It's hard to be patient, isn't it? I have a habit of tearing into things, just so I can see SOMETHING happening. Demolition can be an inexpensive and satisfying outlet for pent up creative urges.

But...taking some time to get to know the lot, and get a feel for how'll you'll use it might be a good idea if you can do it. You might decide that you'd rather admit more light to the rear yard and do your gardening there. You might find that traffic or neighbors or even the hot sun out front make it a less attractive place to spend a lot of time.
You might find that the hollies (you don't say how big they are) provide some needed shade and privacy on the south side. Charging in before you know what you want can result in a lot of extra work later.
On the other hand, if you're certain you want a mixed border in front, removing the old plantings now will give you a head start, and you may get time to add some soil amendments or do a lasagna bed this fall so you're ready to go in the spring.
So the answer is, it depends. Not much help, I guess.
Jo

Ok, I admit it, I'm being cheap (as well as wanting to save anything that can be saved). The hollies are 5' high, about 6' across, the tree guy has quoted me 60. apiece to remove large shrubs, I think there are 5 of them. I think I probably will wait on them & try to manhandle/transplant them myself. I feel most guilty about the maple in the back, it's very pretty, but it's in the middle of the yard, & there are LOTS of mature trees back there already, it's probably the offspring of a larger maple nearer to the house.

I think I will try and be patient, once things are cleaned up & thinned out a bit, I can bring in mulch & try to ready planting beds, I can watch the way the yard drains (doesn't seem to have problems & we're getting lots of rain), & make lists & drawings of where I'd like to put things-the backyard will be my canvas-my husband really likes the conventional front yard, lawn, couple of big trees, foundation plantings(which I will move, eventually) & I don't want to alarm the neighbors by moving too quickly, I've already had to approach them about putting in a more secure fence (they said that wouldn't be a problem as long as it wasn't chainlink, & it won't be (I have no problem w/ chainlink, but my husband wants a nice wood fence)).

I'm SO excited about my new garden, I just love to go out in the mornings & walk around & see where everything is & could be, I just need to try & curb some of my enthusiasm & try to come up with a plan...

Thistle,

Along with your waiting and planning, another productive way of using up your pent-up creative energy is to take lots of pictures and start the "before" section of a scrapbook. Take pictures of EVERYTHING from many different angles, even (or ESPECIALLY) where there's nothing of interest. Make sure there are either permanent landmarks somewhere in the pictures or that you label their locations while you still remember. You'll thank yourself in years to come--trust me.

Egyptianonion

And there are ALWAYS pots. Container gardening is one way to "pretty things up" while you wait. It will soon be pansy time--not to mention decorative cabbages, etc! Southern Living usually does some nice articles on Container gardening--I think they even have a book--and I KNOW your local library will have books on the subject. That is how I tamed my need to "gut and garden" the first year we were here. Of course, this house came with a neglected garden--and it took me nearly a year to unearth THAT--so it's easy for ME to talk.

Have fun!

melanie

Boy can i remember how it feels.....We bought our place in September of 98.

Our home was built in 1880 and it sits on 1.33 acres of land. The lot was beautifully landscaped and planted with a variety of both native and old fashioned plants. The previous owner (who lived here for 70 years) was very active in the local Garden Club. As her health declined she was unable to properly care for the property anymore and it began to become overgrown. After her death the property sat vacant for 6 years before being purchased and then resold to us.

The overwhelming urge to clean the place up...prune and cut and remove was, well, overwhelming. We got out for the first few weekends and did some minor cleaning up and mowing and minor tree / shrub pruning....nothing major. I could tell our neighbor on one side was not really pleased with us because he was taking a very strong interest in what we were doing. He was constantly looking out the window or lurking around in his yard watching and watching. Finally, when I was over near the property line he came over and began to talk to me. He told me about the history of the property and how gorgeous it is in Spring and how we really needed to be cautious in what we did so as to not destroy something that we didn't know was even there. I admit I was a little offended at his intrusion and felt that he had stepped out of place a bit.

After we sort of got things in control initially I decided that I would take his advise (some of it anyway) and lay off the heavy handed renovations.

Instead of pruning, I pulled out the flagging tape and survey marking flags and began marking the locations of all of the blooming / ornamental things in the yard as they put on their shows.

Six years later we finally have a firm grasp on what is here and have begun to move some things around and add some things of our own. We take the renovation / restoration of the property in stages now and take great care to preserve as much as possible.

If you are absolutely sure about something then do it. If you have any doubts however take your time. Once the trees or shrubs are gone they are gone and very difficult if not impossible to replace. Take some measurements. Make your layout on graph paper and draw things out. Then put your ideas / alterations on paper and go from there. Paper costs nothing but time and a little effort and is very easily changed.

Create a long term plan first and then break it up into segments.

Don't be surprised when the long term plan changes over and over and over. Ours has.

Good luck with your new project.

Have fun and Good Gardening!

Aubrey

Thanks for all the wise tips, aside from the tree work (we've got a licensed arborist to do the work & he was helpful in letting me know which of our concerns could be handled now & which could be postponed), I'm going to try & take it slow.

And thank you, egyptianonion, for the reminder about photographs, I'm going to start taking pics right away, & I'm sure in the fall, the trees that made me decide that this was the house for us will put on a great show (BTW, we have a beech in the back, not a birch, see, I'm still giddy about all this, although the ferocious mosquitos outside keep me from mooning around out there all day)...

