I would not be inclined to plant a Murraya for your hedge. I have a Murraya hedge and am forever clipping it. The branches also become a bit thick to trim. The Indian Hawthorne pictured is in my opinion a more suitable plant. It flowers most of the year and is easy to keep in shape or can be left to grow naturally. It comes in whit or different shades of pink. The pink variety is a slower grower therefore less clipping. Go and have a look at the nursery to see if you like the foliage and flowers. I agree with the comment, not to try to keep the pines which somebody else has planted. This is your home now and you have the opportunity to design the garden. Good luck with your new garden. Jan

You will need to consider the balance between the LHS and RHS when doing your renovations. The garden on the right is pretty full. On the left you will need to balance this up. Part of the entrance problem is that the paint work is too dark. A bright contrasting paint ie. an orange base, could really lift the stairs and trims around the windows. And then have the door a paler version of the trim paint. It would then stand out better. Leave the railings of the deck. This is all fine. There is not that much wrong. What you have done is good and works well with the style of your home.

Well here you are Marilyn, the final finish. It is a light look, the first photo appears darker than what they appear in real life, it's more like the third photo. I am happy with the look. I have a few issues with the quality of the work with a 'burnt' mark you may see in the first photo and 'boot' marks in other areas. That aside I am happy with the American Oak and Bona Traffic HD Satin. It's not too shiny but has a lovely subtle sheen to it. The Bona Traffic HD is supposed to stop the timber from yellowing or getting darker.

Thanks Julie. I will follow your advise. I was not familiar with white oil, but have looked it up on the internet and will try to treat the tree to kill the fungus. I believe the almost endless rain this spring may have contributed to this problem, based upon what I have recently read. I appreciate your comment and will report my findings if able to save the tree. This summer has tested the will of folks around her in central Indiana. Yellow Nutsedge has also become a huge problem. I doubt that most folks understand that the common weed killers do not work well for this problem, even though some of the week killers claim treatment success. It seems to be a growing problem here in this area. From what I've read, this is a nasty sedge to get rid of and I too am finding that out. My order for SedgeHammer and Sedge Ender arrived today since I was not able to find treatment chemicals locally. Hopefully the Nutsedge will get whacked and the tree will survive. Thanks again for your help.