Are you saying that you prefer to dig the hole 2.5 feet deeper than your original root system instead of pruning? That sounds like a very deep wide hole? How many people are gonna be involved in the digging? Why is it too tall? Are you trying to lower the branches for fruit picking?

Thank you so much! I see names above whose spaces I have admired and ogled many a time. It's very rewarding to have you all comment on mine. Here are some specifics: Bluekitobsessed: The paint is Devine Tide. In my experience, the saturated Devine paint colors IÂve used act as pleasing background elements rather than as a main event. This project included painting the hallway also and I used BM Buxton Blue. A lovely, sweet color, very pretty. But I find it stands out as a major player. The Devine color feels not as prominent, even though darker. So if your mother is worried about being overwhelmed by color, I donÂt think this paint will be problematic. Mooie, the clock is mine. It is killing me not to have a clock in the bathroom. I know it is peculiar, but I will probably put one back in that space over the door. All cabinets and vanity are Plato in cherry. They are custom. The wall tiles are plain old Dal-tile, arctic white with white grout. The floor tiles are Crosstile Buenos Aires Mood (porcelain) in the color Polo with quartz color grout. The 12 by 12 tiles are matte and textured, the 6 by 6 tiles are polished. The pebbles in the two niches are Momiscalco Botany Bay Pebbles in sea green. The sink is from Ronbow. The fused-glass piece on the window was made by a local glassmaker. We went over to her shop and designed the piece--picked various colors/shapes/textures under her direction, and she fused the glass and placed it on the window with four tiny dots of silicone. It was fun! The idea to put a piece of stained glass on the window was from a Garden Webber and solved the problem of how to have both light and privacy. The tub is a Kohler Archer and it is acrylic. I love it and find it an improvement over cast iron, which I was loath to part with (I loved my old tub, though you can see its best days were past). The acrylic is warm but not in a sickly way, and I believe, based on no facts, just my experience, that it holds heat better and longer. It is deeper, though narrower and shorter (or shorter feeling because of the sloped back). That works fine for us. It is not period, but perhaps if people in 1919 had an option, they might not have hauled a cast-iron beast up the steps. Ease of maintenance and whether it holds up over time are issues I canÂt address yet.

Things that haven't already been mentioned: The enclosed porch floor-- it looks like worn paint on wood, and should be painted. Take your accessories and group them for more impact. The simplest method is in groups of threes, with one in the back, and two in the front, or vice versa. The three objects should have something in common, such as a color or texture. You can also arrange similar objects in rows. Odd numbers (3,5,7,9) tend to be more interesting than even numbers. That's just a start, experiment! If you can, put something like "turnkey home, all appliances and window treatments to stay" in the listing. This is a starter home, and your buyers may be stretching their budget. So anything they don't have to buy, even if it's not perfect, is a plus. Clean the odd little corners that might not be obvious. Open the windows and clean the bottom of the frames. Wash the glass. Wash and iron the curtains with spray starch. Clean the inside edges of the dishwasher, and the detergent receptacle. Ditto with the washing machine. Fish out all the fluff from the dryer door. Clean the tops of the doors, scrub and retouch the trim. Clean and disinfect the door knobs. Clean the hinges, and oil all the squeaky ones. Steam clean your furniture. I could go on, but you get the picture. Your goal is to make these things look as "like new" as you can. Even if you have to get down on your hands and knees and scrub grout with bleach and a tooth brush. (Been there, done that. Stock up on your pain killer of choice.) This is a lot of hard work, and it sounds almost obsessive compulsive, but every little bit helps. Good luck.

I agree with those who said the view makes up for a lot. We bought an ugly duckling lake house that needed (and still needs) a whole lot more updating than either of the homes you've linked to. Sometimes I get frustrated with the plastic showers, the fake marble vanity tops ... and the green tub ... but slowly but surely we are turning this into our forever home. And in the meantime, when I think I just can't stand the ugly parts a moment longer, I look out at that view and know we made the right choice.