In the heart of the Midwest there are hundreds of homes that are unsightly and almost covered up by the excessive growth of evergreens, trees and shrubs. They are usually the unhappy results of the use of unsuitable plant material, the improper location or too close spacing of the plants five, ten or twenty years ago.

It is not uncommon to find an otherwise attractive home nestling behind a dense growth of evergreens such as Chinese arbor-vitae, Austrian or Scotch pines, spruce and red cedar now reaching for the eaves, darkening and shutting off views from both first and second floor windows.

In many cases the two evergreens planted on either side of the entrance have almost grown together and one can scarcely get to the front door without having his hat knocked off or a dash of water shaken down the back of his neck.

The owners of these homes hesitate to remove these overgrown palms or to work on trimming trees because they realize the place will look bare and they dont know what to plant in their place or just how to go about the job. In some cases the owners have tried to reduce the size of the trees by severe pruning but the new picture frequently becomes worse than before the deheading took place.

The proper procedure to remedy the situation is to remove the over-grown material – all of it – and replace it with suitable varieties, well located and properly spaced.