Definately not grout settling, there is a crack line of 10-12" or so there if you blow up the photo. THIS REQUIRES A tile professional in your home to assess. Not a handyman ...a tiler that tiles showers for a living with a proven record of shower building.

I was referring to potential damage that might have occurred between point-of-sale and your home. You didn't mention how deep the pot is, so I'll just say watering any plants in pots deeper than about 3-5" using that the top inch or two of soil is dry, is more often than not a recipe for over-watering. After a thorough watering, most bagged grow media will support a 3-6" layer of soil 100% saturated with water at the bottom of the pot. A 10" deep pot could easily still have 6" of 100% saturated soil at the bottom of the pot when the top inch or two feels dry. It's far more important to know what moisture conditions are at the pot bottom, and a moisture meter isn't a reliable tool for that; instead, a sharpened (in a pencil sharpener) wooden dowel makes a much more reliable tool. Using a 'tell' Over-watering saps vitality and is one of the most common plant assassins, so learning to avoid it is worth the small effort. Plants make and store their own energy source – photosynthate - (sugar/glucose). Functioning roots need energy to drive their metabolic processes, and in order to get it, they use oxygen to burn (oxidize) their food. From this, we can see that terrestrial plants need plenty of air (oxygen) in the soil to drive root function. Many off-the-shelf soils hold too much water and not enough air to support the kind of root health most growers would like to see; and, a healthy root system is a prerequisite to a healthy plant. Watering in small sips leads to avoid over-watering leads to a residual build-up of dissolved solids (salts) in the soil from tapwater and fertilizer solutions, which limits a plant's ability to absorb water – so watering in sips simply moves us to the other horn of a dilemma. It creates another problem that requires resolution. Better, would be to simply adopt a soil that drains well enough to allow watering to beyond the saturation point, so we're flushing the soil of accumulating dissolved solids whenever we water; this, w/o the plant being forced to pay a tax in the form of reduced vitality, due to prolong periods of soil saturation. Sometimes, though, that's not a course we can immediately steer, which makes controlling how often we water a very important factor. In many cases, we can judge whether or not a planting needs watering by hefting the pot. This is especially true if the pot is made from light material, like plastic, but doesn't work (as) well when the pot is made from heavier material, like clay, or when the size/weight of the pot precludes grabbing it with one hand to judge its weight and gauge the need for water. Fingers stuck an inch or two into the soil work ok for shallow pots, but not for deep pots. Deep pots might have 3 or more inches of soil that feels totally dry, while the lower several inches of the soil is 100% saturated. Obviously, the lack of oxygen in the root zone situation can wreak havoc with root health and cause the loss of a very notable measure of your plant's potential. Inexpensive watering meters don't even measure moisture levels, they measure electrical conductivity. Clean the tip and insert it into a cup of distilled water and witness the fact it reads 'DRY'. One of the most reliable methods of checking a planting's need for water is using a 'tell'. You can use a bamboo skewer in a pinch, but a wooden dowel rod of about 5/16” (75-85mm) would work better. They usually come 48” (120cm) long and can usually be cut in half and serve as a pair. Sharpen all 4 ends in a pencil sharpener and slightly blunt the tip so it's about the diameter of the head on a straight pin. Push the wooden tell deep into the soil. Don't worry, it won't harm the root system. If the plant is quite root-bound, you might need to try several places until you find one where you can push it all the way to the pot's bottom. Leave it a few seconds, then withdraw it and inspect the tip for moisture. For most plantings, withhold water until the tell comes out dry or nearly so. If you see signs of wilting, adjust the interval between waterings so drought stress isn't a recurring issue. Al

Wow! I really didn't anticipate being advised to "Keep the arches -- they are fine and add character". I was planning on pulling all of those azaleas and the gardenia. They grow too large. I want a neat little row of small shrubs like some high-quality boxwood and the shi shi camellias I mentioned in the OP. tartanmeup, when I said "the wood near the windows", I meant the maroon/burgundy wood fill-in from the rectangle of the window to the brick edge of the arch and sides. The windows themselves (white) and the storm door are probably not paintable (might be vinyl??), but I will look into that. I might get a black storm door if and when we need to replace this one. The windows are about 11 years old and still feel new, so they will not be replaced anytime soon. I'm still thinking of Lunar Surface for that window trim. I think it will sort of blend with the brick color. I am using that color on the wood patio cover in the back, so I can try it without committing. I thought about shutters, but also thought that if there was a gap between the shutters and As for the archway over the sidewalk, I was going to remove that or replace with a gable peak or something if I found a solution to the arched windows. But if the arched windows stay, the arch over the walkway stays, too! I only posted the one neighbor's façade as I apparently only took one photo. Thanks for all the advice! You've given me a new way to see my house!

Did you, by any chance, put your plant outdoors "for a little sun", or move it temporarily from a one location to another that was much brighter? Sunburn has a greater impact on thicker parts of the leaf, near the midrib if the leaf has one, because heat dissipates from the thinner leaf margins more quickly than thicker parts of the leaf. Have you applied anything to the leaf - insecticides, fungicides, dishsoap, etc? Al