YOUR GUIDE TO THE TWIN CITIES
Ode (or not) to the former owners
Posted on May 12th, 2009 – 8:35 AMBy Robyn Dochterman
Unless you moved into a brand new house, chances are pretty good you’ve inherited some gardening decisions made by others. You moved in and discovered peonies struggling vainly to grow in deep shade, a fence bisecting your yard for no apparent reason, or the world’s biggest shrubs planted right on top of your foundation.
Or maybe you got lucky and moved into a house with a hedgerow of juicy raspberries, an entire bed of darling lily-of-the-valley, or a fabulously-amended veggie garden spot.
We recently had a sort of lean-to constructed in which to store split wood. Before we started piling wood there, I transplanted a dozen beautiful old-fashioned and white bleeding hearts from the area to a new shade garden (thanks former owners!)
But every last root was grown into ancient landscaping fabric (not so much thanks for that, former owners). That stuff is so ubiquitous here, you can’t drop a shovel anywhere without getting tangled in it like fake cobwebs at Halloween. Overall, though, I’m very fortunate. Though a bit overgrown, this place has good gardening bones, and I’m able to reap most of what the people-before-me sowed.
Have you been lucky enough to inherit some garden treasures? What are your favorites? Or are you plagued by bad decisions made by those who came before you? Are you righting their wrongs, or just ignoring them for now?
Oh, and if former owners either left you wanting, or left you overflowing with some plants you’re just not that into, don’t forget that the Greengirls plant swap is this Saturday, May 16, at the Star Tribune in Minneapolis. Here’s the information again:
- Saturday, May 16, 10-noon.
- Meet the Greengirls and other gardeners at the small park across from the Star Tribune’s main building, between 4th and 5th streets on Portland Ave. in downtown Minneapolis.
- Rain or shine.
(Download a .pdf of the plant swap info)
We’ll have door prizes and free seeds while they last, and Jaime will pose for photos with her shovel (as seen in the above .pdf).
The best part, of course, is what gardeners bring to share and swap. Plants, seeds, books, divides, extras, tools, containers, changes-of-mind…it’s all fair game. The only thing you shouldn’t bring is cash, because it’s not a sale. It’s a swap. Even parking at the Star Tribune will be free. You can see what other gardeners are bringing in this post, to which you can still contribute. You can come hang out and pick up some extras even if you don’t have anything to swap.
49 Responses to "Ode (or not) to the former owners"
Our former owners left behind peonies and some Korean Dwarf Lilacs. But the real gem is the black raspberries, which provide ample small, sweet fruit.
Anybody want some black raspberries for the plant swap?
Oh, I’d love some, Peter. I’m a huge black raspberry fan! Sounds like you did okay in the horticulture inheritance department!
The former owners mostly left us an empty garden bed next to the house with a thin layer of pebbles and giant-sized yucky bushes under the eaves. As of two weeks ago, those bushes are no more! We did inherit 3 pretty peonies and a healthy clematis in the deal though. 
[…] Greengirls – […]
We got a bunch of day lilies, a very nice clematis, and some hostas that were in desperate need of transplanting due to the shade tree being Dutch Elmed. Unfortunately, we also got 4 extremely overgrown apple trees, 2 of which I’m hoping can be saved, a side garden that had been taken over by sucker trees (very well rooted unfortunately), and a grape vine that had completely covered one of the apple trees and now will not go gently into that good night. The lawn has ant, rabbit, and perhaps mole issues that we’re trying to rectify. Also, the vacant lot next door provides many lovely dandelions that routinely infiltrate our yard. Baby steps, I guess.
I have peonies–which I’ve moved–lilacs,and bright yellow daffodils left from former owners. I’ve never gotten around to re-planting all the mis-matched shrubs in front of the house, though!
Oh where to begin! We were left with, among billions of weeds, at least 16 “crispy” astilbe in the south-facing front yard, old, moldy and chunky wood chips covering anything that isn’t grass and 18-30ft high severly overgrown honeysuckle bushes. An area for shrubs, a vegetable plot and ‘hostaland’ have taken the place of the honeysuckle. Only 3 astilbe will remain by this weekend, nestled nicely under the one saving grace of the yard - what my uncle calls our million-dollar river birch tree. Unending manual labor and a year of figuring out just what to do with the yard will pay off one day-hopefully soon!
