what would you do with these trees?

7 years ago

This is how my backyard looks like.

There 20 tall trees adjacent to house.
When we moved in, they haven’t been trimmed for years and going over to the next door.

My husband cut the branches on the bottom, but I don’t know what to do with the rest.

Plus there are some ugly shrubs around the backyard. They are ugly and sparse.

Our neighbor’s dog is not friendly(unleashed, comes out of house and gets on our driveway and barks) and we have little kids.

We are trying to find a way to protect our family, without spending a fortune. My husband wants to cut off the trees and shrubs, without removing roots, and install fences.

I agree with the fences, because of the dog, but I am worried how it is going to look like, when the roots are still there. At least, I want to plant small flowers and short greens around inside the fence, so it will look less artificial. I’m worried I won’t able to do that with the roots.

What would you do?

What would you do?

Featured Answer

newproject858
Original Author

7 years ago

@dingo, i think we have a similar rule here, because all of the fences in my neighbor are pretty pushed back from streets. We just want to be safe in our backyard, we will still need to be cautious in driveway.

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Comments (14)

newproject858
Original Author
7 years ago
More pictures
PRO
Yardvaark
7 years ago
Show us what the space between the end of patio and tall trees looks like. Best if viewed from front looking toward back.
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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
7 years ago
we have little kids.

==>>> i would fence it faster than i took me to make this reply ...

i dont care what it would look like.. there is no option ...

end of decision ...

ken

ps: beyond that.. your checkbook dictates what you do with the trees ... looks like you have plenty of yard... to do hubbys plant.. of just cutting to the ground ... and you can garden elsewhere ....
sm m
7 years ago
I’m assuming there is not room to put fence behind trees. I would try to save the trees that were possible to save then cut down the rest. I would also talk to your neighbor about keeping their dog out of your yard and on a leash!!
newproject858
Original Author
7 years ago
@yardvaark
I’d say I have 6-12” between trunk and bricks.
newproject858
Original Author
7 years ago
@ken Your reply made me laugh. Yes I agree the safety is priority. Fortunately, my kids are not old enough to open the doors let them out. But in a few years, I know they will be.
newproject858
Original Author
7 years ago
@sm The dog has been to our drive way unleashed and threatened my family(adults only thank God) 4 times already. They only said ‘I’m sorry’, and it kept happening. I know it will happen again even if I ask them to keep their dog in.
hoovb zone 9 sunset 23
7 years ago
Check what your municipality allows first as far as tree removal and fence building, then cut down or remove whatever is legal and is needed to put up a solid fence and start afresh on new trees and shrubs when you can.

With little kids you must be extremely busy so understand new plantings can be done slowly over time--there's nothing wrong with that--just keep everything neat and tidy in the mean time.
PRO
Yardvaark
7 years ago
It would be a pretty big project to actually REMOVE the tree stumps. Short of that, you're not going to be able to plant much of anything in the ground space because it's full of roots. The exception would be very small starts of plants that are capable of spreading around on their own ... certain vining groundcover type plants. Some vines are capable of covering a mess (which this is) fairly quickly. If I lived here, it would be my temptation to leave trunks as a support system, creating a trellis of sorts out of them and get a vine to cover it all up ASAP. As the trunks slowly rot away (over years) one could plan for the next phase, which would be some kind of total redo. If you put in a privacy fence, your local code probably limits its height to 6', and there is a big, gorgeous roof behind it. If you use trunks as a trellis, their height could be taller than the fence height ... maybe 8'.
newproject858
Original Author
7 years ago
@yardvaark Thanks for your input. Could you give me names of plants that I can plant over the roots? I’d like to see how they look like.
newproject858
Original Author
7 years ago
@yardvaak, is it a good idea for my husband to cut off the shrubs? Can we plant anything over, without removing roots?
PRO
Yardvaark
7 years ago
I don't remember your location & didn't see it in a scan.

Of course you can plant some things over the roots, stumps or trunks. A vine like Clematis (there are many) comes to mind for some great seasonal color and green the rest of the season. (Most would be deciduous but they will still develop some twiggy view filtering and you're not going to be on the patio so much during winter.
Dingo2001 - Z5 Chicagoland
7 years ago
Check on your fencing codes before you start any of this. You need to know height restrictions, lot line info, and how far you can fence by the street. We have an easement here for example, and our fences have to be set back a certain distance from the street. If that’s the case for you, the dog will still be able to stroll over to your house.