Is water oak especially prone to suckering? If you want the trunk for chainsaw carving or for planting on I say cut them off quickly. If you want to grow a new tree....I dunno. The suckers will get plenty of food from the roots. I just dunno how strongly attached to the old wood they will be or if the big open stump will hollow out by the time the suckers are a nice 20 foot tall tree or what. After one of my ash trees was removed it suckered from the two foot stump a few times. I alternated between cutting them and spraying with round-up depending if there were other weeds to kill that day.

On the how it will look, the different sizes should be okay. Add an inch or two of framing between them if need be and it will look great. The Gaggenau design for the combi-steam and plain ovens is that the controls on the bottom of the combi-steam oven line up with the controls on the top of the single convection oven, and form a square. They'd look REALLY weird side by side, or even in different parts of the kitchen. I resented having six inches of trim on the combi, and tried every kind of design and gave up. I love the Gaggenau ovens, but they're like Apple computers--great but you have to do it their way. Sorry. Still excitable about it I guess... But with the Miele units, they won't look unbalanced next to each other. You might also consider putting them at different locations in the kitchen. People talk about wishing the steam oven was nearer their sinks, so you might want to put yours where it's only steps away, and then the convection oven nearer your baking things. Malhgold--Great picture!! Sigh. I love that arrangement. It's actually not that different from what my oven stack will look like, but mine won't be nearly so pretty...

I agree, sewing is on the decline. Joann's is the local fabric store, but to me, it has a limited selection for dress making fabrics. I think its better for quilting and crafts. Fortunately for me, I live 2 hrs from NYC, and I can go into the Fashion District and find anything I want. I've made several cocktail dresses from fabric purchased there, as well as a mother of the bride dress for myself. With both my sons getting married soon, I'll be making my mother of the groom dresses from fabrics purchased there. The laces, silks and trims are unlimited, making it hard to choose. Having said that, I've noticed over the years that more and more fabric stores in the Fashion district have gone out of business. But there will always be a few, since the Fashion Institute of NY students shop there, as well as couture designers and seamstresses. I could buy a dress, maybe for less $ but I like the creative process and knowing that I have a one of a kind, made specifically to fit me dress. And I know that the quality of the fabric I can buy there is superior to a retail dress.

Are the triangular, mauve colored gravel mulch areas what you're calling "planters"? I would eliminate them. They seem much more like an impediment than an element of interest. Regarding your paved area edge, I'd simplify. A clean, simple shape would be better looking and easier to use than one with busy flairs (waves and meeting other surfaces at oblique angles.) We're not in a good position to determine if you can keep or get rid of the step. The latter would be preferable if you can do it, but since the patio and pool already exist at their respective elevations, you have to accommodate what you have. Determine the actual difference in elevation in order to know what's possible. If you need to keep two levels, I'd recommend exploring the layout geometry again. But you'd need an accurate plan to work from. The one above shows the pool nearly touching the patio cover. In the picture it looks like you have at least 5' or so there.