The house is looking great!! The planter paint same color as the shutters. A couple other items. First if you have not painted the door yet, do it in the sage green, as it will give a nice cool feeling to the house. Below the window next to the door, an easy way to clean up that area, & take away the plain look, is to put three or four terra cotta or cement planters, paint them same colors as the squares on the house, plant small citrus trees in each one. Say like a lemon, lime, orange.These are easy to find at a garden center, & since you live in a tropical area,i t's a way to have fresh fruit nearby, & when you move, they can move with you. Also a nice topper over the soil, is to put crushed rocks & shells in same colors as house, & or plant small flowers under the trees in the pots. Next, put in led garden lights behind pots. they will give a bit of distinction, & security in the evening time. Also if the light post cannot be replaced, paint the whole fixture sage green, same as the door. This will connect it nicely to the house. If you can have it replaced, use a simple mcm, early american type. Square sided, slight taper toward the bottom of the fixture. Once in, paint the same sage. Make sure the glass of the glass is frosted, as it is easier on the eyes in the evening, & shows less dirt, or other items in the air. And also, all the plants around the house, & yard, help to cool the house down in warm weather, they're for lowering energy costs as well. And from your photo, the squares look like mosiac tile, the way you painted them out. Very nice!!!!!! Hope some of my ideas can help you out, & have fun as well.

Flowering pear like the Bradford are not forever trees. They're soft wood and if not pruned very regularly will loose branches in bad weather. Here in St Louis, ice an snow break them completely in half regularly. Even wind can damage them. The Kousa dogwood has a small leaf (less raking) and an interesting shape for winter and blooms nicely. I think the Crepe Myrtle is a great idea too. I like a small tree with more delicate upswept branching. Your house is adorable, love the color. You will want to have your utilities come out and mark the yard before you dig. And make sure you don't plant directly over your lateral sewer line. http://images.search.yahoo.com/images/view?back=http%3A%2F%2Fsearch.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%3Fei%3DUTF-8%26p%3Dkousa%2Bdogwood%2Btree&w=160&h=140&imgurl=www.bing.com%2Fimages%2Fsearch%3Fq%3Dkousa%2Bdogwood%2Btree%23focal%3Def5fa90e57ff75de6445f8ba31299437%26furl%3Dhttp%253a%252f%252fwww.goshenenterprises.com%252fhtml%252fplantcatalog%252fplantpages%252fp_images%252fcornus_kousa_1.jpg&size=&name=search&rcurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bing.com%2Fimages%2Fsearch%3Fq%3Dkousa%2Bdogwood%2Btree%23focal%3Def5fa90e57ff75de6445f8ba31299437%26furl%3Dhttp%253a%252f%252fwww.goshenenterprises.com%252fhtml%252fplantcatalog%252fplantpages%252fp_images%252fcornus_kousa_1.jpg&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bing.com%2Fimages%2Fsearch%3Fq%3Dkousa%2Bdogwood%2Btree%23focal%3Def5fa90e57ff75de6445f8ba31299437%26furl%3Dhttp%253a%252f%252fwww.goshenenterprises.com%252fhtml%252fplantcatalog%252fplantpages%252fp_images%252fcornus_kousa_1.jpg&p=kousa+dogwood+tree&type=&no=1&tt=115&oid=http%3A%2F%2Fts2.mm.bing.net%2Fimages%2Fthumbnail.aspx%3Fq%3D1131337035837%26id%3D44da4baa5055adf7a92b98bbd657032d&tit=Kousa+Dogwood+in+Bloom&sigr=16cseut90&sigi=16538ka1f&sigb=11s9dsmvf&fr=yff50c

Thanks, all, for your help. I ended up ordering this one: http://www.amazon.com/Ft-Topiary-With-Lighted-Base/dp/B009B8EQV6/ref=sr_1_9?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1381580466&sr=1-9&keywords=outdoor%20pre-lit%20christmas%20tree&tag=vglnkc5948-20 It should look gorgeous at night, or covered with snow. It might even make doing schoolwork at the kitchen table more bearable :) Thanks once again.

I am a farmer and my husband and I regularly uses all manner of chemicals on our paddocks as do most non organic farmers so that we can get the most out of the crops. I fully understand your concerns but it is unfortunately, the nature of the beast that people want hay and crops without weeds. My husband has done a chemical users course and has been trained in the correct use of the chemicals he both uses and doesn't use and I believe is very well informed. Have either of you done a course??...just read internet information? If you were a broadacre farmer, you might as well sell up as not use chemicals unfortunately!! I haven't told anyone that they must use glyphosate, my response came from questions asked.