Ferocious mosquitoes? Allow me to introduce you to a product that has helped us--Off Mosquito Coils. The Country fresh scent is pleasant--reminds me a bit of incense employed during my college days (ahem--and it REALLY works. I do NOT, however, like the mosquito repelling lamp. Smells WAY too "insecticidal." Also, lacking htose fond olfactory memories...

melanie

Here is a link that might be useful: Off Mosquito coil site

thanks, I will look for these-I thought I knew mosquitos, growing up in Sneads Ferry, NC, where there are mosquitos so big they could carry you off, but these are pretty bad, too-must be all the rain...

Just thought I'd update my post with almost a year's perspective-we did remove a few trees in the back & the overgrown Japanese hollies from the front bed. I've placed in the front bed -3 Winter's Star camellias, a 'Wine & Roses' weigela, moved a TON of daylilies from the back(they were pretty scraggly under a maple), they appear to be Stella D'Oro & while I'm not crazy about daylilies, especially bright gold, they have really filled out the bed (& I can always move them again). I also have gaura 'Whirling Butterflies', pink lilies & liatris, variegated calamintha, sidalcea 'Rosanna', 'Pink Dawn' lantana, a gorgeous cream-colored miniature rose w/ cup shaped blooms, & agastache 'Pink Panther' & 'Blue Fortune', going to put in a blue buddleia this weekend. on the other side of the bed, I did some pruning of the boxwoods, need to do a bit more this winter,planted more pink & 'Stargazer' lilies & liatris & had a huge clump of orange lilies blooming on the end(again, not my favorite color, but I don't have the heart yet to remove them.

I planted 'Rozanne' geraniums in a narrow (6' diameter) raised stone bed around a red maple in the front & they did not make it through the winter. I've replanted with hellebores, 'Brandywine', 'Ivory Prince', & 'Spotted Hybrids', Pachysandra procumbens & blue tourenia (I've never really used annuals, but these were recommended to me.)-so far, it looks good.

My real joy has been fitting in as many shade loving perennials as I can in the back bed, at least 6 types of geraniums, bletilla striata, pulmonaria, trycirtus, hostas, heuchera, another small Winter's star', rohdea japonica, iris tectorum, bleeding hearts, disporopsis peryni, a very cute mini aruncus aethusifolius...I also have extensive container plantings-4 figs, hibiscus, majesty palm, coleus, cannas, orchids, etc....it helps that I have taken a p/t job at a fabulous garden center. I'm still trying to control my enthusiasm & amend the soil, improve the fertility, keep everything that's here in good health, while planning for the future-maybe a patio next year, &/ or a pond in the boggy corner...life in the garden is good...

I have an Oriental garden in my backyard. I had not been able to maintain it. I would like to have it redone. A lanscapper call and said it would be 400.00 for the design and that would be taken off of the price. I also have a small area in the fron that is already done just needs to have new bark /rocks etc.

The approximate price was about 4,000.00. Is this what landscaping costs?

Start with the obvious: Dead stuff, trees in the wrong spot.

Wait on the bushes and such (unless they are hiding the house) and investigate how to prune them. They might be nice if smaller.

Another update, 2 years past post- I'm learning to live with the shade in the back yard, we still have 4 maples (plus the Norway maple that I'd like to remove this fall), 3 pines, a beech & a pin oak-plus we are shaded to the north & west by large maples & oaks. We've had tons of rain this year, I'm sure alot of you have had this as well, everyone says 'it's the monsoon season'.

I've planted 3 Japanese maples, have a few more to plant, a Franklinia I planted last fall didn't make it, I've started a compost pile, with all the stuff I've planted, about 80% has made it. Even though it's incredibly hot, I love my garden...

thistle5, are you able to post before and after pictures? I would love to see what you accomplished in this time frame. Laurie

When we bought our home (garden) 24 years ago, i had the patience of a saint. I had years ahead of me and was always planing for future projects. As i near 50(!), i'm finding out it want things NOW! Patience comes with age? not in my case...

Unfortunately, I don't have pictures, but I think you can see changes (nothing dramatic). The front beds are a bit overgrown, but the camellias, echinaceas, eucoris are thriving & I have a lot of mums filling in (old & new)-I can't decide whether to cut back the agastache, there are still bees & butterflies.

The shady beds in the back are doing well-the tricyrtis are especially beautiful! & if I can just find a GOOD gas-powered chipper/shredder, to deal w/ the leaves this fall, I'd be ahead of the game (my compost pile, started a year ago, is producing-I don't do alot of turning, but it all breaks down eventually)-I'm enjoying our Indian summer, although it may not last much longer...

I guess this note is for the next person who buys a house.

I got to have it both ways. Here in MA we have three legal events: having the offer accepted, the 'purchase and sale' agreement, and the actual transfer. Through the graciousness of the sellers, I was able to start gardening in the vegetable garden in May, after the 'purchase and sale' but before we owned the house! Part of the vg became a holding bed for plants from the old place.

As a result, for the ornamentals I have been able to be very, very patient. And with a few big rewards: the screaming orange flowering quince, which attacked my husband and which I meant to destroy, has really grown on me. And the little yellow irises, which have been annoying me with their maintenance issues, turn out to be a pretty good match for the 1840's one in Denise's heirloom plants book. So glad I figured that one out! And after seven growing seasons, I'm starting to get an idea how to lay the paths in the dooryard.

I guess if one isn't handed an empty garden one can generally dig up the lawn (-;

E