For centuries, American home architecture has included a series of foundation shrubs along the front of most homes to cover up the masonry foundation and the cellar windows. I have no problem with the concept of foundation plantings. What bugs me is that so few of the foundation plants are appropriate for the purpose. They grow too large, and most are planted too close together and much too close to the house. Even landscapers are guilty of planting a young shrub just two feet from the house, even though it will be 8 feet wide at maturity.
What truly amazes me is why so many homeowners, having shrubs that have become too large and overgrown, let those plants continue to muck up the appearance of the front of their home for years, even decades.
You have two choices when you have an overgrown foundation shrub that is covering the living room windows. You can move it or you can dig it up and throw it away. Keeping it in place should not be a choice. Although I suspect lots of yardeners hate the idea of destroying a shrub that is perfectly healthy and alive. Get over it.
Virtually any large shrub can be successfully moved. It is a tough, back-breaking job and it should be done in the fall; not now in the heat of summer. You can do it yourself but you are wise to have a competent landscaper do the job.
Killing a live shrub is not a sin. Someone put that shrub too close to the house twenty years ago. For the last fifteen years it has outgrown its space and damaged the appearance of the yard and house. It should have been taken out fifteen years ago.
Replace those overgrown shrubs in front of windows with plants that will grow to no more than four or five feet at maturity. There are lots to choose from. Plant new shrubs far enough apart so when they grow up they are just touching each other. A good foundation shrub should never have to be pruned and when mature there is still a foot or two of space between the shrubs and the walls of the house allowing good ventilation for the plants.