My luckiest inheritance was a mature apple tree (not sure what kind of apples they are; judging by taste I’d call them “pie or sauce apples”). It needs a little TLC, but it’s definitely salvageable.
I also got quite a few hosta, some peonies, and some asiatic lilies, all of which have been moved since I moved in.
Now for those dead pine trees that I still need to cut down…
My biggest pet peeve about what we inherited from the former owners of our house can be seen here…
http://gustgab.blogspot.com/2008/05/flowering-dandys.html
While I LOVE LOVE LOVE this tree for the two weeks a year that it looks like this and smells oh soo sweet ~ it is planted smack dab in the middle of the yard ~ in front of the ONLY west facing window on the entire house!
BLECK!!
There are several other things that I am attempting to do something about that were left to us…sadly, this one can’t be fixed!
Grateful to have inherited landscaping done by a pro, but pretty daunted by it, too. I want to do my thing and sometimes I think my efforts scream “lame novice gardener at work” next to the established stuff. Which now that I’ve been here abit I do see were good choices (less prone to be eaten, for one.) But I want to plant what I like and what I remember my mother planting etc. It’s all pretty subjective, isn’t it, and gardeners can be so opinionated and judgmental? The folks who bought my old place removed every tree on the lot, including my beloved Jerusalem cherry. The neighbors felled their river birches. I mourned them from next door. I wonder if our former owners drive by and go “OMG, look what she’s done now….” To each her own.
Confession to the people who bought our house in the city: Yes, I planted those junipers WAY too close. I knew I wasn’t going to be there forever, and it looked too sparse back then. So, sorry you inherited my gardening “decisions.”
Overall I like what were left with, but there are a little too many yellow daylilies and hostas for my taste. I’m in the planning stages of adding a garden on the side of our garage in the fall and rearranging because I’m sick of having mostly yellow and green. I need some color!
Question, I’ve got a couple lilac trees planted two to three feet from the house (one is next to the garage, which I’m thinking isn’t a big deal since there is no house underneath?). Do I need to move these farther away? I’m not sure if the roots will become a problem eventually.
We inherited a french drain on the south side of our yard, and while it might be French, it definitely doesn’t drain.
We thought about turning the area into a rain garden but quickly changed our minds after hours of digging up rock and one very small corner cleared.
Ugh, now we just pretend we don’t see that the whole neighborhood pools in our side yard every time it rains.
We inherited three 40 ft tall aspens that drop twigs, branches and leaves all year long, and which I don’t think have been pruned in at least five years. We also inherited a side yard full of unexpected surprises — lily of the valley that grows through the steps of our deck, two peonies, and what I think might be irises. There’s a shed that’s literally falling apart, with a rotting floor. Each year we’re tackling something else…this year it’s the half dead bushes in front and the shrub growing in the fence in the back.
The folklore for our house is that the original owner (1929) had a passion for roses. Standard roses, climbing roses, shrub roses, tea roses, she had them all and the yard was accented with hydrangea, snow on the montain and ostrich ferns. It was gorgeous they say. The next owners did not know what to do with their bounty…. All of it died, they tore out the poor dead stuff leaving the lawn resenbling the pitted surface of the moon. Then we bought the house in February, not knowing what lurked beneath the blanket of snow.
I have filled and filled the holes until things are fairly level, I am considering spraying Roundup on the Bishops Weed, and I think I have the ferns under control on the north side of the house. As I have stated on previous posts the overgrown evergreens had to go, hooked the truck to them and pulled the darn things out by the roots!
They did however leave us a real nice triple paper birch in the front lawn.
DebW –
I took your advice and dug up my ugly arborvitae in the front yard. It looks a million times better! Life is too short for ugly plants. I gave the viburnum a year to figure itself out.
We have an ugly Miss Kim lilac planted too close to the house. After it blooms, it’s days are numbered.
Darcie!
