Definitely read Al's primer on container trees. Where exactly in Texas are you (I'm in Houston). What do you mean by "the roots are still turning up clay soil"? Do you have 2 feet X 3 feet of open ground space? If the trees are dead and these are just roots left behind, this would make a *perfect* space for a raised bed. Seriously, perfect. If you can afford large clay pots, you really should spring for them. The big black plastic pots absorb all the solar radiation and bake the roots in the south. If you can't do that, making plywood boxes to or even using some opaque cloth to shade the plastic from the sun would help a lot. A lot of the excessive moisture loss has nothing to do with the temperature of the air, but rather the temperature of the roots. Be more detailed about the yellowing leaves, because I couldn't get a good sense of what you mean. Pictures would be really helpful. The most common yellowing problems for citrus are due to secondary and micronutrient deficiencies (magnesium, iron, manganese, zinc are the most common). Is the yellowing in between the veins, with the veins remaining green. This is called interveinal chlorosis, or christmas tree chlorosis. Does it start on the oldest leaves and progress up the tree? This is usually magnesium deficiency. Is the yellowing on the newest growth, and interveinal? This is usually iron deficiency. The brown squiggly lines sounds like leafminers. Most experts agree that this is almost entirely an aesthetic problem on otherwise healthy trees - the leaves still work, they're just ugly. But on trees that are already highly stressed, this is a major problem. Ants do not prey on red spidermites (oh how I wish..). Heavy rain usually results in major spidermite mortality though, especially if all the leaves are exposed to it. If you have spidermites on any of your plants, you need to get rid of them.. they can't handle the stress on top of everything else. All you need to do is give your plants a serious bath, focusing on the underside of the leaves, as often as you can. A forceful stream of water is all that's need to kill or remove spidermites. Insecticidal soap or horticultural oils are very effective, but you have to apply them at night because citrus is very susceptible to phytotoxicity. I don't want to overwhelm you, but there's quite a bit you can learn about an ideal container soil. I've linked another of Al's (Tapla) epic posts that has transformed that way a lot of us container garden. If it's too much for you to absorb at once, just take away this - the 2" layer of pebbles and gravel does not improve drainage... it actually makes conditions worse for your plants.

I agree with Rott, however now the City is involved in the dispute. If you give the city officials who visit you enough ammunition to educate the people they report to re: their own municipal standards for composting, it will most likely take care of the problem if you following the composting guidelines. You don't want to make a "lid" however, if you simply lay another pallet on top, both light and water will get in the bin and screen it a bit and still create good compost. It's a thought. I don't know the height of your homes, or your restrictions for screening, but you could consider planting a cheap hedge. My immediate neighbors party 24/7 on the front lawn with about 20 other men. Day and night. Not too loud but whenever I go outside they are all there staring at me,cat calls and other rudeness. Nothing can be done except HEDGE. I can't wait until it's cool enough to plant a very fast growing hedge, since I can not install a tall fence in that area. My property is very large for an urban property and my front yard equals the width of 3 normal small front yards. All of it is gardened - one purely veggies ringged in flowers, the other a potager and the third is mostly herbs (although looks like a flower garden). The garden has inspired 4 neighbors to remove lawns and plant gardens, and a 5th is planning on it this fall (out of 11 people on our end of the street besides us). Everyone loves it!

It's the particular cultivars that you should be concerned about, not especially the grower. Many evergreens are quite hardy. Often, it is good to google a variety and see if someone in a colder zone is growing it successfully. (Unfortunately, that info is not always available, and experiences are sometimes contradictory. We in the North are constantly wondering what will grow well here.) Remember too that being dormant doesn't guarantee a vigorous plant. Surely you aren't that cold in the winter; what is your zone? In terms of growers, I don't like to plug particular ones, but others will give plenty of suggestions. Recently, there have been posts on Ridaught and Maryotts (later shipment, so I wouldn't order there in the spring). Do some homework, as sometimes a particular grower will have a hefty price on a cultivar that someone else has for much less. Note such things as flower size and scape height too. I have only so much room for the shorter ones. Don't be deceived by fancy pictures! I would not order from the lily auction unless you are knowldegeable and dead set on a particular cultivar; you will end up with scattered purchases and hefty shipping charges. Choose a grower or two from which you can order several cultivars. There will be a lot more advice.

Before I gave away my bonsai collection, I had a dwarf ulmus parvifolia-Chinese elm!! Maybe they have a smaller version of the typical one for use in your garden? I was also thinking about trees with weeping habits that might work for you, but I have no idea if they are small or if they are even appropriate for this zone. Besides the Mayten, I was thinking of all the different trees in the Myrtaceae family (myrtle, melaleuca, eucalyptus...) and maybe even the dwarf weeping willow-- Salix caprea pendula. Then I decided that there must be a ton of good choices out there, so I did a quick google image search and look at what there was!!! http://images.google.com/images?um=1&tab=wi&client=firefox-a&hl=en&hs=ONr&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&q=weeping%20tree%20small you'll probably have to copy and paste the link, but it is worth it :)