#1 looks like a holly

#2 Laceleaf Japanese maple

#3 Boxwood

#4 possibly camellia

#5 Aucuba japonica

#6 dwarf Alberta spruce

#1 looks like Ilex x 'Nellie Stevens' holly from here. Would need a closeup.

#3 could be Ilex crenata. Need closeup.

#4 seems to be growing more like an Osmanthus - maybe fragrans. Leaves opposite?

Which ones require more than pruning ? More specifically, should I be watering these much, if any, since these are established plants ? # 6 is turning brown on the front a little and a lot of the needles on the back are missing. What can I do?? Also, what about # 2 ? The leaves had fallen off in late winter, they came back in spring and it was really pretty but it is turning this color now. Thanks all!

Dwarf Alberta spruce will usually develop issues......often spider mites which like their dense foliage to hide in and the eventual shading out of foliage that receives little to no direct sunlight. Most folks will pull out and replace when they start looking bad. Which nearly all do eventually.

There are many different types of laceleaf Japanese maples with a variety of foliage colors. And most will go through a series of seasonal color changes as well. Too much sun (as well as too much shade) can affect the coloring on the red leaf forms, usually causing them to develop bronze or greenish coloring in summer. It is not a big deal and nothing to be concerned about.

Of all the plants shown, the maple requires more attention to watering than do the others.

So, don't need to necessarily water or fertilize the Dwarf Alberta once established? Can anything be done to salvage the Dwarf Alberta in that regard ? So, I should water the maple in the summer months and fertilize in the fall? It was like a darker red color in spring but it didn't last long but maybe it will naturally get the color back before winter.

That first holly - I think it's Nellie Stevens -- was hacked way back at some point -- maybe two years ago or so. Note the huge trunk! This is a very fast-growing holly that will grow higher than your roof. I'd say this is probably the plant that will require the most pruning to keep it in scale. If you tire of it, replace with a smaller growing holly. You don't say where you live by the way. I'm guessing somewhere in zone 7b or 8a.

Definitely water the Alberta Spruce as well as the maple. For the spruce, it may help to forcefully blast the foliage with water periodically to keep mites at bay. But I don't have any experience with them.

Japanese maple varieties can display different leaf colors at different times of year. Typically in spring upon emergence and then again in Fall, the colors are the most brilliant.

I live near Charlotte. Just water near the roots of both trees? I saw your comment about mites so I'll do that, as well. How much water ? Per week ? Per day ? Time for each watering? Thanks.

Also, is it possible that the needles on the back that have fallen off may return ? What type of fertilizer should I use in the fall?

I'm referring to Alberta Spruce in last question but feel free to answer on Japanese, as well. Thanks.

Plants well established in the ground - like yours - seldom ever need fertilizing. They get what they need from the soil. Only if you see some obvious signs of nutrient deficiency - off color or yellowed foliage, very slow or stunted growth - would you need to fertilize and then only after a soil test would tell you what was missing.

IF you need to fertilize, fall is not the time to do so - early spring as the plants are pushing new growth is a much better time. Late season fertilizing can produce lush growth that is unable to harden off properly before winter, leading to cold damage.

It is not possible to tell you when or how long to water. The need to provide irrigation is dependent on too many variables to be specific. The recommendation is long and slow watering infrequently, but you will need to test soil conditions and pay attention to the weather to determine when that might be appropriate. I live in a recurring summer drought area and few established landscape plants here will require supplemental watering even during our dry summers.......it just depends on the plant and the soil conditions. Newly planted trees and shrubs are a different set of circumstances.

And IME, once the Alberta spruce has started to decline, they are difficult to recover a dense and lush growth. Lack of needle growth in specific areas generally signals some branch dieback, perhaps from insects (the mites) or merely from excessive shading or lack of air circulation. Dead stems will not regenerate healthy foliage.

Don't have a sense of your overall landscape near the front of the house, but I'd probably remove the spruce. It looks crowded there.

Patrick Ritchie, I want you to imagine Dolly Parton squeezing into an A cup brassiere. The plants in your pix are poor choices for that location. neither watering nor fertilizing nor fairy dust will fix that.

Your #4 pic is sweet olive but you never smelled it because it has been "green meatballed". It has been hacked back to fit the spot.

Your #1 is Nellie Stevens holly, surely you can see it is out of place there, if you don't understand that search images for that one. Looks like your foundation was planted by the "mow, blow & go crew"

Your #6 is Dwarf Alberta Spruce, the same one planted around filling stations & strip malls. Conifers do not regenerate growth in shaded areas and your looks like it is crawling with spider mites.

So now you have some decisions to make, what are you gonna do?