Lamenting the need to get rid of a good looking plant doesn't equal a suggestion to keep it. The Ficus could be hard-trimmed ruthlessly, but a human would resent that a plant had turned them into a slave ... when it's supposed to be the other way around. I agree with catkim that a different tree would be a better choice, all things considered. "I assume that a walkway the visually greets guests from the sidewalk would appear more welcoming than one that leads from the driveway... Do you think that I'm incorrect in this assumption?" edit: Oops ... I meant, in a word YES! (to the question about the assumption.) You should create a walk that looks like it makes the best sense for the overall property ... and a walk directly to the city sidewalk is not necessarily more welcoming. You might not want to duplicate what exists a mere few feet away. Much of it depends on the geometry of how a walk would be laid out, it's width, materials and/or finishes. I'm not saying a separate walk directly to the city walk would look bad, but that it might not be an improvement over one that ties to the drive. It depends on all the factors involved. You might explore similar houses in the neighborhood to see if others have come up with successful variations. This post was edited by Yardvaark on Sun, Oct 27, 13 at 12:25

@Mike.. Well you can't legally spray for earthworms in the U.S. and they are good for the soil. However, as you may know, if you have alot of them, they leave piles of worm castings on the turf surfarce which when run over by mowing equipment leave lots of "soil patches" all over the place. Common pesticides like Sevin for surface feeders, or Merit and Bandit for subsurface feeders seem to reduce their numbers though. I had to look up the chemical compound you referenced, which turns out to be Primo Maxx. I don't use plant growth regulators, because I like mowing. However the golf course uses the stuff under about ten different names frequently in an attempt to not have to mow constantly. From what I understand, there are some downfalls to it's use if you are not using other chemicals to combat Primos' shortfalls. The turf color fades greatly when PGR's are used regularly and must be constantly offset with 15-0-0 chelated Iron. Also, summer stress is greatly increased with PGR use. Are you looking to reduce mowing intervals, or to suppress existing growth so you can overseed?

Thanks again everyone for your kind words! Tom, I plan on canning various pickles and hopefully A LOT of spaghetti sauce (42 tomato plants in all :-) since we eat that at least once a week. I would love to sell some of the excess, but I don't know what the laws/regulations are for DeLand/ Volusia County. Anyone know? katkin, Scarlett is a toy poodle, Rhett is a Chesapeake Bay Retriever. They are both great dogs and it is so funny to watch them play! Felix, So far I have not added any fertilizer nor chemical pesticides. I just spray with Thuricide about every 10 days or so. When we added leaves, we put about 30 large bags down, then tilled. I did not go through and pick out all the grass, which is why the weeds are CRAZY, but one good thing about doing that was that some of the grass and weeds that were growing did die and were left in the soil to add more organic matter and free plant food :-) I planted so many because I knew weeds would be an issue, and I really didn't know how everything would grow in the newly created bed. I am giving the new plot a year before I expect it to really start producing fruits and veggies! :-D Ok, back to fertilizer, I am planning to put down a mixture of bone/blood meal, lime, potash, and more compost when the growth begins to slow. I also have a large rabbit who contributes daily to the compost pile, and I consider his poop my "secret" ingredient (shh don't tell anyone!). Rabbit manure is even higher in nitrogen than some poultry manures and it also contains a large amount of phosphorus--important for flower and fruit formation. ~Kat~

Susan, When I make my own seed-starting soil-less mix, I normally use equal parts of either coir or sphagnum peat moss, vermiculite and perlite. It probably would work equally well with just coir or peat moss and perlite. When I use peat moss, I normally add a small amount of lime to counteract the acidity of the peat moss. It is always such a relief to me to see seed racks and seed-starting supplies arrive at the stores as it is just a tiny reminder that planting time will be here before we know it. This year our local Home Depot kept seeds and other gardening supplies in the stores much, much deeper into late fall than they normally do. On the ridiculous side of the equation, though, our local stores kept "fall tomatoes" and 4" and 6" pots in stores as late as November, and I'm not sure who that thought would be buying tomato plants after the first frosts had already occurred. (They did cover up the tomato plants and keep them from freezing in October which is an improvement over what they did last February when they let them freeze.) I normally have all my seeds ordered and on hand before most of the seed catalogs hit the mailboxes because, along with the increased interest in gardening, we're seeing a longer waiting period for folks who don't order seeds until January or February. One thing local stores do that really irritates me is that some of them, including Lowe's and Wal-Mart, often either start out with their seed racks outside in the enclosed "garden center" area or they move them out there after the seed racks have been inside for a month or two. I never buy seeds off racks that have been sitting outdoors and exposed to all the outdoor fluctuations in temperature and humidity. A higher sugar content in a given tomato variety is not an issue in and of itself when you are canning tomatoes. What is important is the pH so with some tomatoes that are lower in acidity than the average tomato, you might have an issue. However, the lower-acidity varieties aren't generally used for canning and I believe all tested and approved "safe" recipes include something (vinegar, lime juice, lemon juice, or citric acid) to ensure canned tomatoes are in the proper pH range. Jay, Isn't it sad that soil-less mixes have fallen so far in quality the last few years? It is pathetic that profit is more important than producing a quality product. I gladly pay more for a high-quality seed-starting mix when I find one, but just try finding one now that matches the quality of what was available a decade (or two) ago. Happy Birthday to both you and your sister. Christie, I am in far southern OK (almost in Texas) and I have to drive south about 60-70 miles (or farther) down to the D-FW metro area to find Botanical Interests seeds on the seed racks, which is frustrating. About the only seeds sold in stores around me are either Burpee, Ferry-Morse or Wal-Mart's or Target's own lines of seed. I normally just order the BI seeds I want from their website or catalog (new last year and just as beautiful as their seed packets). Seedmama, I am so jealous that y'all have a source there. We have very few choices here but considering how rural our area is, that's not surprising. Carol, So, now you've developed a "Pro-mix problem" to go along with your "seed problem"? I'm going to assume these were not really humongous bags? Dawn