Experts agree don't top your tree Around here I see old large water oaks die all the time from topping. Most tree trimming services don't care one bit if your tree dies or is damaged in future years, they just want the money. Over the last several years I've probably counted 7+ Large Water oaks die from topping and the entire tree has to be cut down by the end of the year. It's not smart for the people calling for topping, and not smart at all or just non-caring from the trimming service. And trees that can survive that are lucky will have a lot of weakness from the poor weak branch attachments, disease attacks, and rot can get in. Also the top trees that could survive are now like the infamous Bradford pears with all the narrow twiggy branches crowded on the stub ends and spit off very easy in a storm leading to more rot and damage. All this make the tree more and more unhealthy and they can decline fast. Why Topping Hurts and can Kill Trees: Why Topping is Bad Why Topping is Bad "Eight Good Reasons (NADF, 1989) to NOT "Top": Starvation: topping removes so much of the crown that it upsets the crown-to-root ratio and limits the food-making ability of the tree. Shock: the canopy of leaves casts shade on the internal branches. Topping removes the shade and exposes the internal bark to sun scald. Pests and Disease: topped branches have large wounds that cannot seal nor defend the wound from insects and decay. Weak Limbs: new sprouts develop at the edges of the cut branches, and are weakly attached. If the stub rots, the sprouts will break even sooner. Rapid New Growth: height control by topping is doomed to fail. The new branches grow fast and furiously to the original height, but much more crowded. Tree Death: some species, e.g. beech, do not tolerate topping and the reduced foliage may cause the tree to die. Ugliness: topped trees are so disfigured that they will never recover their original grace. Cost: topping can be done quickly because good decisions about pruning are not needed. But trees that die will need replacement, the ugly trees reduce property values, the dead stubs become liabilities, and more maintenance will be needed."

Azaleas have growth buds all along their stems just under the bark surface - new growth will sprout from just below any cut you make. I think you'd be happier with these in their setting if you didn't attempt a formal sheared hedge approach, better would be to selectively prune stems to the height you want. Cut back a little lower than you want the plants to grow, healthy well established azaleas will quickly return to their pre-pruning height. Your azaleas have set their buds for next Springs blooms, so be aware that while it won't damage the plants, pruning now will remove most of the flower display for next season. The ideal time to prune is immediately following Spring flowers.

If you are a film person try using a polorizing filter. It will allow for greater color saturation and it will filter out noise or scattered light. It will remove reflected light thereby enhancing the colors of leaves, rocks, roofs, etc, etc. Over water you can chose to filter or not depending upon the affect you wish. This filter coupled with an SLR gives you realtime saturation viewing, you can dial in the amount you want. When using it, it works best at an angle 90 degree to the sun. As to composition, I try to view scenes from strange or uncommon angles or aspects. this gives me an image that is uniquely mine and does not look like a just another post card. also try changing up on f stop for a more intimate affect or when shooting water, and use wide angle lenses for close-ups. You can try subtle filtering that enhance the scene, but I stay away from filters that dominate or radically change the view. I shoot hundreds and maybe one is a wall hanger, but what a wall hanger it is. Find one camera you like, one film you like and shoot like there ain't no tomorrow. You will be pleasantly astounded some day while going through your thousands pictures.

ROOTING ROSES with soft-wood cuttings IN LESS THAN 2 MONTHS. I'm in zone 5a, Chicagoland. Roses die to the crown through winter, and don't sprout new canes until May. Below rootings are from softwood & new growth. Soft-wood needs FAST DRAINAGE, so I use 1/3 perlite, 1/3 vermiculite, 1/3 sand or peaty potting soil. I drilled extra holes on the side of pots for fast drainage. First I top with my high magnesium clay, later on I top with high-nitrogen black peat compost. Watering is done once a day with acidic rain-water plus soaked red-lava for potassium. Soft-wood cuttings need more sun (at least 4 hrs.) to prevent fungal rot. Also pots are under a Norway spruce trees to shelter them from heavy rain that rot roots. These pots receive 10 to 20% of rain. I also put them ON TOP OF BRICKS to prevent roots of tree from crawling upward into pots. Below pic. is Evelyn from a rooting taken from a cutting 2 months ago. Since it's in partial shade, leaf-cutter bees ate the leaves. Rooting softwood is different from hardwood. Softwood requires more sun and I CANNOT COVER with plastic (they rot). But hardwood can be PARTIALLY covered with plastic to create more humidity, see below picture from below link (by Pamela), using coffee-cup (with plastic lid), but there's a hole to allow air to get it. https://www.flowerpatchfarmhouse.com/rooting-roses-from.../ Differences between soft-wood and hard-wood rooting: Soft-wood cuttings needs to be soaked for 1 day with alkaline tap water, rooting hormone is NOT necessary if the end is wounded. Soft-wood's leaves wilt easily with acidic rain. Soft-wood needs a FAST-DRAINING & fluffy medium such as perlite & potting soil, plus vermiculite to retain nutrients. Soft-wood also needs alkaline pH (more lime added). Soft-wood rots easily if the medium is acidic. Soft-wood also rots if covered with a plastic bag, best rooted in open air. Soft-wood also needs more sun to grow leaves. Below are my soft-wood rootings receiving only 10 to 20% of rain since heavy rain rots the rootings easily. HARD-WOOD rooting: needs longer-soak in acidic rain-water, plus rooting hormone to develop roots. Needs a wetter medium (such as 3/4 sand & 1/4 to 1/3 peatmoss), needs more shade, best with high humidity such as a plastic cover. To soak, see below link: "A long soak of the cuttings in one inch of below solution for 12-25 hours. Rates if you use Rhizopon AA Water Soluble Tablets: 1-2 tablets per liter of water." http://www.rooting-hormones.com/rose.htm Fat bud on a rooting done in less than 2 months. The secret is red-lava rock watering for potassium. Learn that tip from HMF Jay-Jay in the Netherlands ... he grows roses from seeds, using red-lava-sand. Below are my rootings done a few years ago under a spruce tree to block out heavy rain: