I'm new to this too. I tried a few different recipes, colours and molds before making a large trough. The large one is till curing, but here are the others I made. All this plus a trough twice the size of these from one bag of cement. The two bigger ones in the picture were made outside a cardboard box covered in plastic. That worked well, but might have worked better if I'd filled the box with sand since the sides tended to push in. The other three were built outside bricks coated in plastic. They proved very difficult to release and one of them cracked in half (the one at the front, mortared back together). The bricks have no give and so any slight irregularity binds tight. I made the large trough inside a wooden former, again coated in plastic. Forming inside gives a slightly different look to forming outside and you might want to roughen the exterior after you release. I have tried these recipes: Cement:Peat:Sand:Vermiculite 1:1:1:1 This is my favourite recipe. It is strong, light enough for my needs, and I like the appearance. The trough on the right. Cement:Peat:Sand:Perlite 1:1:1:1 Not so good. A little lighter but probably not as strong. The appearance is too smooth for my taste. The trough on the left, stained. Cement:Sand:Vermiculite 1:2:3 This really is a lightweight concrete, not hypertufa. The proportions should be OK, but it is either curing very slowly or is very weak. Very pale colour, like regular concrete, might be good with a stain or dye. The small trough at the back with a little ferrous sulphate in the mix to give a slight pink blush. All these recipes include sand because I want enough strength to survive the wet and freeze/thaw conditions here. The sand adds quite a bit to weight. You might choose to use a mesh inserr of glass fibres instead to get flex strength and resistance to cracking with less weight.

Soft-wood cuttings in June (bend a twig - when it just snaps, it's ready) is best from my experience, George - but I must tell you a short story. Years ago I worked at a public garden near Annapolis, Maryland. We grew many Camellias. One day I carried a pail of water to the collection to get a few cuttings. I took maybe 2 dozen, & dropped them in the pail to keep them fresh 'til I got 'round to sticking them. I put the pail in a shed & immediately forgot about them. Opened the shed door 2 months later. Surprised to see the forgotten Camellia cuttings, I found they had nearly ALL grown roots in the pail (no hole in this bucket). Not, however, the recommended technique!

Sorry on the zone thing...farmland south of San Antonio, Tx is our location. Thanks for trying to help and responding so quickly. Tis not cold here...quite the opposite. I've tried sun, half-day sun, semi-shade over the past month (each method about 7-10 days at a time) with no improvement where ever I put them. I think am correctly watering (moist not soaked) and fine-mist spray my fuchsias each morn as it is very dry here. Fertilize once every 7-10 days. This is very frustrating. Should I cut it back hard, bring inside, and hope? Only the top 1/3 of each stem/branch has leaves and blooms and this "strange leaf problem" is continuing to progress upwards to the remaining leaves. :-( On another topic, I recently purchased "diatomaceous earth-organic grade" (dust form) and "beneficial nematodes" (spray into soil form) to help control fleas, June bugs, and other nuisance pests from my yard. When I get ready to use these products, are my fuchsias safe? Can I dust/spray them with these?

This is very similar to the situation that I had last summer. Same era and type of houses. My neighbors (whose garage was only 1 foot from the shared property line, and only 12 feet from my house) wanted to build a 2nd story onto the garage, and extend the structure both in front and in back (which would have brought the rear corner to within just a few inches of the line since their house did not sit square on the property). I had also had some difficulty with them because of trash issues but tried not to let that influence my feelings about the addition. So, I also was concerned about the loss of light and having a view of only the side of their house rom the dining, living and 2 bedrooms (they are close now, but with the garage placement I do get light and see sky and trees). I wasn't sure it would be putting that side of the house in constant shade, but it seemed like it would and I was concerned. This neighbor told me that I shouldn't care because in another, newer suburb, the houses were all constructed like that (which could be why I don't live in that suburb). . I wrote a letter to the board in charge of the zoning variance permit and simply told them why I was concerned. I did not come out and say that I was opposed but had these concerns. The board did take that as an objection and had quite a discussion at the meeting (I read the minutes later). One board member pointed out that although they may think that they will be there a long time, they possibly won't but the changes would affect my house forever and perhaps my home's marketability. They did not approve the variance, the neighbor blamed me, but he chose to sell in order to get the bigger house that they needed. Turns out though, that the addition would have violated state fire code (too close to the property line) and could not have been approved anyway. I have very nice neighbors now, very glad that I didn't have to find out if my fears were founded or not. You have more room between your houses; I wonder if there is a way to figure out if the proposed addition would block much light?