I guess it may be slower growing than I thought. To better explain the TORTURING I mentioned above. I have an area perfect for the P. Nigra, but there are weeds and jaggerbushes growing there now, the torture will be clearing the area. It is raised up already, I put in fill soil and planned on making it nice with plants, but it got neglected. If I can burn the weeds and jaggerbushes away and dig up any roots, then add more wood chips etc, t would be perfect. It's a round raised bed that is about 15 - 20 ft diameter. It is in the background of this picture, on the right side of the tree up front. You can see the wall barely, it has a little tree up against it. That area would be great when cleared.There aren't rocks in the topsoils upper layers because what I built up the bed with wasn't rocky. I don't have a closer picture of the raised area already on my computer. Well, thanks for answering my questions. I will post pictures once I get the P. Nigra settled in the area and it has grown some, I can let the grove spread more in this spot than I would have without the looser/ raised area soil. The plant up front is an oak tree, the bed is in the background to the right, just in case I didn't explain well enough.

I"m researching this sealed attic concept for a renovation/addition in Virginia. It seems to me to make sense that if you seal your attic and your mechanical equipment is up there it will have less heat or cool loss - and the upstairs will be improved as it will be against a semi conditioned attic thus resulting in less heat or cool loss. I guess if you only insulated your ceiling - just the fact that your ac unit is running in a 130 degree attic or your furnace is running in a 30 degree attic - means you are losing cool/heat that you are paying for. A sealed attic (spray foam roof deck) would seem to be more efficient and result in lower energy usage. the closed cell/open cell decision and the the thoroughness of the sealing of the envelope would seem to be critical. Also - what are the real ramifications of roofing lifespan reductions due to hot sheathing. Will the sheathing really be that much hotter than when it isn't insulated under the roof sheathing? I suppose the heat cannot flow into the attic - but at some point doesn't the attic heat up to the point where there is no more heat flow and the roofing is as hot as it would be with a sprayed deck? HOw might metal roofing effect this consideration? What about solar PV or Hot Water above a sealed attic (seems like the solar hot water could only benefit - i guess the pv panels could get too hot if not spaced enough to 'cool' off. any thoughts?

Here is the updated layout plan. There is 62" between where the fridge is and the counter across from it. It's a french door frige, and the pantry will be custom built, to come out to the same depth as the fridge. So, I could have a pull out shelf. The pantry door will have one right return. I was noticing last night the very same thing you guys pointed out - the first 15 inches of counter next to the fridge is useless anyway. I think what I hate worse than anything is that the doors cannot stay open where it is now. And as far as this new layout goes, THANKS to palimpsest, anniewy for pointing out I can put the wall oven below the cooktop, and to bmorepanic for his drawing. I found a Jenn-Air that matches my cooktop. Now I have the safety of not having to walk across the room with hot stuff from the oven. There was NO landing place by the oven before, and I actually think that is more important for safety than having a landing place by the fridge. My family is not happy that there will be no cabinets for getting a glass and just filling it right there. They don't like that they'll have to get one from across the way and walk to the fridge. I told them to get over it. Maybe since the pantry will be bigger, we can store some glasses in it. I still hate the fact that my sink and cooking area can't be along the same wall, but I have to live with that as well. DH says NO to transferring plumbing to the other side of the foundation, and we refuse to lose the sink window. Along the front of the house, there are 4 long, symmetrical windows. We don't want to break that up. Making the kitchen U shape is just not going to happen.

sombreuil_mongrel, weedmeister, pracrtigal, enduring, Thanks so much for your questions and feedback. 1) The question of water/valves and drain: Maybe the photo of the inside of my sink cabinet (below) will answer your questions. All I know is that the plumber assured me that all the necessary hook-ups were in place, and we passed the rough plumbing inspection: In terms of the vent for my dryer, it goes through the wall that's on the back of the dryer and into my bathroom, then goes out into the rooftop deck. See photo below: My carpenter is supposed to build me a shelf or some sort of box to conceal the vent. We'll see. I've continued to search for a way to create a nice barrier between my kitchen sink and stackable washer/dryer. This is the idea that a kind soul suggested and is now at the top of my list, unless I come across a better one: Get half inch plywood board that goes from the ground (between the sink cabinet and washer) and up to the top of the dryer. Get a stainless steel sheet that goes from the bottom of the dryer to its top and to the wall (in other words, from the counter height and upwards). Have this SS sheetâÂÂs front edge bent 90 degrees so that it goes over the front edge of the plywood. Glue this SS sheet to the plywood. IâÂÂm actually thinking that if I go with the stainless steel barrier, I might also go with a stainless steel shelf for my dishrack. Due to space limitations, I planned on building a shelf above the sink and below the upper cabinet for my dishrack. I just measured my current dishrack and saw that I would need a shelf that is 15â by 15âÂÂ. I could get a stainless shelf that has holes so that water could could drip onto the sink. Funny enough, IâÂÂve seen various IKEA stainless shelves in a local Goodwill store. Maybe I should pay a visit to the IKEA store in Stoughton, MA and see whether thereâÂÂs one that is close in size to what I need (IâÂÂve never been to an IKEA store). Or, if I do not get a shelf with holes, I could have the shelfâÂÂs front edge sloped downward, just slightly, to let any water to drip down into the sink. I also plan to tile the wall above the sink where the shelf will be mounted. The more I think of the stainless steel option, the more I like it. But I'm of course open to your feedback.