Should I stay or should I go! A Design Question?

This is what I call my 3 green balls. Not too happy with them right now. When I look at this part of the yard it has no interest just 3 Green balls sitting there.
Green ball 1# is a pretty old Holly that was given to me by my parents many years ago. For some reason I thought it was a Holly Tree (pyramidal shaped) which is why I planted it there in the first place, but turns out it’s just a big bush and must be kept where it is. Green ball 2# is the Quince along the parking area and next to the potting shed. In fact Ric cut part of it back to put in the potting shed. It’s getting a major prune job this Fall and other than the suckers sprouting every where and it’s trying to take back the Potting shed ground its fine. It blocks the parking area and trash cans it could go or stay but I see no reason to remove it now. Does its job and looks pretty nice.
Green ball #3 The Forsythia and the dilemma, remove or not?

I have been thinking of late that if I took out the Forsythia and replaced it with a small tree it would really add some interest to that corner. I could do a whole planting in the space behind the potting shed with the Holly and Quince in the back and under the new tree. Given a little time it would provide a little more shade to that corner which already has some pockets of shade. I was thinking about planting something that would provide some fall color, with bright colored berries, interesting bark and colorful leaves. I have several trees in mind. Sounds like a good plan except for this……

That Forsythia provides a very good screen to a rather cluttered area and gives privacy and blocks sound to the corner of my back patio. I know that I could clean up this area but it is a work area with the potting shed and garage area things tend to pile up here. Between the Quince, Potting Shed and Forsythia I have a really nice privacy screen.


Looking from the Forsythia back thru.

The new walkway just disappears back between the house and potting shed and from out front you never seen any of the mess or from the patio you don't see or hear much that is going on out front. Not that there is a lot going on out in front of my house. LOL

I've been second guessing myself and thinking may be I should plant my tree in another spot and dig up all the grass around these three bushes. Maybe plant a lower growing colorful or varigated shrub between them and maybe a corner shade bed behind the potting shed at the outer curve of the walkway. That might breakup that boring look and still keep my privacy. I'd love all the suggestions I can get.

I guess the big question is, does the clutter behind the Forsythia bother you, the walkway and potting shed seems to be an invitation to see what is beyond.
In the wintertime the forsythia is bare, maybe a nice shaped pine to give winter interest, and add a new flower bed in that area.

Or how about an arbor and/or gate. You could do a solid wood gate with a heart or diamond shape cut out to reflect the diamond shape in your other hard structures.

I wouldn't remove them, I would create a bed around them to add some color.

Lady, You are right that in the winter the leaves drop but then there isn't as much clutter then and the patio isn't used as much. I had thought about a gate but not sure I want to do that. That area is a parking area also and we are planning an arbor to go over it, for the Wisteria I have growing on the back patio. The crushed stone will be replaced with pavers. So even thought it is a utility area it will be a little more dressed up later. Also Josh bought a house and a lot of the stuff in that garage is his tools which will be moving out within the next 2 months. That will give me more space to at least tuck in the junk that piles up rather than just let it sit there.
Jen I would only be removing the Forsythia, the other 2 bushes are staying in place. But keeping all three and putting something around them to break up all the green is a definite idea. Thanks for the ideas and please keep them coming.

I'll confess I'm a forsythi-o-path. I would have you take it out and in the area, have Mr HandyEnergetic make a section of privacy fence that you'll grow luscious viny things all over. The tree could be incorporated if you want the shade. And flowerbeds all around to tie it all up together.

Tee hee call me to help with all that installation and manitanance- NOT

LOL Sally, I've got Mr HandyEnergetic working on the wall again. I was just thinking that I should take it out and then yesterday a road crew was out there working almost all day and I loved that I had that little extra bit of privacy. Not that that happens very often, but every time I think I will get rid of it some little thing happens and I think how nice it is.
Every girls dream........(sigh) LOL

Hi HollyAnn, here are my thoughts: You could trim up the 2 big bushes well and maybe put an arch right between them with a nice foliage vine, or a climbing rose/clematis/morning glory/hops (whatever you like, or even leave it plain). What I think would look great is an arch with a gate at the bottom, it would look like an entry way. Or, even just a small gate between them w/o the arch would look good too. Also, what about a garden statue. It would need to be rather tall so it would not look out of place, but you could get a medium-sized one and put it on a pedestal. Also, what about a cement garden bench in the middle. On each side of the bench, sort of on the front edge of each bush, you could put potting urns with some pretty annuals. If I think of anything else, I'll get back to you :)

