Agree with Wendyb's advice (especially about the lawn encroachment!) I wondered about the tree leaves (sun), too. If I were you, I think I might spend the spring and summer making note of sun conditions (go out every week or two, make note of the shady areas, sunny areas, "dappled areas" which will change as the season progresses), maybe getting some soil tests of that area along the boundary, then do some planting in the fall. I would think of informal native shrubs with a "natural" growth habit like mountain laurel (there are some exquisite varieties out there and it's a native and evergreen), andromeda, the viburnums (again, tons of options and many are natives), native witch hazels, etc. I also agree with Wendy about the natural "hierarchy" that steps down -- in a natural woodland -- from the tall tree canopies to taller shrubs (or small understory trees -- native dogwoods, redbud), to lower shrubs. If deer aren't a problem, what about some azaleas of differing heights? I'd go for a mix of things that are evergreen and deciduous but with winter interest (berries, interesting branch structure like the red-twig dogwoods). You could do some beautiful things with that space. I wouldn't have thought of lilacs -- they will want LOTS of sun, and will get leggy easily without it. I would avoid groundcover, too, unless you are planning some hardscape to separate it from the lawn. Otherwise, you'll be pulling lawn out of the groundcover and vice versa constantly. Just my two cents... GORGEOUS site! But take your time and research the plant options, as well as the conditions (light and soil) before you buy anything (unless your husband really enjoys moving plants! :)

We plan on very tiny joints. Are spacers used for very thin grout lines? Yes. Usually they're small tapered spacers called "marble wedges", as seen in the pic below. but Bill Vincent recommended siliconized latex caulk in another thread. Are there particular brands that perform well? Whatever the brand grout you used, that's the brand of caulking you get, as well, and from the same place, and in the same color as the grout. Just about all grout manufacturers now make their caulkings with antimicrobial agents in them to put a stop to mold and mildew. Do we fill the tub with water before caulking? If it's cast enamel, it's not necessary. If it's plastic or fiberglass, you'd do alot better to make sure the installer supports the "belly" of the tub with mortar or foam. It'll go alot further than filling the tub. The reason for filling the tub is so that excessive movement won't stretch the caulking past its limits. Even a better idea is to limit said movement (which is what you do by supporting the bottom of the tub). Also, I remember a thread mentioning using caulk instead of grout in the "corners," but I am not sure if that means just the bottom corners, or the whole vertical seams where the back and side walls of tile meet. Any place where one wall meets another, or a wall meets a floor (or in this case the tub), it should be caulked.

Thank you! That's exactly the kind of expert advice I needed. The front face of the tub deck is also tile. My instincts were to grout, but I didn't want to make a mistake and be sorry later.

Talk to a bunch of tile pros and you'll hear both sides on this topic. I follow what I was taught which is that any joint that has a change of plane gets caulked. Your case is a bit different in that the tile won't follow the change of plane - you're probably fine using either. I do find it easier to get a nice caulk line in a corner that to try to get a pretty grout line in a corner.