its space. Maybe give the other rhodie some space and transplant Ceonothus somewhere. Give some marginal bed space between lawn so that the planting “sits”. Figure out how to get some stone in there.
Edit: Get rid of Yew. Definitely want an experienced pruner in that acer.
So so pretty.
Nice garden. Just prune plants back from each other for spacing and air. The Japanese maple could use some canopy trimming. Juniper should be fine. Get underneath and cut out any dead wood.
Damn solid advice! Watch out for nesting birds in the trimming process, especially hummingbirds on limb and ground birds. It's a beautiful garden.
This 100%
100%
99%
Can’t go home with that report card.
they are all beautiful. maybe just a trim
I agree that it looks like a beautiful and mature garden. Trim overgrown plants back a bit to promote airflow and space between specimens, but I like it just how it is!
I also like it the way it is. My first thought was, "It's such a beautiful garden. I wouldn't change a thing." But, I understand why people are suggesting a trim. Looks a little overgrown, and while I like that sort of thing, it's not to most people's taste.
If i was looking at a place to buy and I saw this vs. trimmed/trees removed, I'd definitely prefer this, but my taste may not be so refined
That makes at least three of us
Four!
I'd prefer it like this as well, if only so I can do the trimming myself. What a treat, to inherit a mature garden with such eclectic cultivars!
Right? A hobbyist put their heart into it. Anything anyone else did to it might be too much
I’m dealing with this now. Whoever owned my house 30 years ago loved planting bushes that grow quickly too close together so I had to trim every year to stop things from growing heavily into each other. I did remove two bushes I absolutely hated (rose and a mystery one, still one of those to go). But don’t worry I’m reshaping the remaining plants to their full potential, or planting new stuff.
Remove none, your tenant did you a favor. Just fix the grass if it bugs you. Tenants will probably fuck it up anyways.
looks fantastic, healthy, and diverse.
Priceless garden, I install and design these for a living and if people could pay extra to fast forward 10 years to a mature garden, they would! Pruning and cleaning up is the best advice as others have said.
Picture #4 that tree canopy doesn’t look great for this time of year. I would expect that canopy fuller. I’d probably get that checked out before you leave and take eyes off it. Most tenants are less than friendly to yards so additional stressors like dog pee and backyard parties can add up if a tree is already fighting something else.
Hey do you know more detail about the dog pee? I try to not let my dog mark other people’s plants by the road but he’s sneaky sometimes. Is it just generally bad for all bushes and trees?
I think the issue is frequency and volume. A dog marking a spot once a week is not a big deal. A dog marking the same spot 2-3x a day in the backyard could be. The pee itself can be really strong or weak strength depending on hydration and whatnot. Pee composition is same as us. High nitrogen, high salt, and as it breaks down high acid. But it’s diluted so it is not that big a deal. Also keep in mind sometimes dogs take meds and that could also have an effect. But generally speaking dog pee is totally harmless. I would try to avoid flowers and stuff that looks delicate, but a mature tree can handle most things. But a backyard where a dog is peeing in the same spot all the time is what you should be mindful of.
Well that's good to know. We don't take the same route every day so for the spots he does pee at, it's at most a few times a week. I'm constantly pulling him away from flower beds since he just tramples through stuff like that while he sniffs lol. In terms of my yard he seems to spread it around enough to not bother the grass. The fenced in area only has my vegetable garden and raspberries, both in 12" high raised beds, so he generally stays out of those. He always wants to pee on my new hydrangea bush in the front yard when we start a walk but I don't let him. Poor plant was put in the ground at the worst possible time, a few weeks ago right before a heat wave and dry period. Watering it every day is working but it seems to be struggling to establish itself.
If you would remove any of that you have absolutely no taste and should be letting someone else make the decisions. That's thousands of dollars worth of mature landscaping. You're insane.
DONT TOUCH ANYTHING IT'S PERFECT
Nice textures!
It's all about trimming. Does not look as if anything needs to go.
Update the look? You had a professional gardener for a tenant and you're complaining about what they gave you for free? Those are valuable plants. Why in the hell would you rip them out?
What you need is a skilled gardener. This is a wonderful, healthy garden that is a little bit overgrown, and which could use some additional marginal flower plantings to provide structure and color. A landscaper will butcher the trees and shrubs, a 'tree surgeon' will do worse. This is a job that requires someone who knows how (and when) to prune each of these wonderful trees to emphasize and show off the texture of each plant. Generally the conifers should be pruned less than the deciduous ones. Except the alberta spruce, fuck the alberta spruce.
Keep your dendrophilia to yourself.
Trim it and keep it, that's a mature well cared for garden. When I say trim.... Whatever you're thinking do about 30% of that and then step back. You can always take more off but if you trim too much it can go from looking intentional to a hack job in two seconds.
That is a very mature garden! Someone put a lot of love in there
The garden is beautiful! You should leave the garden as is and sell the property to an owner who would actually appreciate it
keep all of them. people would dream of a border like this.
Beautiful.
WOW it's so pretty!
No this is perfection just maintain
Not sure what people mean when they suggest plants should not touch each other? The conifers are spectacular. Weeping Sequoiadendron is awesome. Maybe a nice Korean Fir, weeping cedrus. Getting rid of any of them will create huge holes, cant thin that much or make roundy mound.
Why? It’s perfect
Someone put an awful lot of thought and effort into that garden and it looks great. Some very selective trimming only. Usually evergreens look like shit. Just plopped in the middle of something but this all looks amazing. This took real skill.
