My choice is definitely an artificial tree. But I don't think they last any longer than real ones. Virtually every year my husband of 38 years goes downstairs to bring up last year's tree. Then he comes back up a couple of hours later, empty-handed, sadly shaking his head, and explaining why we need to buy a new tree. The 1,000 lights are the usual suspects. Although the manufacturer swears if one burns out the rest will remain lit, you know doggone well he deserves coal in his stocking. Sometimes the cause is a combination of entire sections of burned out lights and impossible-to-identify colored tips that are key to the assembly of the prickly little beast that seals its fate. Judging from the six human-body-sized, bulging boxes in our storage room we've amassed an impressive collection of at least six full-sized trees. My sweet, well-intentioned hubby, who works 80-hour weeks, has vowed annually to donate the old trees to charity, but his intentions seldom make it upstairs these days, which has a lot to do with our son, our only child, being a Marine. He doesn't talk about it. Like most men, he holds everything in so tightly, he clamps down on his lower lip with his front teeth to keep his feelings from popping out. Perhaps he opens up to his kindred spirits, the lonely trees, while he's downstairs pondering their fate. I hope so. I've begun looking forward to our annual trek to Home Depot to "chop down" our newest artificial tree from their pile of boxes. Our son got leave this year. I pray he makes it home safely. He'll be home with us and with his little girl. I can't imagine needing anything brighter than the lights in my granddaughter's five-year-old eyes. But Grampa will surely pick out a shiny new tree, with 1,000 blinking white lights, guaranteed to remain lit even if one burns out, by a person destined to receive coal in his or her stocking. M

Sydney...sorry you had such trouble with bamboo. Hubby and I wanted more privacy while in our hot tub, so we built a berm to the east side of the hot tub and planted bamboo. The berm is about 3 feet tall and is surrounded on all sides by concrete stones. We buried metal sheeting around the bamboo at the roots, sticking out of the soil about 3 inches. When a runner starts, it hits the metal sheeting and turns UP (our of the soil), making it very easy to snip off with a pruning shears. If we miss one, it will grow straight out from the top of the concrete stones, again easy to find and easy to cut with garden shears. We haven't had ANY trouble containing ours, and we've had it for over 20 years. It grows just outside our bedroom window, and I LOVE the sound of the rain filtering through it, as well as the sound it makes in the wind. It is a safe place for birds to perch and sing us awake in the mornings. I have never fertilized it, and I rarely ever even water it. It's a lovely yellow-green hue which makes a nice contrast to the other green plants in my yard. And, it makes a nice barrier for the hot tub! I love everything about it! I would happily plant bamboo in front of the concrete wall, but would leave enough space between the wall and the bamboo to put in the metal sheeting and have space to walk between the sheeting and the fence so you have control over the bamboo as it grows. My other vote would be NOT to paint the wall. Paint isn't permanent, and you'll eventually have a peeling, fading mess.

My best advice is to pay the relatively paltry amount of money required to hire a landscape architect to draw up a plan. If you do the hands-on work yourself, the cost for the actual plan shouldn't be prohibitive and will likely save money in the long-run. They consider so much more than plants and shrubs. In our first (newly built) home, hubs and I just couldn't figure out how to lay out our front beds. We finally contacted a local landscape architect who -- keeping in mind that this was about 30 years ago -- came to our home, chatted with us, went away to do his magic, and brought back THE perfect plans for the entire front of our home for $125. Did it again in our second home, where it was about $300 give or take, for front and rear (pool area) plans. Probably costs more now, but worth every penny. You might even contact nearby (or zone comparable, anyway) schools with landscape architecture programs to ask professors about recommending a promising (and more affordable) student there. Might even do it free for the experience. Anyway, hubs and I then bought our own plants and shrubs according to the plans, and implemented all ourselves to save money. If you choose not to go with a pro's plan, then I agree with poster "ianblue" that the plants are actually far less important than overall design, curves, and flow changes. Personally, I would first use paint the foundation the dark hue. No brainer. Next, I'd use a garden hose to lay out a much larger, sweeping border line like the one in ianblue's picture, marking it with simple dark steel edging for now. (You can always upgrade edging down the road if you'd like). Then, I'd waste no time in removing that straight sidewalk to replace it with one that CURVES down (and possibly toward the drive). Seriously, the house screams for it. As to the walk demolition, I wouldn't think it would be overly pricey (although the curving redo might be) but I've never priced it. That said, if a pro jackhammer removal is too costly, try craigslist? I mean, seems like it's a simple matter of concrete, muscle, jackhammer, and removal truck, but someone who knows might school me on that. Regardless, it will give authenticity to your home's Tudor heritage as well as make the house pop. Then, with the concrete gone, you can just sod new grass where the walk was, and if the money isn't there at that point to add the new curving walk, then just use a stepping stone trail to the drive until you're financially ready. Those 3 things alone, with no other changes at all, would make a huge, HUGE difference in your elevation, even if the outlined beds had nothing AT ALL in them but basic soil prep for future plants. This is, I suspect, what ianblue was trying to express: design changes first, plants last. Otherwise...I vote no to the terra cotta (but perhaps some other color besides dark brown?); yes to painting the downspout; no to "shudders"; yes to window box on front AND left side of house (kitchen?) but making them slightly longer than the windows, slightly taller than I see here, and quite a bit wider in terms of depth from house; no to the cherry in front of the window or fireplace--rule of thumb is that trees should always frame a home rather than disrupt the view of it; and yes, I emphatically agree with poster "bellburgmaggie" on use and placement of evergreens (plus at least one large and lush fir, staple of any Tudor), on extending the beds around the side of the house (and far side of drive if possible), on the trellis over the drive whenever feasible, and to an overall English garden look, all of which have traditionally complemented Tudor architecture so beautifully. Oh, and whenever the occasion arrives down the road that your roof has to be replaced, I'd go dark instead of light. Probably a deep, deep brown. And my last piece of advice? Take a deep breath and remember that it all doesn't have to happen this month, or this year, or even this decade. Think in terms of stages. Your home is so pretty, and has the potential to be an absolute show-stopper someday. For now, though, the key is to figure out your **ultimate** front elevation goals. Only then can you determine the order in which things need to be done, the costs, what you can do yourself, what needs to be done by others, and a general timeline for doing it. Starting with plants is putting the cart in front of the horse, which I'm afraid you and the horse--or house--will almost surely regret later. JMO, FWIW.

i dont know about the alligator skin. exposed wood says to me that the center panels are wood and not mdf, which shows fewer stresses from seasonal drying and humidity. i ordered mdf center panels for my shaker doors for this reason. the pulling away from the ceiling of the crown is completely 'normal', some painters caulk and touch up does the trick on this. if its in a couple places, its a diy project and you'll feel ownership of the kitchen for having done it yourself. if its everywhere its still normal but i'd still call back the installer to do the touch up. they'll either charge you or not, its really up to them and if they want to continue a good relationship with you, or not. oops sorry, misread where the wood was showing. yes thats a flaw in the paint coverage, call them on that one.