Interesting situation, to pick a spot for a new tree. Clearly there is room, but the question of where is not as easily answered as one might think - as shown by the fact, perhaps, that no one has answered! It took me a couple of days to figure out why this is hard. One reason is not knowing just what you want your relationship to be with passers-by on the road and with your neighbours across the road - how much of the house you want to leave visible, how much you want to be able to see out - for example, do you want to be able to see when the mail is being delivered, or when someone is coming up your driveway? Another is not knowing how you like the task of mowing to go. So we don't really have enough information to fully understand your preferences... you don't need to explain them to us, but you do need to articulate them to yourself to make a decision. What is important to you about the front yard, and about trees in the front yard? Another is that there are already more trees than I realized from your earlier photo and they are quite distinctly linear in arrangement - furthermore, many are already maples. So it is hard to know whether to create a new linear component in the design or start to transition from a linear to a more random arrangement. I would prefer to evolve away from the linear aspect, especially as you move away from the driveway. Planting in groves does have its risks, as BBoy has pointed out above. I went on a tour of a local arboretum a while back (Riverview) where trees were frequently planted in 3s and 5s, and the resulting groves, 100 years later, now consist of rather unevenly developed trees in that the canopies are abutting and sometimes killing each other off on the adjoining side. So the trees are uneven although the groves remain symmetrical. But that's 100 years out, and all your specimens may not be 100-year trees. If they are not, then you can actually plant with a view to tree succession already. For example, I do not like the two maples (green in your first picture, red in your later ones) that are quite symmetrically planted across the middle of the lot - I don't like their shapes, so that's personal, but I also don't like their symmetry, since they somehow don't relate to each other or the property at all. I think I would begin by disturbing their balance a little by planting new trees near them, or in front of them, and then plan to remove one of the two existing trees at a later date. Always with a view to sight lines (and mowing lines if those matter). Also, I can't remember if you said anything on the other thread about big trees in the back yard, if you want or have any growing in there. For looks alone, nothing settles a house into a property better than being backed by some tall trees. But if it is not practical to plant them back there, then I would plant them in the front, albeit a fair distance from the house. As they grow you can prune their canopies up and even if they block your view now, eventually sight-lines will re-emerge beneath them (and in winter of course). All that refers mostly to deciduous trees. Conifers are also beautiful to have in the yard, but they will block sight lines all the time, so place with caution. Karin L

Lack of moisture would be reflected by browning of the leaves from the edges. Cercospora produces brown-to-purple spots throughout the leaves. It is not lethal usually but it just does not look aesthetically pleasing. If the spots look red, you may want to post a picture or take a sample to an Agriculture Extension Service for analysis. You could also try a nearby plant nursery but I have gotten mixed results with that (sometimes I find very knowledgeable employees but other times I do not). To minimize that problem, when I visit the plant nursery, I specifically ask for someone who can help evaluate a plant disease. Then I bring a sample in a sealed clear plastic envelope. If you were to be doing overhead watering of the leaves, it may be that the leaves developed a fungal infection (sometimes just called leaf spots) and watering the soil and never the leaves will help. Other suggestions: water only early in the mornings; make sure there is separation between the shrub and others so air movement can help minimize fungal infections; opening some area of the shrub to light and air can sometimes help; discard leaves and plant debris in the trash; replace the mulch with new mulch. If the soil/mulch feels wet, reduce the amount of water and or frequency of waterings. I have not heard of home grown fungicides for cercospora but there are some out there for Powdery Mildew which this does not sound like. It is imnportant to correctly identify the causal agent in order to apply a solution (fungicide, etc) that will correct the problem. See if you can store a picture in www.photobucket.com or similar websites. They will give you a direct http link that we can then use to go and view the picture. You can simply copy/paste the direct link into a message just liek this one http://i150.photobucket.com/albums/s111/llluch/100_4191.jpg Luis Here is a link that might be useful: Information on Cercospora

eslie_4plants : another member named, cupshaped_rose told me to post pictures here u have to: 1)Create a free account at Photobucket: http://photobucket.com/register.php?link=topmenu (cut and paste the link above to your adressbar) 2)login to your new photobucket account http://photobucket.com/login.php (cut and paste the link above to your adressbar) 3)upload pictures from your picture files 4)when you want to post a picture in a post to this forum you have to highlight/Copy and paste the line underneath your uploaded picture that says HTML TAG (there are 3 lines underneath your uploaded picture (URL, TAG, Code...choose tag) to your post: 5) when you click Preview message you can see if your picture has been posted in the message Like this: Jimmys Abricot-coloured Heritage. ---------------------------------------------------- I find setting up your own "blog" more easy than the above method because sometimes the photos you put in photobucket doesn't appear in different browsers. U can set up a free website or a "blog" as it is often call in: http://www.blogger.com/start and follow the 3 simple steps. Once done come back here and type down your own website name in here. say for instance, I named my website, "www.myfavoriteplants.blogspot.com/ and under "name of the link" I wrote: "Jimmy's favorite plants".

I was going to post this same thing I've got a full grown what I believe is a 'Bloodgood' Japanese Maple that has been red every year except this year. We had a lot MORE rain than usual this year so I assumed that was the cause of the green leaves but it hasn't rained in a while now and they never turned red. Perhaps the nutrients got washed out of the soil? It looks like we are ALL still in question on the why here so... RESEARCH TIME! This is the best information that I found: Japanese red Maple leaves turn from red to green when the intensity of light is decreased. Most if not all varieties of red leaf plants lose the red color if the leaves are in a shaded area. Our trees are grown close together to conserve water and help keep plants standing.This causes the new upper most leaves to become very red and the leaves that are shaded by other leaves to become green. Once these trees are given more space the red color comes back." (1) Here's another interesting point: "Trees grown from seed lose their red leaf color in summer, which may be disappointing to the homeowner. " (2) My tree is in a fairly shady side of the house and is full grown now so there will be no moving it for me... I do think that all of the overcast rainy weather did send it into the green state that it never got out of though. Hope this helped some of you! Here is a link that might be useful: Sooner Plant Farm