I have the exact same tree in my yard. It is lovely for two weeks out of the year and sends up suckers during the rest. We’ve talked about cutting ours down, but we live on a busy street. Without the tree, we’d have no buffer from the traffic noise. Grrr…
I got rocks.
Lots and lots of rocks.
In fact, the whole side yard was rocked over for the dogs that used to live in my house.
So, I guess my garden rocks!
The week I moved into my house 20 years ago I started digging out many, many well-rooted elm weeds. Hidden behind them, next to the garage, was a tight little clump of white and cream and green leafed hosta. I’ve divided that lovely hosta many times over the years–I think most of my friends have some in their gardens. I’ve never seen the same hosta at garden stores. It feels like a little treasure.
I have rocks too! SOO many pink rocks! Rocks that don’t keep out the weeds and make it incredibly difficult to move anything.
I also have gigantic evergreen bushes and trees and lilac bushes all planted too close together. All are too big to be moved so I’m going to have to eventually cut them down.
And the ribbon grass! Don’t even get me started on that!
Anyone know how big a dwarf blue spruce gets? We inherited a pretty one in an island bed in front of the front door. It HAS grown, judging by the need for an extra string of Christmas lights this year, but some folks have told us this guy is going to be big trouble later, “dwarfing” our front door and the whole front of the house. Really? It is called a DWARF specimen. I would hate ripping it out. Can it be pruned into submission?
My former owner’s legacy consisted of:
3 hostas in front of the house (they looked so sad, all alone), an enormous overgrown mock orange and honeysuckle bush (they are about 15 ft tall and completely dead inside), and HORSERADISH everywhere. I had no idea horseradish was so invasive but after 4 years I think I’ve finally managed to get rid of it.
Since I live in the house my husband grew up in, I’m at risk of dissing my lovely, late MIL. Good thing she was a generous and talented gardener. The best reminder at this spot in the year is her woodland garden along the north side of the house–trillium, jack-in-the-pulpit, lily of the valley, and on and on…it’s the first green and color in the yard every year and I do absolutely nothing except try to keep the ferns under control. She’s been gone for more than 30 years but we still have her lilies, iris, lilacs and that wonderful northside garden to remember her by.
I can certainly appreciate and commiserate with all of the folks in the previous posts left with little to no landscaping and overgrown bushes. We bought 11 acres and have spent every waking moment of the last five years trimming old trees, tearing out dead trees, or planting 300 new pine trees. Not to mention declaring war on burdock and buckthorn, amongst others. We established a 30×50′ garden, a perennial bed in front of the shop, two small hosta beds near the woods, and a small flowerbed in front of the kitchen. After the installation of siding is completed on the house, we will need to landscape that as well. I love every minute of summer and the projects we have completed - there is much, much more to accomplish! Summer is too short here in MN!!
What timing! I’m overwhelmed by overgrowth. The first wife who landscaped here worked at Bachman’s and the second wife let it all go wild. There’s a 20′x20′ fenced garden with dozens of types of plants there — including thirteen pine trees to move ASAP. I’ve finally killed the 3′x10′ of Chinese lanterns by the front door (!) and am beating back two lengthy borders of snarly Siberian irises. On the upside: lovely trees, bushes and perennials including azaleas, peonies, daylilies, Asiatic lilies, irises, and much more. And my apologies to the owner of my former home — heliopsis on a slope was not my brightest decision.
Amen to that, kiwi!
I now live in my grandparents old house/the house that my mom grew up in. In fact, I did a lot of my growing up in the house as well.
There were these stupid evergreen shrubs all around the house for as long as I could remember and guess what the first thing we did was? Rip those suckers out. I still use the raised bed in the backyard to grow veggies, just like my grandpa did. The one thing that was a shock was last summer when a peony bush came out of the ground in the same exact spot my gradma had her peony bushes. An addition had been built about 15 years ago and the peony bushes basically stopped showing up quite some time ago. I mean, maybe it has nothing to do with the old bushes, but I think it’s a bit too coincidental.
We also inherited a backyard that won’t grow grass (because of the addition) but we’ve put in sidewalks made of pavers and tons and tons of different plants to make the dirt not so noticable. I hate lawns with a passion, but have been able to maintain the front lawn like my grandpa used to. In fact, I’ve become kind of obsessive about it. I can’t lie.