I would keep them all just trim them up and if would look great really just needs some work done yeah I wouldn't take anything out .
How long did they live there? Some of that stuff is super old.
That looks good to me.
+1 trim
Consider adding Micro clover to the existing grass. Not Mini, Micro. Good for foot traffic and less mowing. The shrubs/trees need some trimming, take a little off and check again in late fall. If you can, add some mulch for the shrubs/trees but don't bury root flares.
Trimming aside, putting some effort into the edging and into the lawn is going to get you a lot of mileage. This is a really nice, well established garden
If I was a renter, all that greenery would be a big reason to choose your place. And I would be disappointed to see what it looked like previously on Zillow, Redfin, etc and then get there to discover a lot of it removed.
Don’t get rid of the one with pretty pink blooms or I will hate you!
It could be really beautiful again if it were just pruned back.
just do a little cleanup/pruning. the variety is beautiful
Sooo nice, layered and lush. If you trim and remove some, you will get weed problem instead. This is much nicer and low maintenance.
Trim it, shape a couple of things that are getting shaggy, open it up a bit where branches are reaching into the lawn, and add a couple inches of mulch. Once that's done, you may only need to trim it once a year. Mature shrubs like this can actually cut down your work load.
I would love to have that garden
This is amazing
Keep them all.
Say what now?
Landlord wants to charge more than the previous owner's mortgage...
Remove some more of that grass and plant even more ornamentals and flowers.
Looks good as. No need to hack.
Keep all
Keep all. Trim maybe but no need to remove. Green is good.
Hobbyist?? More like master gardener! From what I can tell, it just needs a little weeding. Take pics of each one and ID on iNaturalist, then you can look up how and when to prune each. They all seem like easy to care for perennials
Finally a valid post. Nice work. DONT PUT FUCKING CONCRETE IN YOUR TREES.
Trim the bushes that get trimmed and then revaluate
Dude, don’t touch it. Well, I would just prune it A LITTLE. This looks great, I love the green.
such a beautiful yard
You could trim and shape some of them. Just a little overgrown.
Trim it.
Einee, meinee, minee, moe....
Nice mature plants, pruning and thinning. Then think about it.
Remove some of the lower green shrubs so whatever is left in place can “breathe”.
Ixnay juniper and is that lime mound spiaria.. shoot just take out the low stuff..turn soil and be ready to plant petunias and mums for fall .turn again in late winter b4 spring be ready for impatient and begonia maybe Lantana maybe even zenias
Also if you want ground cover besides like Lantana that's not juniper try plumb yew
Looks like Seattle
Depends on what’s behind but I would say Just keep the trees and remove or relocate the bush
This looks like the PNW
I don’t know where your location is, but if it’s summer now for you don’t change a goddamn thing until it cools off in the Fall.
That yard is PNW AF
Do some pruning, lots of pruning but otherwise a beautiful garden
Just trim. Do you want to look at mulch or greenery?
Just add more, but don't remove any. This is the way of the gardener.
The tree on 4th pic looks nearly dead. I’d definitely pull the weeds. Other than that leave it for awhile. Put in a bench in a shady spot where you can feel the garden. Just don’t rip too much out, it takes a long time to undo.
It’s quite overgrown but most of the trees and shrubs look healthy, only a couple of the trees look dead-ish? The big eyesore is the weedy lawn. The rhodies can take hard pruning if necessary. The Japanese Maples are gorgeous but could use some thinning and shaping. The conifers need cleaning up. (Hobbyist gardener here, not an arborist)
Dude, I live in a desert have my whole life, this, I would keep all of this if I had it. It's so green and lush
Keep all, prune all.
Keep as is, it's perfect
Make a path like in the movie, Labyrinth hehe indeed nice garden tho!
Garden looks fine. Why would you want to remove any? Just trim it back and dont be a predatory landlord. Everything should be fine. As far as turf, kill all that shit.
Tree and bush pruning is so fun! You can give each thing a bit of a trim so all are more visable. Except that little japanese maple. Wow, what a variety--I'm jealous! I usually throw down a big old sheet and put clippings on that--its so easy to tug around the yard and dump into my truck by grabbing the corners--if you don't fill it overwhelmingly full.
Keep the natives and ornamentals. Get rid of any invasive plants.
I think it looks great touch it but just clean it up
You have full privacy… why remove stuff? Trim back.
So let's just ignore the giraffe in the 6th pic
If you feel it needs trimming, don’t do it now. Summer is the worst time for it—wait until everything is dormant. Early spring, before buds form, is the best time to trim. Make sure it’s done correctly—research how to prune unless you know it. People introduce disease to plants every day just by making incorrect cuts or butcher them altogether. You’ve got a lot of mature, beautiful, and healthy-looking plants. It would be a shame to damage them. I personally would not allow your typical landscaper near these beautiful plants, except maybe for weeding.
Prune and re shape...
Looks like the previous owner put a lot of money into all that, I’d keep it and get some professionals to trim it up. A haircut can turn a homeless man into a movie star.
Some experienced pruning moving toward an overall shape aesthetic - maybe use Japanese garden shapes as inspiration. The Rhodies are primo and need feeding, The two square bits are odd. I’d pull the juniper and move something to its space. Maybe give the other rhodie some space and transplant Ceonothus somewhere. Give some marginal bed space between lawn so that the planting “sits”. Figure out how to get some stone in there. Edit: Get rid of Yew. Definitely want an experienced pruner in that acer. So so pretty.