I would like to suggest that you quickly fire or otherwise cancel the guy who is going to remove the wall. Then STOP, as Mad Gallica suggests! Then there are just a couple of things to do while you wait for spring. First is to measure your lot and draw up a plot plan that you can use for testing designs. This isn't hard to do, if you have a measuring tape, a straight edged ruler, and some graph paper (use 4 squares to the inch, it works best). Basically you'd want to include all the existing trees and structures, the location of the driveway & walks, utilities and the septic system components. Make copies of the base plan and then get some colored pencils and try different arrangements for "blocking" masses of plants. This will really help you to figure out where you really need borders, how wide you want them to be, and how tall the plants should be. Selecting the plants should come much later in the process. At the same time, go get a copy of one or more of Gordon Hayward's books; The Welcoming Garden is a good one. It describes how to get from square one (where you are) to having a house in a garden. It's got lots of useful techniques for deciding things like placement and depth of borders, selecting a style you'll be happy with, and how to make your design complement the locale. These little "passtimes" might get you interested in gardening to an extent you can't even imagine at this point. If that happens, we'll be here - egging you on. And by the way, welcome to the forum! Nice to see someone who has a blank slate - so many possibilities ahead of you.

Thought I would update the thread I started when I was trying to figure out what type of light to get for above the island with an 8 foot ceiling. Well here are some pics. We chose a pendant light we found (Juno onyx) at Design Expo. With our GC's help we got a flat ceiling mount/transformer (the one at the store was more conical) We wanted something with a low profile, because of the 8 ft ceiling. We love it. Thanks to all of you for your invaluable help. Here are some close up pics of the lights.

@Mamuang - Yes, Im still learning myself. I have a book that talks about it but i still cant see a huge benefit of one over the other. For the most part it seems like preferences with a slight benefit in one direction or the other. From what I gather Central leader will look better and is a more natural path for the tree that will yield more fruit, The open vase will allow better air and light penetration to the fruits and leaves and like you stated allows you to keep a tree at a certain height. But for one you need a latter and for the other you may not be as happy with the way it looks. @Drew - Ty for that link. I did watch a video on this prior to ordering and i must say im still a little confused by what they are trying to accomplish... not to mention that tree looks God-Awful lol. From my understanding it does boost productivity but you are sacrificing all aesthetic appeal. @ Meredith - I agree wider would be preferable to taller, but with it being a dwarf tree I dont think 8-ft is too tall... but then again... 10 foot wide by 6ft tall would be better :D Now that I think about it. I may choose an Open center and a modified central leader for the cherry but modify both processes. From that video I watched on the KGB style (I fi can find it again ill link it) one of the guys said that they discovered that by allowing one branch to be more vertical that the branches below it had a tendency to choose a more horizontal growth pattern. I'm thinking since I'm starting with a new whip I may just let the central leader grow as it is and top work it during the summer, while i establish my framework for Open Center. My goal is to keep it visually appealing but I want the tree to be wider than I want it taller 10ft wide by 6ft tall :D. I know it will take me more time and longer to get cherries but I think I want a healthy tree that can afford to grow cherries than rush the process and not get anything but firewood :P

By coincidence, I have a similar problem. Twenty-five years ago (at least) I planted a dwarf mugo Pine in a small area at the front corner of my house. Two years ago, I finally decided it had to go, looking seriously overgrown for its site. I put a dwarf Meyer Lemon there. Two years later, I’ve had to prune it multiple times to keep it in bounds. Unlike my other dwarf Meyer Lemon which naturally keeps to about 5x5, this one sends out 3’ long branches from multiple sites. And it has vicious thorns, something my older Meyer Lemon lacks, so I think I have an incorrectly labeled plant. All this to say, I think a true Dwarf Lemon might be a good choice. There are probably other dwarf citrus that you could choose. They are evergreen, with foliage that looks good all year and the fruit is very decorative. Also a variegated Calamondin orange (a form of mandarin orange) is very colorful and slow growing and easily prunable. Check out this link [Dwarf Citrus[(https://www.houzz.com/magazine/dwarf-citrus-trees-offer-miniature-size-with-maximum-flavor-stsetivw-vs~89268651) Another choice would be a dwarf conifer. There are hundreds of wonderful dwarf conifers to choose among. Some grow as little as an inch or two annually, others more. They come in all shapes, from ridiculously skinny to wider than tall. And in many colors. I‘ve just given away the misnamed lemon tree and I think I will choose a substitute in the pine family, either a bristle cone pine cultivar, a Pinus edulis cultivar or a Pinus mugo cultivar. I love Valley Cushion, a mugo pine cultivar. I once grew Pinus edulis at the front of my house too. Very attractive, very slow growing, and also lasted about 25 years before it got too big. For your area, I think Pinus edulis might do well. They are very slow.