OT: Not even gun related - bushes by the house???

[J Miller]

Here is a question I've had for decades. WHY do so many people insist on growing bushes right by the walls of their houses?
Bushes filled with dirt, debris, insects, stuff, junk, and who knows what. Ever house I've lived in has been this way. The older the house, the more bushes there seem to be. In AZ literally every house we lived in was surrounded by bushes.
My mother loved 'em. One house even had the front of the house covered in sticky stinky vines. They always seem to be some form of pine shrub bush. Ughhhhhh..... I hate 'em!
And if not bushes, then roses. Oh I love roses, but not right up next to the house.

In the case of mom's house when she moved out and left it to us I had ALL the vines and bushes gone in less than a week. I backed my truck up into the yard, soaked the bushes, put chains on 'em and yanked 'em out! Wow did it clean up that house!

I'm just wondering if there was some tradition about bushes I don't know about?

Anybody got any clues?

Sorry, about this but we had a fairly nice day here in central IL and I went out and trimmed bushes while the sun was warm.

Joe

[Idiot]

Here is a question I've had for decades. WHY do so many people insist on growing bushes right by the walls of their houses? I'm just wondering if there was some tradition about bushes I don't know about? Anybody got any clues?Joe

I was wondering the same thing about people who keep cats and dogs in the house. It just don't make no sense.

[J Miller]

Well, this thread got off on the wrong foot


Joe

[CJM]

Bushes hide the foundation and lower parts of the walls which tend to be dirty from rain etc splashing mud on them. Houses tend to look bare and uninviting without some greenery around them. I know I was shocked when I followed the link in a post yesterday and looked at how the house I grew up in looks now. The 30 foot blue spruce is gone, the neighbors big tree is gone, the rose bed that my mom cared for so carefully is gone, and nothing has replaced any of it except for a lone little tree planted right next to the street light, where it is going to get cut down by the city when it gets a little bigger. The lawn looks to be in fair shape, but the house looked so odd and wrong with just grass around it.

[Blaine]

Never thought much about it, except I keep the bedroom window free of anything that will injure me if I have to bail out real quick. Saved from the fire, but bled to death in the blackberries.

[jnyork]

I dont know why anyone would not want lots of nice trees, bushes and shrubs next to their homes, probably the same mentality that wont let their poor ol' dawg come in from the cold and sleep at the foot of the bed.

[Hobie]

Here is a question I've had for decades. WHY do so many people insist on growing bushes right by the walls of their houses? I'm just wondering if there was some tradition about bushes I don't know about? Anybody got any clues?Joe

I was wondering the same thing about people who keep cats and dogs in the house. It just don't make no sense.

Dogs make perfect sense, cats, not so much...

Landscape plants can get away from anyone. My dad made your complaint for years. Before he died we were sitting on his front porch looking at the foundation plants he had planted in 1976. He said to me, "I got these too close to the house. We've got to get rid of them." 3 months ago, 10 years after he died, I did get rid of them. House looks darn nice now.

[J Miller]

I like trees. I like bushes, just not up against the house. I like cats and dogs, in or out of the house.

Could be because of my childhood experiences I hate yard work. I'd rather hit my thumb with a 16oz framing hammer in full swing than do yard work.

In one house we had some funny kind of shrub trees about 6' away from the house. That provided shade and yet we could walk around the house. The bushes were around the perimeter. Not to bad that way.

Joe

[vancelw]

Well, this thread got off on the wrong foot


Joe

Yeah, but it landed on its feet


I make my poor ole dogs stay outside, and they like to get up under the shrubbery and dig holes! I guess they at least keep the armadillos away, who would dig the "mother-of-all-holes" under the slab.

I'm with you on the yard work. The bushes make the house look better (IMO) but its harder to rake the leaves away from the house and I hate trimming them.

[FWiedner]

Theese are several ideas that crossed my mind:

Primal Cover Theory - Most critters find a hide when they bed down, cover and concealment for the safety of their brood. While wood and brick is the sturdier portion of the nest, I figure some folks still think like they ought to be hidin' in the bushes.

Earth Mother Theory - There are people who just have to prove that they have a "green thumb". They have a need to cultivate and nurture. They want not only trees, bushes, and decorative flowers, they also want tiny critters and bugs living in them too.

Post Agrarian Theory - Many Americans are descended from generations of farmers. The typical home consists of a plot of land, a home structure, storage area, cultivating equipment and livestock. The growth of the sub-urban environment has caused the family farm to disappear or to be sub-divided into neighborhoods. The lawn is all that's left of those fields of grass where the cows used to graze. A house and garage have replaced the house and barn. Lawnmowers have replaced tractors. We now keep dogs and cats as pets rather than as working animals, and livestock has been zoned out. Trees and shrubs that were once intended to block wind for soil conservation have moved closer and closer to dwellings to the point that they are now hard against the dwelling on small lots.

