LANDSCAPE RENOVATION

Out with the old,
in with the new!

Definition: Foundation Planting
Grouped planting of trees and shrubs surrounding the
foundation of a house in mulched beds
that are three to eight feet wide.

The current trend in our area is to 'over-plant' or plant too much. While this style of planting creates an established look much sooner, it also creates a need to renovate foundation plantings much sooner. This is especially true when the wrong plants are used for plantings close to a house -- plants that grow too fast or large for their allotted space. 
  
Most of our client's home improvement inquiries regard overcrowded plantings that are over 20 years old. At this advanced stage of growth, shrubs are blocking windows and overpowering the house. These overgrown plantings also crowd sidewalks, getting visitors wet as they brush past them on rainy days. They also give houses that 'abandoned' look.
  

Video of a window well installation
Often times, when renovating foundation plantings around a clients home, we find that window wells (also call 'window areas') need some height added to them so that water is less likely to flood a sub-grade window. This video covers that sort of installation:

When is it time to renovate your landscape?

It often comes as a great surprise when clients learn that foundation plantings have a limited lifespan, and should be renovated once they are 15 years old. If the right trees have been planted in the right places in lawn areas, they can remain for much longer. It's the close proximity to foundations and sidewalks that create an earlier need for foundation planting renovations. 
   
While we can attempt to salvage whatever existing plants are still in good shape and will blend with new plantings, it's been our experience that 'starting from scratch' makes the most sense. Mixing new plantings with old plantings often creates too much of a generation gap.

Other shrub bed pages

• landscape installations

• backyard landscaping

• plant beds

• landscape design

• garden tools

• mulching

• mulches

• pests