bboy, gardenper: > or if it is too big to lend itself to this I would just buy a new one next year. Especially if it is not a rare one but rather one of the common and inexpensive types (are you asking about a Salvia or an Artemisia?). I don't know what type it is, I'll find out tomorrow. The bush belongs to a friend who is going to throw it away. I would really like to have fresh herbs on hand, so I offered to adopt the plant. I'm new to gardening, not familiar with propagating cuttings, and want a productive herb plant. tapla: > Repot into a very fast draining soil I read that as a recommendation for the gritty mix. Will the gritty mix work for thai chili and chives as well? > dose with a fertilizer with an appropriate NPK ratio (RATIO is different than NPK %s) I have Miracle-GRO All Purpose 24-8-16. It contains trace amounts of B, Cu, Fe, Mn, Mo, Zn. Will this work? > Do you know the Latin binomial name for your plant so we can get an idea of how hardy it might be? I have not seen the plant yet. I'll find out tomorrow. > The indoor over-winter idea won't fly. The plant will perform poorly in the next growth cycle, and likely collapse completely, w/o a cold winter rest. If you had a friend with a north balcony, you could put the plant in an opaque storage container and situate it so the open end of the container is against the outside wall of the building. That would keep the temp inside the box several *s above ambient temps. > A south balcony is a poor place to over-winter anything temperate. Pots dormant plants in quiescence will be stimulated to growth by several days of soil temps in the mid-upper 40s. Once the initiation of growth occurs, the plant loses almost all resistance to temps below freezing, so it's best to keep them shaded on the N side of a building, or somewhere cold that won't be influenced by solar heat gain. I read that as: "The plant needs to hibernate for 3 months. Vegetative growth during winter low-light will sap the energy reserves of the plant and make it sick. Plant will die upon exposure to bright light/hight heat in the spring (transpiration stress)." requirements -- solutions: Maintain constant light level to prevent growth in winter -- opaque container blocks all light Hold soil temp above 32 and below 45 -- trap heat in an enclosed airspace, use residual heat from building Can I simulate a North balcony by staging a square spot on my SE balcony, blocking all light with a tarp and insulating with straw? That will reduce warming due to sun exposure. The ambient air temp will be the same on both a N and SE balcony. How often do I need to water the plant if it does not get any light? Ben

Despite the original posters overly extensive post, with certain questionable content, the central point is still quite vaild. We as a nation spend more money on grass than on any other crop. That by itself should be reason enough. Read up on the history of lawns and you'll find that they were orginally created as a means of demonstrating wealth (aka, I have this big area and I can afford to do nothing with it except grow grass I can't eat) Regarding the comments of junegem13 and zachslc, you might want to read up on the legal history of this movement. As it turns out, most weed laws (ones based on hight, not on noxious weeds) are unconstitutional. Nonetheless, if you are in a city or subdivision and decide to do a wildflower meadow where there is not an reasonable ordinance, then you should notify your neighbors and the city about why you are doing and the legal preceedants. The EPA has all this information. Regarding property values, that was the original complaint neighbors made against one landowner when she converted her lawn into meadow. When they were unable to demonstrate an actual decrease in property values, the city ordinance was ruled unconstitutional. Afterwards, the neighbors decided if they couldn't beat her that they'd join her and replace their own yards with meadows. Property values in that one neighborhood are now some of the highest in the city (Specific names and places, are available if you want them). Time and time again, lawn alternatives done correctly have shown to raise values, not lower them. In Charlottesville, VA local government is working on an ammendment to exclude native meadows from our weed ordinance. Other cities are doing the same very quicky, especially since the weed ordinance as written by many localites constitutes a legal liability to local governments.

Check out Edible Landscaping in Afton VA. He has plenty of low spray fruiting plants and many types of figs available. If your yard is small I would say you'd want to have different cultivars of everything you plant so that you can stretch the harvest season. I grow the bush cherries. In full sun they eventually taste like pie cherries, in part sun they taste more like wild plums. I'm in zone 7b (Raleigh NC) and all of mine catch some sort of disease every year that disfigures the leaves a bit and sometimes the fruit also. I grow them mainly for the blooms in the spring. A very ornamental bush. I have raspberries and blackberries that only need to be pruned - I never spray them. There are cultivars of apples and pears that require very little spraying (if any) but they are often not the tastiest or best looking. You just have to try things in your yard and be prepared to rip something out and try another variety until you find something that works for you.

I'm addicted ! i have a very small backyard so most of my trees are in large pots , some for 3 years . I live in Gold Canyon (east valley (most are 2-3 years old already and many are fruiting ) here is what I have : Anna Apple orange li jujube pinapple guava 5 ice cream banana trees pomegranite blackberry bush Pink guava white sapote Glenn mango coconut mango loquat acerola bush lemon elderberry bush moringa mexicola avacado Addicted ! Yes ! I love it ! they grow just fine here . Just take some time and care .