Different strokes for different folks, I guess. I love magnolias and think they are wonderful trees, but I wouldn't hesitate to take one down if it was not placed well in my yard. Especially a magnolia. Not a Little Gem magnolia, but a regular magnolia. Magnolias get huge. I have a neighbor with 2 beautiful magnolias, but they are right smack in the middle of his yard in front of his house. While they were lovely and mid-sized 21 years ago, they are enormous and take over the entire yard now. They're not pretty in that context anymore. I love magnolias more toward the side of my home or in the back, but I would cut one down right in front of my house in a heartbeat. I agree they are wonderful trees and one of my absolute favorites. Their leaves are beautiful to decorate with at holidays, they smell fabulous and their blooms are beautiful. And best of all, they are the greatest climbing trees for kids ever and every kid should get to climb in a magnolia tree. However, in the interest of full disclosure, I confess I am enormously prejudiced and highly opinionated about magnolias (and gardenias). I hate raised canopies on magnolias. I grew up in a neighborhood and small town full of magnolias, and everyone I knew kept their magnolias with leaves all the way down. Raised canopies on magnolias just look.....wrong....to me. If you are leaving a magnolia for your kids, don't raise the canopy. They make such awesome private play places for kids with the leaves all the way down the trunk. I feel the way Patricia does about gardenias and banana shrub. I don't know if I'd ever rip out a happy gardenia. Not the old-fashioned kind. And upon further reflection, I would absolutely leave a big ole magnolia with leaves all the way to the ground in place, even in the center of my yard, if I had kids of tree-climbing age. Have fun whatever you decide!

Sod may be the best choice this late in the season since simply killing the existing weeds with a post-emergence herbicide won't necessarily "green-up" the lawn if nothing else is growing fast enough to fill in the spots where the weeds formerly were. The pity is that it wasn't done two months ago when the moderating temps and more rainfall of early Fall would have made a big difference. If you do use herbicide, I'd definitely overseed the area with a good cool-weather germinating grass seed, then water it abundantly and pray for a late warm fall to give it some oomph this year. The seed may be wasted, but you never know. Once we established sod (starting with bare, newly-leveled earth) on a half-mile long grass runway which we sowed on Thanksgiving weekend up here in northern NY (Z5a/4b). We got very lucky. It didn't look great through the winter but took off like crazy at the first hint of Spring. Here's hoping that you can reseed earlier than we did, have a long Fall so it germinates and greens up and that you don't still own the house next Spring! If you do seed, be sure you get the contractors to slightly abrade (rake) the ground, then roll it thoroughly after seeding to get good contact with the soil. Make sure the herbicide and grass seed are technically compatible and wait enough time for the herbicide to get the job done, if necessary. When you planted the tree you mentioned that you hoped it would re-bud out after its adventure traveling in an open truck. When I read that I actually hoped it wouldn't (not to be mean) because any small leaf regrowth emerging this late in the season would likely be frost killed, possibly taking the tree with it over the winter. I hoped the tree had enough sense to remain dormant and try again next year. It's contradictory to hope you're having a warm, re-seedable Fall, and yet hope the tree feels chilly enough to stay dormant until the sap rises again in the Spring. Keep watering it until the ground is completely frozen no matter how it looks. Properly protected with anti-dessicant and a steady program of watering until the ground is frozen and mulched you might be able to get some useful green-ness there with evergreens but by now even leafless deciduous trees won't look out of place. However they need to be transported in a covered vehicle, or at least be carefully wrapped in tarps to avoid being wind-whipped and dried to death en route. The comment the agent made about the luxurious inside not matching the exterior resonates with me. You have lavished considerable attention on the interior with very good effect, but the exterior looks less distinctive, less elegant primarily because the house is just parked out there with no trees to meld its presence into the lot. I realize many new houses look like this on completion, but just like a house's interior would look out of kilter if you had beaded-inset Crown Point cabinets with post-form Formica counters, the house's outside looks dissonant to me. Because there's been no significant effort to establish large-ish trees the house looks sort of unfinished, as if you ran out of steam before the whole job was done. I think I would consider planting one or more really big trees (3-6" caliper). Not a cheap solution since each would cost $300-maybe as much as $1,000 apiece, but they would (even in a deciduous state) anchor the house and kind of make it match the interior. Buy them from a professional nursery and they should come with a survival/ replacement guarantee. If you're leaving the area, hire them to do any tending if you're moving before you sell the house. A big part of the price of these trees is the cost of the Vermeer (or equivalent) machine than comes along to replant it. Trees this size may have a root ball 4 or 5 feet wide. Feel free to disregard my comments if they aren't useful. I will still my fingers crossed that you can get this house sold and quickly move on to your next one. L.

Flo, I like your sketch very much (although without knowing the basic sun/wind info I mentioned above, it may or may not be what she needs.) However, the suggestion of polished black Japanese river stones for a first time home owner in Oklahoma is probably not helpful.b You will drain her budget and she will find herself looking at dusty, not shiny, stones. If she likes your concept of creating a dry bed/ river effect (as I do), you or someone else might teach her how to do this with grasses native to her area. Ones that can be easily propagated by division, require no water or weeding, and will blow in her prairie breezes while attracting birds and wildlife. Can, I urge you to google images of landscapes by Oehme, Van Sweden. They are known for using sweeps of native plants, especially grasses. My suggestion to you is to play around with flexible hoses or ropes in dividing your wide open space to see what shapes please you. Then imagine the spaces filled with different color blocks of various heights. Which ones do you want moving, which ones static? Designing a three dimension landscape from scratch like yours can be overwhelming. Break it down into digestible parts. 1) Gather all information about your conditions. 2) Get out the hoses and ropes and draw on the ground like a canvas.

thanks! kendallinsd I think those window changes to the bedrooms would make a big difference to the curb appeal. by the way, I am not against painting brick. if done right, it will be fine. however, yours is a nice muted reddish tone. I think what's not working is that there's too much contrast between the brick and siding, breaking up the shapes. the mockups houssaon and I did for you look better because it gives your house a more cohesive look. I also encourage keeping (or restoring) that pergola. again, it's part of the midcentury shape of that house that makes it special. but like I suggested before, a wood pillar might look better there. have fun. post pics as you improve this adorable home!