I think my grandparents would be very proud.
I will never understand the decisions of the previous owners of my current and former houses (both in Minneapolis), who apparently equated “gardening” with “letting those elm seeds sprout wherever they land, and then thinning the trees.” At my old house I removed approximately eight fifteen-to-twenty foot tall trees, some as close as one foot from the foundation, and I’m going to have to do the same thing at the new house.
It’s not even the trees themselves that bother me - it’s the thought that they put up an eight-inch high retaining wall around them in an effort to “garden.” Thanks, prior owners.
Also, if you’re reading, you’ll be happy to know that I’ve sprayed glyphosate on your tenderly-cared-for backyard lawn, which consisted of approximately 40% dandelions, 30% dirt, 20% crabgrass, and 10% desireable grass. And those lilac bushes shading half of the backyard are getting the pollard treatment as soon as the blooms are gone. If they die, so be it.
When we moved into our house in Mpls, we marveled that the former owners installed a “patio” of plain concrete pavers smack in the middle of the backyard. No path to it. No plants around it. Nothing. We called it the “landing pad” and figured that’s where the spaceship landed to pick them up.
Just bought a house that was professionally landscaped a year or two ago. So many nice things coming up all over the place; I wish I knew what half of it was. Some blank spots too where they probably ran out of time/money to finish, which gives me the option to expand a bit.
How do you tell the difference between a plant and a weed? If it’s growing up through the hostas, it’s probably a weed. If I see his friends anywhere else, I guess they need to go too.
The previous owners of our house lived here for 50 years and the wife\mom was a big gardener, from what I’ve been told. Several years before we moved in she was no longer able to tend the yard and her daughter took over. This one neglected the years her mother put into the yard and plunked odd plants down willy-nilly. Then, upon moving out, took the expensive (roses, etc.) ones with her leaving giant holes in the ground. Sigh.
Next chapter, we move in. There’s a nice crab apple tree in back, although it is trapped in a tomato cage. We dug up the 2 bushes and 20′ sucker tree that were within 3 feet of the tree. Many hostas, day lilies, and more phlox than I know what to do with. She had a love of vines so we still battle the Virginia Creeper annually. She may have liked gardens but grass was not her forte - charlie, clover, and broadleaf are almost in the majority and there are many bald spots plus some pretty big ant colonies.
It is an on-going process but very satisfying when you make a dent! I almost prefer a fixer-upper over starting from scratch or having a perfectly sculpted yard you’re afraid to touch.
Happy gardening!
Geoff, the short answer is yes, anything growing among the hostas is probably a weed.
Sounds like you need a garden coach. Get a friend or neighbor who is an experienced gardener to walk you through your garden. Most gardeners enjoy sharing what they know.
If you don’t know any gardeners, show up for the plant swap on Saturday and make some gardening friends.
When you do a walk through, put in plant markers right then — don’t wait a day or two. Your garden buddy can also give you a primer on the weeds.
Robyn, I think we have one of the aliens who is down our block starting a new garden, smack dab in the middle of the grass in the back yard.
There are three raised beds 4′x7′, all very linear, surrounded by a black enameled wire fence with a black painted gate panel. The beds have been full of black soil for two weeks now and look very much like a family of three has been interred. It’s kinda creepy.
DebW, aliens have already been blamed for crop circles and tree rings, so it makes sense that they would start making these veg pens that you describe.
There’s a whole company devoted to veg pens: Teich Garden Systems.
Bad link again.
Here’s the right one for Teich Garden Systems.
It will be interesting to see what rises from those plots, so to speak. Keep us posted, DebW!
the previous owners here went over the top with rocks. they ordered way too many and must have been determined to use them all because every tree in the yard was surrounded by peach rocks, and the rocks were piled up so high they cant be held back by the edging so they’re constantly invading the yard.
they left me an overgrown apple tree with fire-blight down to the main truck, so that had to go. theres a maple tree over 100ft tall and over 10 ft around, with the power and telephone wires running in between its branches.
they did however leave me two huge and healthy lilac bushes alongside the driveway bordering the neighbors yard, with two dying evergreen bushes in their shade, all surrounded by more peach rocks.