Poor Ric, does he ever stop?? This heat must be killing him :(

Okay, been thinking about this for a couple of days. IMHO I'd take out the Forsythia and leave the others. With the beautiful blue of the Atlas Cedar? I'd love to see a Forest Pansy Redbud http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/31646/ planted there. They quickly form a nice canopy and you could plant Hostas or something around the base :) Then, I'm not sure how the corners of the house and the garden shed line up, but a small arbor connecting the two would look nice. On the right side, you could put up one of those lattice panels you can pick up most anywhere (usually about $20-30) which would save Ric from having to build it! LOL Then you could add another vine to crawl up the panel and over the arbor to 'disguise' whatever clutter might remain, maybe a darker flowering Clematis to pick up the foliage color of the Forest Pansy? Took the liberty and copied one of your photos - pasted in a Forest Pansy, "scribbled" in some plants around the base and roughly sketched in the arbor with "flowering" vine :)

Holly,

I think that you have a lot to work with there, so lots of great possibilities available to you. I think that the "three balls" are somewhat 'unbalanced' looking at the moment and that may be what is bugging you(?). I also agree with some of the others in that you might seriously consider pruning/rejuvenating those existing shrubs and adding a new bed around them which includes an elegant focal point, and has more layers of plantings around the "balls". The design and focal point would be a very personal matter, so I hesitate to get very specific. What "style" would you say that you most enjoy?

Have you posted to the Design Forum? That's a GREAT source of creativity.

Have fun!

Such great ideas. That is one of the reasons I love posting to DG, it really opens your eyes to new possibilities. First of all I have decided to take out the Forsythia and replace it with some type of tree.
RCN, I was looking at those Forest Pansy Redbud's last month when I was out tree shopping. And it is one of the trees on my list along with the Kousa Dogwood, Autumn Brilliance Serviceberry, and the Prairifire Crabapple which I think was my favorite so far. I only did a look and see I haven't really researched them yet. I loved the FP Redbud and thought it would look great with the Atlas cedar but I would really like something with fall berries or small colorful fruits. The shiny dark green of the Holly and the Juniper hedge in the back with it’s silvery green needles and blue green berries will all add some nice color with a tree that has some colorful leaves or/and berries.
I have also rethought the gate idea that Lady and Spunkster mentioned. Don't know why I thought that space was too small. It's more than 5ft across. If I miss the privacy a tall gate could easily fit there with a diamond cut out for accent. Once Josh moves I will have the whole garage for myself to corral all my clutter. It's a very deep one car garage that we use as a workshop not to park the car in, so there is a lot of room in there. Ric is going to build a Pergola over a large section of the parking area and I could tie in a gate and arbor to that if I want too. The Potting shed is movable, too. So it could be bumped out or down a little, as needed. Not sure about a lattice on the corner of the house, love the look in your picture RCN but I have Azaleas planted there which would need to be trimmed back to put one in. I do have Morning Glories growing on a trellis on the side of the potting shed thought.
Wrightie and Spunkster, What a great idea I would have never thought of a focal point between the Holly and the Quince. I measured it out and have 7ft between them and the Juniper hedge at the back would make a very nice spot for a bench. There is also a small space between the Quince and the Juniper and I have been thinking about putting in another small stone walkway there just to separate the two but didn’t have the vision to figure out what it would lead too. I could snake a small stone walkway from the other end of the driveway between the Juniper and Quincy into a seating area between the Holly and the Quince and back out to the stone walkway that is in place now.
Oh such wonderful ideas you all have helped me so much. I’d love some more suggestions if you have more.
RCN, Ric minds the heat and that’s why the work on the wall has stalled for a little while just too hot for him to work on it. You know he use to work 2nd shift and the other night I went to bed and when I woke up the next morning he had spent the night straitening out the old wall.

Ric was working on the wall today. There he is taking a much needed break at the end of the day. I got a shot going straight up the yard, gives a good view of the three green balls and what all we have been doing.

Ric really needs a break , look at the size of those! Holly, looks like you'll gain a good area for a nice flower bed once the Forsythia is out of there.

I have to move a weigela but I want to wait till the end of summer, it is going to the far end of the yard and I don't want to be lugging buckets of water every day, we might have a hot, dry August. Even though we have had a nice amount of rain so far this summer I hate to chance it.

