Ya'll are all so sweet. So more details . The Water Oak was approx 150 years old. It was on city property so they had the final say so as to removal. I have lots of pics to show the rot inside the tree. All the limbs that were toward the house were hollow. Still very sad though. But I have a present from the tree guys....but I broke my camera at the end of the day. So pics will follow after I get it fixed. It was a GREAT present. The Yoshino will be wonderful. The Leylands were hideous...and looked as you can see so bad when limbed up so they had to go. I am so happy that I can cover the fence with ROSES and CLEMATIS !! Yeah !! As far as one thing leading to another...you just have no idea LOL...oh yeah you are all gardeners...you DO know :) I also managed to get another coat on the little house porch and will finish the side porch tomorrow. It was 94 here today. I felt great all day as far as health goes. I am used to running and biking in the heat and there is the pool...thank goodness. Thank you cyn...more pics to follow. Natal . the city is in charge and will grind the stump. It is HUGE !! Kathy just crazy not brave :) The elastomeric is like buttercream frosting and dries in 30 minutes. it is a terrific product. gldno you know how crazy people are about planting right up on the fence and house...like Tom says you have to move it later. I will definitely post lots more pics . GGG you come on over and have a seat. You will love that elastomeric for patching..it is amazing. I wanna see pics of the porch redo. Also do you go to Holy Taco in midtown ? We love it and the organic foods are wonderful. Nell I have to make up for all the time I was playing in NYC....I wish I knew why folks did lots of things they do :) I saw your tree too. Wait till you see what I got from mine...you can do the same with yours and we can compare notes !! c

You are correct about adding sand, Sand + clay= something close to concrete. I would lighten up on the water unless the plants are showing signs of stress (but don't wait until they are fully wilted). Twice a week for an established plant sounds like an awful lot. But it depends on the quantity of water rather than the frequency. One deep soaking is better than two shallow soakings. I don't think I even water my thyme in pots that often in the summer (well maybe the smaller pots). Like I said before, I haven't watered my thyme in my raised bed gardens for many years regardless of the time of year. We have very clay soil in my area. My thyme planted in unamended areas of my garden don't do nearly as well and have to be replaced every two or three years. If I were to start a thyme garden (and I have several-I am a hopeless thyme collector): I would raise the beds at least 8 inches with compost and peatmoss (adding a little lime to counter the acidity). If that weren't feasable, I'd raise the bed as high as possible and then create 2 foot wide mounds for each plant. I'd water the plants in and keep an eye on them for the first month or so, watering as needed. I might put down some pea gravel as a mulch around the plant, covering the mound. I'd mulch between plants/mounds using cocoa shell mulch or other mulch to suppress weeds. Onset of top growth indicates the roots have adequate growth to find their own water without much added from the hose, although I would keep a watchful eye during extremely hot and dry periods. Once the heat of summer is nearly over, I would cease adding any fertilizer (if I had been adding any at all) and not worry too much about watering. The plants should be a foot tall or so by then and well established. Pruning the plants early will do two things, create bushier, healthier plants and stimulate root growth. Heavy pruning too late in the season can cause the plant to put on a spurt of growth that may be severly damaged by an early frost/freeze. Light harvesting should not have any ill-effects. BTW tarragon hates wet feet even more. If still alive there should be evidence of dormant shoots poking out of the ground waiting for the days to get longer (like many other herbaceous perennials). If they aren't there the plant probably drowned and died.

I am so sorry to hear about your little kitty, Merryheart. I know how much it hurts to lose a beloved pet. I worry a lot about urinary tract problems in my cat since my best friend lost her cat to it years ago. I think it's fairly prevalent in cats. I feed my cat Purina One 'Urinary Tract' formula. I don't know that it helps, but it makes me feel better, and she likes it. I've made stepping stones for my dogs that have died, and they are nice additions to my garden. I had a pet cemetery at my old house where I planted plants with the same names as my pets. I had grave markers, and stepping stones, and also had a bird bath set up there. For cats I have seen very precious little grave statues that are cat angels. They look very nice in your garden. If you know of a shop that has a laser engraver, they can make a marker with a picture of your cat with her name on a rock, a stepping stone, on granite, glass, or nearly anything. My brother's company has a laser engraver and they sometimes make pet grave markers. Another thing I like to do is plant trees in memory of my dogs that have died. I have a weeping willow that I planted for my all time favorite dog, Star. I hated to leave it when I moved, so I am taking cuttings of that tree to plant at my new house in memory of Star. That sounds crazy, I know, but I can't take the dogs' graves with me but I can take a cutting of "their" memorial tree. I have one tree still in a pot from when my dog Maggie died that I'm going to plant here. It's a corkscrew willow that I call "Maggie's tree". I also have a pine tree I brought here that belonged to my grandmother before she died, and it's "Grandma's tree". I realize you don't have an acreage like I have so maybe don't have enough room to plant a tree for your kitty. But it's my very favorite living memorial I do in memory of my pets. I also have a Southern Bottle Tree I made in memory of my friend Larry when he died. I found the cedar tree in his back yard with all the branches cut off fairly close to the trunk. I have no idea what Larry had planned for it, but I brought it home and "planted" it in my garden to remember him by. Eventually I covered all the limbs with cobalt blue bottles, and made it into a bottle tree. I think it's beautiful. :) But it's still "Larry's Tree" and reminds me of him in my garden. He was a gardener too and I think he would have liked it. I could send you a picture of it if you're interested. Here is a link for a kitty memorial stepping stone. If you'll see the seller's other items further down the page, she has some nice cat memorial items. Again, I'm so sorry for your loss. I know planting a memorial garden for you kitty will help you in your grief. Dawna Here is a link that might be useful: cat memorial stone

So happy for you and Kyle, beagles! Bastian is lucky to have such loving parents :) And thanks to mtn for making it easy for us to send some love your way! Wishing you so many wonderful rainy day and bedtime story times!