It depends on where you are situated. Japanese Maples are from........Japan. Their climate is much kinder than ours and they also get significant winter cold and snow. If you can't replicate these conditions, then you are forever pampering them to try to keep them looking good. Personally I would prefer to grow a tree that I KNOW will work without the fuss. They are also fussy about soil and hot northerly winds.

We have a large frangipani tree that needs to be moved due to the e tension but my concern with relocating the frangipani tree there would be the lack of sunlight. Another idea was to scrap the feature tree & replace it with a fern tree & make it lush with shade loving plants. Attached is another pic with a different design idea. Thoughts ?..

We had a similar experience about 30 years ago. Along with that same pine tree we had a huge full blue spruce right next to it in front of our house. Both trees were full with branches right to the ground, healthy & beautiful. It made our house disappear & look like a matchbox house & prevented light to come in. Both were 75' tall & growing nonstop. It started to affect our pipes. I don't like cutting down healthy trees. I began calling some large landscape companies asking them if they'd take them. One company had a customer who wanted live trees as a fence & barrier in an expensive suburb near Boston. They gave me a price & thought it was fair. We were really happy they wouldn't be destroyed. What a day it was when they came to remove those trees! Neighbors came over & cars driving by pulled over to watch. It was fascinating how a huge machine fit around the tree & lifted it up, roots impact & no damage at all. It took two days & the landscaper handed us a check which paid for filling those very large & deep holes. IMO I'd leave the tree for the new owners to decide whether to remove it or not. It's not that uncommon as you'd think.

having inherited a run down garden with several mature Japanese Maples we've begun the resurrection by making an island out of one tree in a raised garden bed surrounded by recycled clivia (there are many other hardy strappy plants)...i wonder if the client understood that they will be forever having to cover their Yucca's before expected frosts they may be more open to alternatives and maybe they mean a plant with architectural shape, like a Yucca eg Phormium or Grass trees or Cordylines etc in a feature bed or big pot...the first picture is my own rescued Japanese Maple and the second is my inspiration from HOUZZ