Question
QUESTION: Dear Jim, I really appreciate your help. My mother in law said I should pull out the two maple trees in the back yard, because they will get too big and be too shady in our small back garden. We live in the high desert (Lancaster, CA), so I want to check with you before I do anything. They are about 6 years old. The previous owner said he tried several different trees before he found ones that do well (we also have a couple of pines and some dark red leaf trees with hard cherries on them).
ANSWER: I guess it depends on if you want shade or not. If you want the shade I would leave them. You can prune the lower limbs so it will not take up much area as far as moving around the yard and you can walk under them. Since they are well established,  I would tend to keep them BUT I know how mother in laws are you may not hear the end of it. I would lean toward the shade.

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QUESTION: one more question on this - they are planted about four feet from the wall. Is that OK, do you think?
ANSWER: That is fine. Maple roots are not aggressive and do not cause problems with walls. Four feet away is ok.

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QUESTION: one final question: the fir in the back yard came loose/out and we put it back in, but it seems to be a bit brown/yellow down the bottom and a bit through the middle. Any ideas? Oh yes, and I found out the italian cypress is a dwarf - does that make it any better (being so close to the wall). They all seem to be close to the walls around here, but maybe the other people have no idea, either...:>)

Answer
Being a dwarf cypress makes a great deal of difference. The root system will not be a vast and therefore should cause little problems.

The fir is more than likely going through the shock from the uprooting and replanting. It should be ok-- keep the soil around it moist but not wet until it recovers. Dig into the soil under the tree down to about an inch and if the soil is dry then water.