BTW, do you know if centipede will generally choke out weeds and BAHAIA grass if it's maintained? Any secrets? Proper mowing and watering practices are going to be your best defense against weeds and Bahia grass. For example: Bahia prefers to be cut high 4+" where centipede should be mowed low at 1-2". Cutting low will help your lawn become dense and spread outward, and should choke out some of the Bahia over time. MOWING: Mow at 1 to 1-1/2 inches. Mulch mow with sharp blades, and mow often enough so only 1/3 of the plant height is removed. High and infrequent mowing tends to encourage thatch development, which can lead to chlorosis, drought stress and winter injury. However, during periods of drought the mowing height should be raised about 1/2 inch. WATERING: No more than once a week, but the best way is to Let Your Lawn Tell You When it Needs Water. As the soil begins to dry out, the lawn will show a lack of available moisture by wilted leaf blades. This condition is evidenced by a lengthwise folding or rolling of the blades, caused by a loss of turgor or water pressure within the plant. Also Footprints remain visible on a drought-stressed lawn long after having been made. Unless rain is forecast in the next 24 hours, lawns should be irrigated when 30 to 50 percent of the lawn shows signs of wilt/stress. Irrigate in the early morning hours between 2-6am Your objective when irrigating is to get the maximum amount of water to the root zone without over-irrigating. In clay soils,(which Im assuming you have) is somewhere between 1/2 to 3/4 inch of water. This will target the majority of the root system and encourage more rooting at lower depths. So, how do you know how to apply this amount of water? An easy method of measuring the amount of water applied by your irrigation system is to set out several straight-sided, same-size cans (tuna cans work best) at random in each irrigation zone. Monitor how much water is applied if you run your irrigation system for fifteen minutes by measuring the amounts in the cans. If, for example, you have 1/4 inch after that time, your system should run for thirty minutes to apply 1/2 inch of water.

Have you had any lemons off of them?? Maybe best to plant 1 & wait on the other. They would need a protected place where they aren't getting too much wind like beside a garage, back of house, etc. I have a Valencia orange & it was fine for yrs. It's about 7 ft out from house & there is 6 ft blockwall about 15 ft away which is side wind usually comes from. Neighbor's house corner is the other side of wall 6 ft. so her mock orange has gotten almost to her house & is 12 ft tall but not real solid protection. Anyway with all this last 3 yrs I have had to protect the tree with king sized sheets doubled over & pinned over lower branches to as high as I can go on my ladder. The upper part of tree is exposed. I had quite a lot of ruined fruit this yr. & dead branches up high. By ruined I mean- gets whitish inside & has no flavor at all not good for anything but the trash . If you plan on just putting it out in middle of yard, it probably won't do to well. I live in the Valley. My DB lived in Palmdale & he had all kinds of fruit trees around on his property about 50 ft out from his house but I don't recall any orange or lemon trees. apple, pear, plum,apricot, peach, I think there might have been a tangerine but it was either dwarf or semi. He got canker sores so might have been reason more than anything else for not having them. Good Luck! Oh, what do you mean, really took off, if there are suddenly large branches going out from middle of another branch they are faucet branches & need to be removed. They sap strength from the tree. They are not a "good thing"

Thanks everyone. All really good suggestions. We have been wanting to add stained glass to the house somewhere. This may be it. Ironically, my best friend's husband makes stained glass - his work is beautiful. Also thought about shutters, but I have a hard time picturing that. Then, would we leave the top empty, or put some ssort of fabric something? We have had such a clear vision about so many things, and we're completely stuck on this. Glad you all like the purple as much as we do. I smile every time I walk in there. It is such a rich color. andreadeg...I love the idea of black & white toile fabric. Just outside the powder room is this little "space" with another window (also needing something, but less important). I found a cute table and we have a tall black lamp with a b & w toile lampshade. Hmmm...

While changing the door color and perhaps the trim including columns in the entry area may be helpful, as others have said, the biggest issue here is the poor landscaping. There is a lot of rock mulch (most likely underlaid with landscape fabric) and a few perennials and shrubs that look marooned in a sea of rock. Do you like gardening and want to maintain large foundation plantings or else pay someone else to do so? If not, get rid of many of the beds and replace with grass, one of the easiest groundcovers. Regardless, maintaining rock mulch in anything other than a desert climate is difficult. Weed seeds and dust and organic matter blow in and the weeds sprout. They are far more difficult to remove from rock than from an organic mulch like shredded bark mulch, so you will likely end up spending time with a weed torch or herbicide to control them. Regardless of whether you want a large garden or not, I would plan on removing the rock mulch and replacing with either an organic mulch or grass. If there is landscape fabric under it, definitely remove that since it isn’t good in gardens since it interferes with movement of water, air, and nutrients into the soil. If you will be doing this yourself, take the physical work a bed at a time, and replace the rock with organic mulch as you go so weeds don’t get a foothold during times of bare soil. Before starting planting work you want a plan. If you aren’t experienced with landscape design, this might be a good time to hire someone qualified to help you figure out where you want beds and what you want in them. I would agree with cat lady that the tree seems too close to the house, though unless the foundation is already compromised, the tree isn’t an issue for the foundation. However, it does appear close enough for branches to rub against siding or roof or eaves, especially in wild weather, and that will do damage. Much as I like trees, I agree that yours is far too large for its allotted spot and is not well placed. You may want an awning to replace the shade you will lose, and plant a new tree farther from the house to eventually replace the shade. As far as door and trim color, Sherwin-Williams paint (and perhaps other companies) has a part of their website where you can upload a photo of you house and try out different colors on areas like your door.