The Texas Drift Theory - Texas is hot. the stuff that most people consider to be "bedrock" is a layer of drifting limestone that exists about 2 feet below the surace. It is hot and dry in Texas and most homes are built on concrete slabs. Because it is hot and dry, the soil and around and beneath these foundation slabs has a tendency to dry out causing the slab to deform and crack. It is a contant battle to keep the foundations of Texas homes "watered". Some people try to increase moisture retention by planting ground coverings and shrubs close to the foundations of their home. Foundation repair is big business in Texas.

The "I didn't put it there" Theory - It's just a bush. I didn't plant it, and it ain't bothering me.

[Ysabel Kid]

Joe - I agree with you. In all the "used" homes we've bought, one of the first things I've had to do was cut back and/or dig out overgrown plantings. No wonder my back is bad. Hobie is right too - after just a couple/few years of neglect, these can really get away from you.

I like enough shrubs to conceal the foundation and soften the lines of the house, but not enough to conceal a thug who may be waiting to attack someone coming to or from the home.

[Gobblerforge]

For folks living in the cold weather regions eons ago, having shrubs and evergreens around the foundations served as wind breaks. The basements were stone and sometimes morter but a well sealed basement was very rare. To keep the wind from direct access to the exposed wall above grade, shrubbery. Then in the summer when you want the cellar to stay cool, the ground shade provided excellent cooling to the air before it seeps in. The same principals are applied today in energy concious home design.
Gobbler

[firefuzz]

I like enough shrubs to conceal the foundation and soften the lines of the house, but not enough to conceal a thug who may be waiting to attack someone coming to or from the home.

I asscribe to this theory, anything waist high is too high. I warned a bank I used to work security at that the "L" shaped hedges down the sidewalks at the rear of the bank, the employee's entry door, were NOT a good idea. Sure enough, about 6 months later three thugs got the drop on the guard and lone teller opening the bank. Thankfully they weren't in the mood to kill anyone. I got to have pleasant chat with the FBI over that one.

If a house is wood frame shrubbery can cause problems if it touches the wood. I want a clear gap between everything and the house. To avoid cracking the foundation trees need to be at least thirty feet away from the house.

Rob

[Leverdude]

Biggest problem with shrubbery & plantings around homes is people put them too close & when they grow theres no room between the structure & bushes. If you cant walk comfortably between a shrub & your house its too close. But we do it because it looks nice. I can count the times when I ran my landscaping company that people would insist I plant things 2' from the house. If the bush will end up being 4' around put it 4' away from the house. This way Blaine wont get hurt if he jumps out your window,

[gamekeeper]

Part of my job involves giving pest control advice, the first thing I look for when I investigate a Rodent infestation in someones roof, is, bushes/climbing plants that reach up to the roof.

As others have also said, dense vegetation can hide bad guys while they force windows etc.

And as BlainG said I don't want to be, saved from the fire, but bleed to death in the Blackberries.

[model55]

Dad used to live way out of town and removed ever bush from around the house on the basis that that would keep the rattlers at bay-seemed to work.Never really thought about it much but rose bushs placed by windows might not be a bad idea-keep those you want out, out and those you want in, in (teen age son).Never landscaped our own place so never gave it a thought.

[firefuzz]

Another problem with having trees/shrubs growing too close to a house is grass fires, especially in the rural areas. In my area cedar trees are the main culprit, they go up like you threw gasoline on them. I've seen literally dozen's of buildings burn to the ground that would have survived the fire if not for one or more cedars growing close enough to ignite the building. They'll heat a metal building to the point that items against the inside wall will ignite.

Rob

[azzhandler]

as a plumber, I see the effects that bushes and trees have on sewer lines and foundations, roots will seek any moisture in dry weather,

[Cimarron Red]

True, shrubbery close to the house can hide bad guys, but it can also make it more difficult for intruders to get at windows, especially if the shrubbery is thorny.

[Bigahh]

Joe,

They are all part of Landscaping, and that is nothing but a "Decoration" that should be pruned at least every year.

[Nath]

Get a chainsaw or strimmer Joe and do the right thing, hoo har har har

Nath.

[J Miller]

I have the bushes buy the garage and the one by the side of the house trimmed. The big one in front of the house is still filled with snow in the areas where it gets little sun. Got most of it though and will finish it when the snow is gone. Probably tomorrow.

Were this my house, I'd lock the Pathfinder in Low 4x4 and yank the darn things out. Finito, end of problem.

Joe