Front Yard Landscape Makeover — Foundation Beds Torn Out and Redone
The yews are over the windows, the mulch is gone and the edge is lost in the lawn. We take it all out and put back beds that fit the house.
A front yard landscape makeover takes the foundation beds back to bare soil and rebuilds them: overgrown shrubs and old rock or mulch out, the bed line recut, the soil graded away from the house, a new edge set, fabric and rock or fresh mulch, and new shrubs and perennials planted. JMB Builders does the whole thing in one visit across the Twin Cities metro. Priced per project by the bed length and the plant list.
- Priced per project, by bed length and plants
- Removal, edge, rock or mulch, planting in one visit
- Beds graded away from the foundation
- Quote from photos, reply within one business day
- Licensed MN contractor BC809005
Send photos and hear back within one business day — or book a free in-home estimate.
Most front yards in the metro were planted when the house was built, and thirty years later the junipers are eating the walk and the yews are over the windowsills. Trimming them back does not fix it; they regrow from the same oversized root. A makeover is a tear-out: the shrubs come out with the root balls, the old rock or mulch and whatever plastic is under it comes out, and the bed goes back to soil you can shape.
Then the bed is rebuilt in order. The soil is graded to fall away from the foundation, because a thirty-year-old bed has usually settled into a trough against the house. The bed line is recut, often simpler and a little bigger than it was, and a steel or paver edge is set at the lawn. New plants go in by mature size, so the shrub under the window is one that stays under the window. Fabric and rock, or mulch with no fabric, goes down around them, and downspouts in the bed get extended under it.
We plan it from your photos and a sketch of the plant list, and we take you through the plant choices by what the spot gets for sun and how big each one grows. A front yard makeover is one or two days for most houses, and the yard looks finished the day we leave.
What you supply
- Photos of the front of the house from the street and each bed up close
- What stays: a tree, a shrub you like, a bed you want left alone
- Your preferences: rock or mulch, plant types, colors, how much maintenance you want to do
- Sprinkler heads, low-voltage lights and the cable or gas line marked where you know them
What JMB supplies
- Shrubs and their root balls dug out, old rock, mulch and plastic removed and hauled
- Soil graded to drain away from the foundation, low spots filled with topsoil
- Bed line recut and a steel or paver edge set at the lawn
- A plant list by sun, size and bloom, with the plants bought and planted
- Woven fabric and rock, or mulch without fabric, around the new plants
- Downspout extensions run under the bed to the lawn
- Walks and driveway blown clean, and photos in your job folder
How it is priced: per project
Quoted in writing from your photos, with a reply within one business day. What moves the number:
- Length and depth of the beds along the front of the house
- How much comes out: a few shrubs vs. a thick hedge with large root balls and an old rock bed with plastic under it
- Rock vs. mulch, and the rock type and depth
- Number and size of new plants, and whether any are larger specimen shrubs or a tree
- Edging type: steel, aluminum or a paver soldier course
- Grading and downspout work needed along the foundation
- Access: beds along the driveway vs. carrying everything around the house
Send a photo of the whole front from the street and one of each bed, plus the bed lengths. Say rock or mulch and whether you want low-maintenance shrubs or perennials, and the plant list comes back with the quote.
How long it takes
Foundation beds across the front of a typical house: one to two days, removal through planting. A larger corner lot with a hedge to pull: two to three days.
How your project works
- 1
Send photos, get a written quote
Send three photos of the space and a sentence about what you want. You get a clear, itemized reply within one business day. Prefer a look in person? A free in-home estimate is always an option.
- 2
Pick materials, or bring your own
We help you choose profiles and materials that fit the house and the budget, or match your existing millwork exactly — or you buy the door or trim yourself and we install it. Everything is confirmed before the crew is scheduled.
- 3
Clean, precise installation
The crew shows up on time, protects floors and furniture, and installs with tight joints and consistent reveals. Photos of the finished work go in your job folder.