Wow - Ric's making a lot of progress! What a wonderful complement for the stone pathway :) Of your three tree choices - Kousa Dogwood, Autumn Brilliance Serviceberry, and the Prairiefire Crabapple, my personal choice would be Kousa Dogwood. Love the foliage, love the flowers and the bright red "berries" in the fall! We have Autumn Brilliance Serviceberry and although it looked good its first few years, the drought last summer and again this year have really taken its toll on the poor tree and it looks miserable :( Although I love our Crabapples, fire blight can be a real problem and we've lost some because of it. Maybe Prairiefire is resistant? IMHO, you just can't beat Kousa Dogwood - virtually no disease or pest problems :)

I have been working on this project last summer and this spring. It has been slow going a bit here and there but I am making some progress. First I started to dig out the forsythia last year. It was huge and I got hundreds of self rooted plants dug up from around the edges. Most of them went to my DIL for a hedge she wanted to do. Some went to a friends daughter for a hedge she wanted to do. I got it back to just the last main plant and I cut that back pretty hard. We never did get it pulled out of the ground last year so it is still here. Much smaller than it was and I expect to get it out and a tree planted in that spot sometime in the next month. When I look back at the pics I posted when I started this thread and see how huge it was and the size it is now I can really see what I accomplished last summer.

The other big green ball was the even more huge Quince. I planted it a good 30 years ago and pretty much just let it grow. It made a great screen for the driveway and utility area. Everyone once in a while I would cut it back a bit but not too much or too often. Some of it was dug out when Ric put the potting shed in and I took a good sized chunk out of the other side when we needed to pull the pump from the well that was pretty much covered with Quince suckers. I worked on it with hand clippers, loppers and dug out the suckers. I did something a bit different with it and I don't know if I can or will want to keep this shape but for now it will stay this way. I didn't cut it down in height. I just kept working in from the edges till I had a somewhat tree shape. I still have a little bit more to cut back on the driveway side but it is mostly finished. Sometime later I may just need to cut the height down but if I can I will leave it this shape for a while.

The other big green ball the Holly is just bigger than ever and I'm not touching it. Ric is going to trim it into some type of geometric Topiary shape.
Along with the Three big green balls came a side issue. I planted just a few extra plants behind the potting shed to over winter. Next spring I liked the way my impromptu bed looked so I added a few more.

As I cut back and dug up the Quince I would add more plants to the shade garden that was developing. We would dig up the dirt a bit add some nice compost/mushroom soil and run the little tiller over it to make a nice bed. By the end of last summer it was looking pretty good. But there was still a lot more to do.
So this spring I have been working on removing the rest of the Quince. We picked up a pretty PJM Rodie that I added to the mix. Yes this area really wanted another shrub. LOL

I have dug up the sod, added a lot of good soil to the top. Put a stone edge around the back of the bed and mulched the whole thing. The bed is pretty much done. I will be adding more plants and working on keeping the Quince at bay.

We aren't quite done in this area but I will post more pictures as it continues to develop. I want to get the forsythia out and the new tree in and the Holly shaped but that is likely all for this year.

Looking good!!!

ditto, the hard work shows, hey my bloody dock is coming up well this year too. Is that in lots of shade?

WOW! I do like the new "tree form" shape of the quince. It frames out your new shade garden very nicely!

I like it too Critter. I keep thinking it looks like a sheaf and I want to tie some cordage around the middle for an accent. LOL I don't know if I can maintain the shape but we had some pretty high winds the other day really whipped it around and it is still looking good other than the loss of a lot of leaves. I was out at the nurseries today with a friend and came home with some ferns and some diamond frost euphoria. I have some new double hellebore and some Jack in the pulpit to plant there along with some forget me knots. Add a few annuals and it should look pretty good for this year.

Holly, it looks really nice. As I've been taking my walks through the neighborhood, I can't help but noticing how many people never trim their shrubs and whole sections of their houses have disappeared behind them. Many are completely covering their windows, even second story windows. That shape makes the quince much more interesting.

I really let that Quince go as it made a great screen for the driveway. It really is a utility area the trash cans and such are all back there. It can get pretty messy when we get really busy and the Quince kept everything from being seen from the front. You can see the car and the bales of pro-mix sticking out since I reduced the Quince but once the arbor goes up and the brick goes down I will want to try and keep that area more organized anyway.