Dee, I don't mind at all.. :-) First of all, I called Johnny's Seeds to ask them about it because they offer a number of cover crop seeds and I had all the same questions you do. I tried the Hairy Vetch for the first time last fall and it was late when I put it in. I tried this particular one, because I have raised beds and no machinery and I would be turning it under by hand. I also wanted something that would break down and not keep coming back on me. Oh..wow...my new garden journal system just worked for me. I was able to pull up the file and find the date I sowed the hairy vetch in about 2 minutes..lol. It was October 6th of last year. I think they told me at Johnny's that if it germinated, it would make it through the winter and I could leave it to grow and then turn it under. Which is about what happened. I turned it under on May 26th. It broke down very quickly. As a matter of fact, I was getting a late start with my tomatoes but I put seedlings in those containers about 2 weeks later and they were great. It wasn't all the way broken down by then but it was fine. I could have turned it in earlier if I wanted to. I put some in large containers last year too and those I was able to turn over easily with a trowel. This year, I was able to sow one raised bed that the string beans came out of by Sept 20th and it germinated in about a week I think and there is a good stand of it right now. I also waited on the rest of my beds because they still have tomatoes ripening in them. Pretty sure you could also sow some in the spring. I may still try to sow more in the tomatoe beds next week after I pull all the tomatoes out. May be too late for it to germinate, but just as an experiment I may try it. I will try to post a photo of my bed of hairy vetch for you. I am hooked on using it now. I use most of my beds for tomatoes and they are always late coming out and I like to get an early start on them by planting by early to mid May. So I am not sure how I can do what I usually do yet. If it won't germinate this late, then I will try sowing it very early in the spring...March? And see if I can get enough growth and turned in by May 1st? I have my doubts though. I may have to do a couple of beds each year instead of all of them every year. Hope that helps....pm2

ego..It will be shaded by a maple tree that will lose it's leaves in the fall. But it would be under the dripline of the maple, so I suppose the branch structure might provide a little shade. I was thinking of trying wilt pruff on a number of shrubs next winter. I had dieback on a Juniper on the tips and one other boxwood, the english boxwood, not this one that I am moving. The location I am moving it to, is not ideal at all, but I have this boxwood that I would probably give away or throw away otherwise. I really want to put something in that location and it is too shady for most everything. Taxus was one I was considering but they take so long to reach any height and this boxwood is already almost the size I need for that area. Thanks ego...water water water and wilt pruff in the fall..I will let you know how it works out. :-)

Right now is the time to plant bulbs. I planted 700 tulips last year and lots of people would stop by to let me know they were taking the long way home to pass by and see the garden. It was a lot of fun. I just added some bagged top soil and compost without really bothering too much about quantities. You plant them at twice the depth of the size of each bulb - I mean, if the bulb is 2 inches in diameter, you plant them 6 inches deep. Good luck! And don't forget to add bone meal to the planting holes. I actually finished planting late October last year. You have to plant before the first frost. And please get one of these bulb planters you step on. They are so much better than digging by hand. Though when you find a stone, it's always a pain.

Hi Steve, Welcome home! Believe it or not I was thinking about you a little over a week ago! I collected seed from the Lavatera this year, and when I googled it to be sure I was remembering the right species, guess what popped up! Your site! Was glad to see you were posting more again--and wondering how your Commuting Relationship is going--and, do you have gardens on both ends now? I really just came to say, hi! Not sure I can help you with your question since I'm not a Shrub Person, but with perennials, they can be planted absolutely any time the soil's not frozen, so I'd be inclined to say that if they're not too big, I don't see why you couldn't move them now. If it were me I'd probably watch the weather and look for a time when you should be getting at least a couple nites that will be above freezing right after you transplant them, but I'm not sure if that would make any difference or not! Hopefully somebody with a little more shrub-sense will show up with some additional/better advice! Hope all is going well with you, and that we'll see you around here a little more, Skybird