Front Yard Part I - Taking out the tree

Sure, it looks good here. But it's a crabapple tree. It only looks good for two weeks every two years. The rest of the time it looks like it's slowly dieing -- from spring to fall, in the year it blooms. Otherwise it looks green in spring and leaves continually fall all summer until it looks pretty bedraggled and bare by the time fall hits.

Most of the time, the tree looked like this --
nice shape and size for the house, but it dropped leaves
starting in spring and ending in early fall.

And it shades the front yard on the southwest side of the house, which doesn't get much sun to begin with. And I'd have to trim it every three years -- the branches get long and scraggly -- they have, at times, reached my office window, and the neighbor's porch.

But my biggest complaint? The damned suckers that grow under the tree. And I mean pretty much every where under the canopy of the tree -- not just its base. There are so many and so thick that it's been impossible to keep them cut back. They're crowding out the dozens of perennials (and reseeders) I have planted there - iris, lilies, hosta, lungwort, horseradish, lavender, bachelor buttons, gooseneck loosestrife, daisys, heuchera, lambs ears, columbine, grasses, tulips, lady's mantle, a wimpy rhododendron, an azalea, and more.

The owner of the company was out a week earlier
and tied pink ribbons around the items to be taken out.
It was breast cancer awareness month. I think
the neighbors thought it had something to do
with breast cancer awareness.

And the low hedge you see in the front in the photo above? It's a nondescript thorny barberry hedge that needs trimming once every three weeks. It looks sloppy quickly. It's also been mixed up with a co-dependent growth of uncontrolled ivy. And did I mention it's thorny?

Out they go! Both the tree and hedge. Found a great company that took out both - for only $325! That's about a third of the cost I was estimating in my head (with absolutely no knowledge of how much tree removal costs).

About a week after I received and okay'd the estimate, a team of five showed up with grinder, shredder, chain saws and two trucks. They were done and cleaned up in about 45 minutes.

Next up -- redesign!

Quick work. Chopped up, ground out, raked and swept up in about 45 minutes.

Love to watch a good shredding.

I want a grinder! It's way cool and made fast work of
eliminating the shrubs and leaving behind loose turned soil.

There's a good chance some of the suckers from the tree will still be there this year.
They ground out the stump deep, as if another tree was to replace it, hopefully to discourage the suckers.

Now you can see my neighbor's house now. So I'm not starting with a blank slate, but I look forward to re-designing and re-arranging and adding to the mix in the front yard.