I would suggest not doing the very narrow dutch lap style that seems to be so popular now. It often looks very commercial and sterile, imo. I don't think it would look right on your style of house. Too tight and compact, or flat looking, for the shape and lines of your home. Are there any colors you are already drawn to? What roof color would you prefer to the one you have? This post was edited by snookums2 on Tue, Mar 5, 13 at 6:38

Hi, My Silver Birch is looking very sick indeed. It is only a few years old, is above the roof top in height, but looks as though it is dying of thirst. The tree fern next to it looks just fine, and the soil is moist a few inches below the surface. It doesn't have a specific sprinkler on it but gets run off from the watering of other things upline. When it had first leafed this season the leaves looked as though they were eaten somewhat and some looked a little distorted. Could this be a disease of some sort? Any clues? Woori

Public parks and most home landscapes look like they do because of a widespread inherent view that a comfortable setting for people is a pastoral one. That is one consisting primarily of trees and grass. This phenomenon has been called the Savannah Mentality and said to be rooted in our biological origins in parts of Africa were the landscape consists mostly of parasol acacias scattered around on plains of short grasses. Consistent with this the name Weeds, Trees & Turf chosen for a landscape maintenance trade publication recognized that these three were dominant elements in what operators were dealing with on job sites. This ancient experience seems likely also have something to do with the recurring tendency to try and make diverse kinds of trees in garden settings have some kind of approximation of a parasol like crown. Including excessive stripping up of the trunks of conical conifers and hollies into "Calgary Palms" and other aberrations.

Love celery girl's ideas, but I don't think you should paint the brick. Here's a combo that has a bit of the greenish-gray you don't like. Instead of hating on it, use the same shade for your trim and garage. Then create a front garden instead of your lawn,. Notice below how the rounded, deeply planted bed minimizes the wide brick wall. You could do the same on your house, leaving the tree on the left and adding a new, deep garden bed. This is best planned with the help of a designer from a small garden center using native plants. For any future red-brick-house buying, reddish brown roofs or roofs the color of the grout go best with them with trim paint also the color of the grout. Your grout is light tan, so a tannish brown roof might've been more harmonious like the one above. Still, the one below in gray slightly greenish tint looks good, too.