Ok, First, thanks all for taking an interest in my post and offering ideas and opinions. I agree with most of the points made above. For some more context, my sister plans on staying in this house for the next 6 or 7 years then selling. I think a well done cottage style garden packed full of perennials would look amazing with this house and would match my sisterâÂÂs taste. However, neither her nor my bother-in-law are going to be interested in (or do) the upkeep required to keep up any complex gardens. Their goal is to give the front of the house some appeal that they will enjoy and will be an asset when they sell. A large well placed swath of low maintenance ground cover, coupled with some grasses, shrubs or trees that need minimal attention once established are probably a realistic solution for their needs. The window boxes will also work and can be easily cared for. I agree if they were planning on staying in this house long term, and had an interest in getting out in the dirt and gardening, the only limit to what they should do is what makes them happy. I think in this case, what is going to make them happy is finding some low care plantings that will improve the appearance of their home from the street, and be appealing to 8 out of 10 people. (as trite as that may be, ha ha)

They seem to prefer cane sugar syrup over beet sugar. Perhaps they can tell that beet sugar is GMO. Here in the PNW they stay all winter.

I went ahead and shoved in more shavings, maybe raising the level by a couple of inches. Still nonstop pecking. So I added another couple of inches. Pecking stopped! Flicker then sat in the hole looking out for much of the day. Now about ten days later she may be sitting on eggs. Fingers crossed. So the advice to fill the nest box fully up (with sawdust), as compared to the advice to only put in 4 inches (of wood shavings) seemed to work better in my situation.

The ever elusive wow factor~so do we want the wow factor to please ourselves or for others that see our home? Does a home absolutely need one, no. As was mentioned further above, if you walk into a home, and lets say the foyer looks like the Palace of Versailles, your expectations will be high re:the rest of the home. It it doesn't live up to such expectations, there's a major letdown. Model homes(usually!)are a perfect example of what I mean by expectations~every room is decorated, so there is no disappointment as you move thru the rooms. If you don't like the house, that's beside the point, but because it's a 'model' all spaces, including outdoor spaces, will be decorated. I'm of the opinion you can have a well decorated home w/o having a wow factor~I see them frequently on this very forum. They're not decorated 'to the nines,' just decorated nicely, with attention to details that may be unique and stand apart from other homes that may be professionally decorated. I personally don't like a home to look contrived, as though a stage were set and beautiful items seemingly set sporadically here and there, if that's been determined to be the wow factor. You *can* have things arranged in a certain way so it doesn't come across as contrived. If you *think* it's looking staged, than it is.