First, I believe your "pine" is really a cedar (Cedrus species), as best as I can tell from the distance of the photo. And obviously landscaping under it in the traditional sense is not gonna work, which is why nothing grows there now - too large a tree with a too dense root system, lots of surface roots and too much shade. Bark or wood chips may be your best move, with perhaps a few partially imbedded landscape boulders to add interest. Keep the chip or bark mulch pretty light - too thick a layer can smother those roots - 2 inches is plenty and you can always touch up as necessary. With a tree this well-established and mature, you can skip the soakers as well.....that root system is able to access all the moisture the tree needs to survive all but the most prolonged droughts. You are going to have similar issues with the oaks - well-established trees with an aggressive root system. A good shade and drought tolerant groundcover may work (check local nurseries for what they'd recommend for your area), but be careful about too much cultivation under these trees - oaks in particular resent having their roots messed about with. You may decide to mulch directly under the canopies and place the GC at the dripline. With careful selection of a groundcover, it may creep back a bit under the trees on its own.

I can't tell long that walkway to the house is, but since you already have some nice things growing there, I'd leave the phlox and catmint and stick in maybe 2 or 3 smaller roses spaced far enough apart that the phlox and catmint have room to grow in between. Two possibilities occur to me for the periodically spaced roses: a three-ft rose (contrast in size with the other plants there, plus would provide an rounder, more "solid" shape periodically)-- lets say Our Lady of Guadalupe or the floribunda Easter Basket. They are both good bloomers/rebloomers and both are quite good on disease-resistance. Pretty Jessica would be about the right size and has a lovely bloom--but mine doesn't bloom as continuously as Our Lady or Easter Basket does. I would not use Queen of Sweden for this purpose--mine grows 4-5 ft tall--too tall for the front walk, in my opinion. Since the two I recommend are lighter colored, the blue catmint and maybe something darker like you have along the front of the house would form a nice contrast. The other choice I'd consider would be several mini roses along the walkway. My yellow Sweet Diana is a heavy bloomer and frequent rebloomer (and disease resistant)--about 1.5 to 2 ft tall, good full bushy look for a little fellar. It would fit in nicely and the cheerful yellow would look very welcoming. Or a different style mini would be Green Ice--a very full but more sprawling mini that blooms white (with slight coral hue when it first opens and a slight greenish hue in cooler weather). It grows about 1.5 ft high and wide--maybe even a bit more on the width. With the white Green Ice, you would have to make sure that some of the perennials in between the roses formed some contrasting colors (and shapes). Or maybe a combination of Sweet Diana and Green Ice and another mini in bright pink or red--someone else would have to recommend one of those, especially if you want good bloom/rebloom and disease-resistance. Have fun plannning--lots of roses to dream over! Kate

It could be either - the contractor thought it was a normal part of operations or the HOA asked them to do it. If you haven't been participating in the HOA governing process then this may be why you are now surprised and outraged. As mentioned earlier your first problem is that you are living in an HOA neighborhood. To me these often amount to the equivalent of condos with yards, with a similar attack and suppress the landscaping mindset tending to be evident in how properties within them look. But that is just a manifestation of a general, dominating perspective, that thinks neatness above all else is the rule - it is not usual for home lots to have fully planted, ecologically sensible and interesting outdoor spaces wherever you go. And in my area more than half of residences are rentals, with nobody on the premises having a motivation to do any serious gardening. Unless they don't care that they are investing in property they do not own. And the landlord doesn't care that they are installing features that may be seen as adding to the work and expense of maintaining the property. In addition to the many who are driven to keep their yards as tidy as their household interiors just because they like to keep things clean there are those who associate heavy pruning of plants with sophistication and money, as there is a history of formal landscapes being installed around mansions and other imposing buildings.

As far as the damaged tree, I don't think you can do anything about it. First it looks like the tree is mending itself. Second which you sort of confirmed the tree is in the easement for the street and technically is not yours, but belongs to the city. So the city will decide if it stays or goes. It looks like that it is far enough from your home that even if it falls straight at the closes part of your house there will be no damage. You have a pretty house. If it were mine I would add some flowering plants like roses, forsythia, Spirea, laura pendulum to add a little color to the house. May be a pretty pink cherry in the on the left about half way between the street an the house.