Fruitnut, I have 2 methods and I'm sharing my trade secrets here (what the hell- I'm 6 months from 60 and hope to retire in 25 years anyway). I start some plants straight in the ground, planting them way too close in a fenced off area. Planting them close makes maintenance per plant much less expensive given that it's all done by hand (don't ask). For apples in my climate it takes about 3 years to size them up to about 1.5" diameter- at least when planted this close. I carefully dig up these BR and put them in short 20 gallon pots (wide and shallow) in a mix of 1 part peat, 1 composted wood chips or stable waste ( almost pure humus with some carbo lumps) and 1 sand, plus a little wood ash. They limp the first season but I sell them the next for around $180 per. At this point they are bearing, 12' tall and well branched and the foliage is back to mormal. Other trees I transfer to Carl Whitcomb grow bags in real soil and let them grow about another 3 years and sell them for $250 per, or less to contractors. The grow bags I use are his last edition because they allow more root out of the bag and I can grow them without any irrigation at all- even through drought. Irrigation would reduce production by about a year, I'm sure, but in my operation only my potted plants get any and they are set in the soil as well. I always take some trees in the grow bags, remove the bags and put them into 25 Gallon pots with the soil intact but surrounded by my potting mix which allows me to sell some larger trees during the growing season. Surprisingly the soil surrounded by potting mix works very well and you might want to try that method for your trees as the soil gives you much more bang per square inch and costs less. Repotting would require only replacing the artificial soil on the edge of the soil ball. It makes things real heavy though, and my soil is not too fine so I don't know how it would work with a more clay soil but I bet it would work just fine. I'm sure my prices seem outrageous by your regional standards but I'm less than an hour from NYC and here it's more than competitive- it's the best deal around- because I have scores of varieties and they're actually properly shaped for fruit production. They also plug in better than the competitions BB'd trees, especially the ones I have in pots.

Welcome all, finally got ahold of my state dept of health and environment person about how a sewer sedimentation pond in this state can be handle when it's got too much solids in it: 1) stop putting sewage in it and let it dry down completely. 2) dig the solids out 3) take a representative sample of the solids and submit to the state's lab for analysis 4) apply to the land at state recommended rates. The land can only be planted to non-food crops for a certain time period but can be planted to crops that animals will consume such as milo or field corn. Pasture is also a suitable land for solids distribution. So what do you think, good use for all that waste? Interestingly enough, when properly managed, the solids contained in this type of pond isn't poop, TP and the like, those are the feedstocks for the algae and bacteria in the water that break those down and die. The solids are the dead bodies of an unimaginable number of the algae and bacteria that have died over many years time. OK, I think I've finished stinking up this thread now :)

The woman who is the leader in Charlotte: angela@ncwildflower.org. They have many meetings and do plant rescue. They are also starting a native plant certificate program with Larry Mellichamp of UNCC leading the program and in cooperation with the university there. I would love to take some of his classes, as he is great! If you go to the home of the website posted above, you will see a link to plant rescue material. Read that; contact Angela. I think you have to join to go with this group, but we always welcome "tips" about sites that are to be razed. Many people want to save these plants but don't like the idea of going into the woods with snakes, insects, etc. Oh, Monday I went on a mini-rescue here in town...no natives, but plenty of Lycoris, crocus and other bulbs and even peonies starting to come up. These plants are too wonderful to let the bulldozer get them, so we were grateful for the opportunity to dig.

nyssaman, I have pretty good luck with my Majesty palms here in the midwest. Winter: I keep them in front of a window that gives as much direct sunlight as possible and water thouroughly once a week. Summer: They go outside as soon as the weather begins to stay above 40 at night. I water them daily and put them in a semi shady spot under a huge oak tree. They get strong diffused, not direct, sun light. I fertilize about twice a year in late spring and mid summer. They look beautiful and very healthy. This picture is from spring of 07 and it has grown much taller and fuller. The other one is about the same size. If you've trimmed them back to the remaining healthy spears it will take some time for them to look full and healthy again. Do you have a place to put them outside in warm weather? They love mild breezes and warm humid air. Doug