- 4
Walkthrough and invoice
We walk the finished work with you. If anything is not right, we fix it before we call the job done. Then one invoice, paid by check or direct deposit — no card fees, no payment links.
Situations and options
Overgrown shrubs out, new beds in
The common one. Old yews, junipers and spirea pulled with the roots, bed regraded and edged, rock or mulch, and shrubs that fit under the windows planted in their place.
Rock bed with evergreens and grasses
A low-maintenance front: boxwood, dwarf evergreens and ornamental grasses in a river rock or trap rock bed on fabric, with a steel edge. Little to do each year beyond a spring cleanup.
Mulch bed with perennials and shrubs
A fuller planting of hydrangea, spirea, coneflower and daylily in a mulch bed, edged with a paver strip. More color through the season and a mulch top-up every couple of years.
Walk-side beds and the entry
Beds along both sides of the front walk and at the stoop, where the planting frames the door. Often done with the foundation beds as one project, with a boulder or two at the corners.
Front Yard Landscape Makeover — Foundation Beds Torn Out and Redone: questions, answered
Should overgrown foundation shrubs be trimmed or replaced?
Replaced, once they are over the windows and against the siding. Yews and junipers that size do not come back well from a hard cut and they regrow to the same size because the root is the same. New shrubs chosen by their mature size stay where you want them with an easy yearly trim. The tear-out is the messy half of the job and it is where a crew with a machine saves you the weekend.
Rock or mulch for front yard beds?
Rock on fabric along a foundation lasts for years without redoing and sheds water away from the house. Mulch is better for a bed heavy with perennials that like cool roots, and it costs less to put in but needs topping up. Many fronts end up rock along the house and mulch in a perennial bed by the walk. We lay it out both ways from your photos if you are undecided.
Can you redo my landscaping and keep the tree?
Yes. A tree or a shrub you like stays, and the bed is rebuilt around it with the fabric cut to the trunk and the grade kept off the root flare. We do not bury a tree trunk to raise the bed. Plants coming out near it are dug by hand so the tree's roots are not torn up.
What plants do well in front of a house in Minnesota?
Shrubs and perennials hardy to this zone that stay the size the spot allows: boxwood, dwarf spruce and juniper, hydrangea, spirea, ninebark, coneflower, daylily and ornamental grasses are the common ones. Sun or shade decides the list, and the mature width decides where each goes. We write the list by spot so nothing is planted that has to be cut back every year.
How long does a front yard landscape makeover take?
Most front yards are done in one to two days, start to finish: removal and hauling the first morning, grading and edging, then fabric, rock or mulch and planting. A corner lot with a long hedge to pull or a lot of rock to haul runs a third day. The yard is left finished, with the walk and drive blown off.
Do I need to water new plantings?
Yes, new shrubs and perennials need regular water through their first season, and more in a dry summer. We plant them in a basin that holds water at the root and leave you the watering schedule for each type. Fall planting works well here because the plants root in cool soil before the heat, and spring planting works if the watering keeps up.
Recent JMB work, from our job log
59 installs recorded across 30 Twin Cities communities since Dec 2025. Window and door installs for homeowners, builders and dealers. Counts come straight from our job log; no customer names.
Get a written quote for this job
Three photos and a sentence is enough: a reply within one business day, or ask for a free in-home estimate. Or text the photos to 763-204-2099.
Related jobs we do
Overgrown Bush and Hedge Removal With Roots — Beds Ready to Replant
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Plastic edging heaves, kinks and pops up every spring. A steel edge set right is a straight line between lawn and bed that holds for years.
Read moreAccent Boulder Placement — Landscape Boulders Set by Machine
A boulder that was set right looks like it was always there; one dropped on the mulch looks like a delivery. We dig the seat, set the stone and bury its base.
Read moreBlock or Paver Tree Ring — Built Without Burying the Trunk
A tree ring stops the mower from scarring the trunk and the roots. Built wrong, it buries the trunk and kills the tree in a few years. We build it the right way.
Read morePage reviewed October 1, 2026 · JMB Builders LLC, MN license BC809005 · All landscaping pages
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