It's a very special tradition, Nancy. Nice that something good could come out of such a terrible tragedy. The Boston Globe often runs a column about it. I guess it's getting harder and harder for the good people of Halifax to find a tree that is big enough for the display and small enough to cut down and transport. Merry Christmas! Patti

MANY THINGS.. THAT ARE LITERALLY... crikey ... growing.. IN A FENCE ... are carp plants.. planted by bird droppings ... when they sat on tyhe fence and deposited them ... odds are ... your instinct is right.. and they all should go ... personally.. it would be a summer job for me ... so in the mean time.. i would let them leaf out.. get the IDs .... and have at them ... however ... if your motivated now ... it will be much easier.. to simply get rid of them ... and then.. once its all cleaned up ... then design and plant your own future nightmare.. lol .. like we all did ... that bath tub or whatever ... i know a lot of gardeners who would die for that in there yard .. so much design potential ... heck.. you could even make a fish pond out of it with a pump ...and im just talking 10 cent goldfish ... be done with it.. clean it all out.. and by fall .. you will be happy with it all ... ken

You have all been tremendously helpful, and I really can't thank you enough. I probably shouldn't admit this to plant lovers but this is one area of the new house build that I had really hoped I could just turn over to the landscape architect and not delve into too deeply myself. Clearly I do need to dig in and learn more about my plants, especially for this area, and I really appreciate the help in getting me started. I've gone down the internet rabbit hole on what exactly is the difference between a tree and shrub. Before this I probably would have said shrub = shorter than me, tree = taller than me, and that's why we've always said trees for that spot. In reality, I think want things that are in the gray area between tree and shrub height. I'm going to do some measuring and looking at roof heights on the plans for a sense of scale and go from there. We want a tree "look," but definitely not 30'. I plan to make a spreadsheet of the options suggested here and see what works best. I may have more questions. Again, thank you!

It is better to transplant when things are in a dormant phase than when in active growth. If you need to put a shed there, cut it down. There is nothing about it that is worth the energy and expense of trying to move it. Plant a new one in a better spot if it makes you feel better.