Snipping leads to ripping

When you look at the exterior of our house, you are probably all "what a charming little cottage", right?

Well let me tell you what I see..

I don't know much about landscaping, but I can tell you I never liked what was done at our house.  First off I need to address the bushes on the side of our porch.  I assume they were planted for privacy from the neighbors- we live in a twin so the porches are very close to each other- but JEGs and I were super lazy about trimming them, and they ended up looking like this:

Honestly, we really like our neighbors and it was difficult to talk to them while dodging around trying to find an open spot through the mess.  Also, we have had a HUGE mosquito problem and JEGs' blood must be like a fine champagne to those bugs.  It was so bad we could never sit outside for more then a few minutes before his legs became an all-you-can-eat buffet.

So one afternoon, JEGs grabbed his trust shears and got to hackin..

... and it didn't work.  We had to get a chainsaw because these things were beastly.  We found a couple fun treasures in the bushes including a can of beer with a pull top lid.  So that sucker was in there for at least 20 years.

I didn't get any pictures of the chainsawing or fun treasures, but I did get pictures after all of his hard work!

well hello, neighbor!

We talked it over with our neighbors and next spring we will probably try to plant grass between the houses, and maybe some small plants like hostas just to fill it in.  There have been talks of a bridge too, because all that jumping on and off porches has become a hassle (haha).

A few weeks later, JEGs and I were cleaning up the yard while Hunter was napping.  I was planting some mums in the front flower bed and I was complaing about the placement of the skimpy azalea bushes in the bed.  Don't get me wrong, I like azalea bushes, but these were so small and puny looking, they just looked bad.  As JEGs was trimming the other bushes in the bed, I mentioned that I wouldn't be upset if he ripped out the azalea bushes now.

..and just like that, he did.  With his bare (ok, gloved) hands.

While we were at it, we ripped out a bush on the side of the house that was not only dying a slow death, but had been taking over the kitchen window

..and after a little trimming

clearly we have some power washing to do

I can't even explain to you the joy it brings me to be able to look out the window now.

It's the little things in life..

And now for a quick review..

So much cleaner!

We do have a lot more we would like to address; like why the hell is there a TREE dead smack in the middle of  our front porch?  I assume the previous owners put it there for privacy  but I am guessing they didn't think about the fact it was going to grow taller and take over the porch (like it currently is).  The sin of it all is it is a cute little dogwood, so I have hopes that we can transplant it somewhere else on the property.  Also, all of the shrubs both in the front and on the side of the house as well as the arborvitae next to the steps will probably be moved to the backyard sometime in the spring.

Which brings me to my question du jour:  to all my green thumbs, what time of the year would be the best time to move these plants?  Spring?  Summer?  Please don't say fall because that is just about outta here.

Always & forever,
  ME