I just can't forget the front yard can I?

As you have probably noticed by now, most of the work that I have done to the yard has been focused on the back. In fact, most of the plants that were any good in the front were moved to the back yard. The front has been neglected and never has been designed out properly and is going to take a little more design time. I did not want to rush anything so I decided to wait until I could give it more time. There are only a couple of things up front that are even worth mentioning that will be staying. Obviously the 80' pin oak will be a fixture of the front landscape for many years to come and the previous owners did put in a nice walkway from the driveway to the front door. Other than that, there is not too much to talk about, and even the walkway may be redone to fit into my design.
I have however done a little bit of work, actually I have planted exactly one tree, but what a tree it is. I was at a local nursery just admiring the plants and seeing if they were having any late fall specials when I came across these impressive 11' tall Brackins Brown Beauty Magnolias. I had done some research on them in the past and knew this was something I would want in the yard. They have a very fragrant yellow flower in the spring and are evergreen, which is different than the more common star and saucer magnolias that have white blooms and are not evergreen. I was delighted to see that the 2 that they had left were 60% off there original price. It took me a couple of weeks to convince myself that I needed this tree, because even at 60% off, a tree of this size still comes with a bigger price tag than I was used to. I knew that I wanted something on the corner of the house to give me some spacial scale to the house because right now I just had a humungus oak and then nothing at all, there was a huge void in the landscape. I decided to take the plunge and boy am I glad I did. This one tree has already changed the dynamic of the yard and I cannot wait to see it in bloom next spring.