I am guilty of being a bad homeowner. I have lots of yellow daylillies and hostas, mainly for the reason they were free, they multiply nicely, and I can’t kill them.
I do have the buckthorn, but I am desparately trying to kill that. Any suggestions?
The previous owner to our house installed a huge front of the house garden with walking paths. There were so many plants that it served as a mini-nursery for me as I moved things around to where I wanted. The front garden is gone but the rest of the yard (previously bare) is gorgeous.
The only thing we didn’t keep was the 10′ deer fence that surrounded the garden in the front of the house. The neighbors were thrilled (I think) to see it go.
Robin - about the buckthorn - constant vigilance and Roundup. Pull all the babies as you see them, cut down the biggies, and paint Roundup on the stumps of anything you can’t pull. The stumps may resprout. So cut off the sprouts and paint on more roundup. Painting is better than spraying because you have better control, and are less likely to accidentally kill surrounding plants.
The brilliant previous owners planted a cottonwood tree way too close to the house. While its size was lovely, it’s roots were practically laying on top of the lawn. We had to cut it down, and the process took weeks. They also planted a red maple too close to the house. We have spent dozens of hour pulling out contractor crap plants like some horizontal juniper thing and tons of spirea, and then ALL the landscaping rock and landscaping cloth. I have often wondered if whoever buys this house from us will appreciate what we have done. Much better plant selection, and we have planted about 10 trees on our small lot.
Our neighbor has tons of dandelions, and we cannot keep up in our lawn. We don’t want to distribute weed and feed because we have a lot of new trees trying to become established. Any ideas? We have tons of dandelions and thatch. Ugly.
My house came with foundation shrubs trimmed into perfect cubes and planted in 8 inches of river rock. I ripped out the shrubs and removed all the rock. I left the old fashioned lace-cap hydrangeas after I learned they were planted by the people who built the house 95 years ago. There was also a long row of plain green hosta, which I’ve divided and moved around.
Is landscaping cloth bad? Sorry, new gardener here! My flower beds in front of my house has landscaping cloth covered in woodchips (it came that way). Is this bad?
We bought a foreclosure this winter. There were a lot of surprises under the snow. Even a pond (Though I really want to vent on the person who made it only 6″ deep) Lot of Hostas, peonies, and lilly of the valley, all needing dividing and a good number of other perennials. Some good bushes, wish they were all alive though. The owner prior to the one who lost the house was perennial happy but the forclosed person did not maintain it. Rocks are 5″ thick over the top of a mix of dirt and plastic punstured liner. Weeds everywhere and my favorite the burning nettle that is more abundant than the grass. Its a battle but I am starting to win. I am moving around perenials and relocating the pond.
Did I mention I am highly ellergic to burning nettle? I had to buy heavy duty rubber plumbing gloves that go up past my elbows.
Anna, there’s nothing inherently bad about landscaping cloth. It’s very used in keeping down weeds. Oftentimes, it’s not secured terribly well and it starts poking through the rock, which looks very ragged to me. At my house, that is not a problem because all the cloth is buried about 6 inches below surface, so it really doesn’t do anything except wrap itself around my shovel no matter where I dig.
Landscaping cloth is good for a few, specific purposes. It’s perfect for lining the back side of a retaining wall, for instance.
I used to use landscape fabric as a weed barrier, but I don’t any more. The mulch on top of the fabric breaks down over a few years, but those particles can’t move down into the soil. Instead, you get a layer of fine composted wood chips on top of the cloth.
Soon weeds start to grow in that layer of compost, on top of the weed barrier. The weeds get their roots tangled in the fabric, making it harder to pull them.
And heaven help you if you need to do work in a bed that you’ve covered with landscape fabric.
I think that newspapers are a better weed barrier. I like to soak them before I put them down. Other people like to wet them after they’ve layered them on the ground. Just make sure that you are putting them down at least 4 or five sheets thick. Top them with a thick layer of mulch. After a couple of years, the newspapers break down and join the soil, and you can add new mulch to the top as needed.
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