It isn't just the heat, 7% humidity I think is even worse. For a few years I've been experimenting with marginals and other plants growth in a water tight container. I've been trying to learn what works where. Cannas, Iris and tomato all slowly go down hill through summer in full sun. Pretty ugly, but alive. Much better if shaded part of the day. Too much shade and growth isn't good, few if any blooms. In a perfect world shade could be added in summer and full sun the rest of the year. Tomato was pretty worthless though. Along the line of Egyptian papyrus I've found Umbrella Palm (maybe Cyperus alternifolius or Cyperus involucratus, not sure) did super all summer in full sun. I got it out of a neighbor's yard. A surprising number of marginals are grown here in yards. Many marginals are adapted to store water for lean periods. Following that line I've been using nut sedge with very good results. Bright green, full when planted in mass, all summer full sun. It's a mondograss look alike. I'm trying mint right now and so far so good. Giant Reed, Arundo donax does great. Here some strangeness...I've been growing a several Chilean mesquite trees from seed in 5 gal buckets, clay soil, no drainage. These are watered everyday, but not to the point of standing surface water. When I've removed one from a pot there were roots down to the bottom of the bucket in standing water. Long term I assume some bacteria is going to get the upper hand, but it's been over a year and so far they're doing very well. Same for a few Fan Palms. Elephant's Food, Portulacaria afra doing well in no drainage. And it can be Bonsai. Pencil cactus, Euphorbia tirucalli, (not a real cactus) has done well no drainage. I would try any plant. Cactus is on my todo list. As McKool said, crown above water level for marginals is best, but really true for these non-marginals. And I can't expect these are always going to do great, rot is an issue. But if I can get some good years out of them I'm going for it. Gardening here is like being on another planet. I threw away my Sunset Western Gardener book which I relied on in San Jose CA.

Re clear ponds. Cliff and joann's pond has been going great guns for years. Note how clear their water is. Most people are looking for that. My approach might not be suitable up north. I am in North Carolina zone 7. the pond freezes over in the winter. I have a stream with tons of plants as well as lillies and aquarium type oxygen generating plants in the pond. I only have goldfish that I specifically got to see motion to indicate depth of clarity. I only have a pump and a perhaps not working skippy filter. I believe almost all of my filtration is coming from the multiple plant root masses in the stream. My pond is completely clear. In past years I had a good deal of string algee, but in this 4th year there is NO algee. I don't intentionally do water changes either, although there is sometimes a leak in the stream where the liner has sagged or a dog or person has crushed the edge. These leaks are usually small but take a week or two to find while I use added water every few days to top off the pond. I think the plants are THE answer.

My thoughts on this was that watering could be controlled in a pot - roots would not dry out [I wonder if sometimes watering unestablished plants in the ground....they dont get water to all the root system, helping those feeder roots to grow] and I do, when the plants are leafed out, add a teensy bit of fish emulsion to my water and I have seen them take off. Last year......I got in a bareroot that I really, really wanted. I soaked it overnight, dug a perfect hole, filled it with perfect soil, doted on it constantly and watched it, mulched the bare canes.....and it never really started growing properly, tiny little leaves, it never took off and despite my best efforts, it croaked. A couple of others did the same......I just felt that for whatever reason - the potted ones did better, gained some root strength and were able to go in the ground and then continue growing with the root system they had produced. I plant my old garden roses directly in the ground - like Archduke Charles, Hermosa, Penelope, etc. - and they do fine. I just have not had great success doing it with hybrid teas, floribundas and even a few Austins. But Lady of Megginch was put directly in the ground and did great [by the way, never see her mentioned, but this was a really swell rose - bloomed alot, beautiful blooms, doesnt seem to put out those octopus canes - I really do like mine!]. But Leander didnt even break dormancy nor did Darcy Bussell [kudos to D. Austin, they are replacing them]. I grow out all my bands in 1 gallon pots - I have already had to move Pink A Boo and Mme. Charles up to a 4 gallon. I guess because of the success I have had with bareroots in pots......I tend toward that potting method. But sure do appreciate hearing from all ya'll about what works for you........And those of you who pot - do you have anything special you do for your potted roses? Judith

What I have seen happen, around here, with new developments is someone comes in and strips the "topsoil" to go to some other development and then after the houses are built they haul in more "topsoil" and spread a thin layer and either lay sod or seed that. Then people try to keep that lawn growing by pouring a lot of "fertilizer" on it which can make for a lush green, but sick lawn with numerous problems that then need pesticides to control. Short of tilling in what yuu have and starting over spreading compost is a good idea, mulch mow the grass to recycle in place those grass clippings which will help add more organic matter to the soil. If you have deciduous trees those leaves that fall from them every year can be mulch mowed in to provide evenmore organic matter. What organic matter will do in sandy soils is help keep moisture and nutrients in the root zone so the grass plants can be fed by the soil bacteia that digest that organic matter. In clay soils the OM seperates the soil particles so the plants roots can move about more freely and makes moisture and nutrients more readily available. Compost tea can provide some bacteria, and nutrients, tht would then feed on the organic matter in the soil. However, soils lacking sufficient levels of OM won't have much of anything for those bacteria to feed on so spraying the compost tea would be, largely, a waste of time, energy, and maybe money. Molasses can provide a food source for soil bacteria, if they are present because of adequate levels of organic matter. Spraying molasses onto soils lacking sufficient amounts of organic matter will not do much except waste your time, energy, and money.