Chiming in for my own interest as well as to offer a suggestion. Warning: I am a novice - my advice might be detrimental! Hopefully, those with greater expertise can chime in and offer an opinion. I put in a 12 x 10 pond years ago. Did it on the cheap. I used the thickest black plastic on a roll I could find. It is not unlike painter's drop clothes only a lot thicker. Every 2-3 years I have to replace it due to it wearing out or getting holes poked in it by my kids playing around. It was $30 or so for a monstrous roll I still haven't used completely. Why not drain down the pond, muck it out, layer the pond with the cheap liner and see what happens? Full disclosure - I go to the local pet store and buy 25-cent goldfish. The sales people are usually good about letting me select a combination of different markings so my gene pool is diverse. I started with four and had it quickly grow to 40-ish fish. For a while I fed them but found out one winter I didn't have to - I was hospitalized and too infirm to care for them and they survived on the nutrients in the pond. Trees grew over the pond in time and they would muck up the bottom and clog my submersible pumps. Eventually, the shade countered the algae growth and I didn't need to replace the pumps. A small number of plants in pots that were weighted to stay submerge provided a small amount of cover. A shrub rooted near the pond and branches dangled to the ponds surface. I trimmed them but left the shrub for shade/protection. The problems were not health of the water or the fish or the plants. The problems were related to leaves filling the pond and "filling it in" substantially each fall. Until Tulsa changed the chemicals in its water supply. The 110+ degree temps and leaks in the thin-ish liner required fillings 2-3 times a week. I forgot for a week and it got really low. The water I added overwhelmed the existing water, and the chemicals wiped out the remaining dozen fish. The plants didn't seem to mind but I now have a muck-covered liner (several layers of it, actually, as I'd just add the new one on top of the other, figuring the old ones would provide some protection from roots poking through). Is that a practical solution? Buy some cheap CHEAP liner. Connect them to cover the bottom of the pond. Drain and muck out the pond, drop the liner and let it fill in. === Or...fill in a big chunk of it and create a new "wall" out of liner with rocks, backfilling with rock, soil, sand, whatever. Plant plants that don't mind wet feet and let them live in a bed next to a much more manageable pond.

It sounds to me that the soil has hardened and that the water is running around the sides of the root-ball and out the pot. After ten years, I'd certainly expect this to be the case. I've had great success growing Christmas Cactus in a mix that is mostly Orchid Bark (fine grade). It can be watered thoroughly and often, without fear of excess moisture or root-rot. Josh

Here is Sharon (CB) recipe for Braised Red Cabbage. It is absolutely delish! I'm waiting for the weather to get cooler cause I love this stuff and so have my friends. BRAISED SWEET AND SOUR RED CABBAGE Serves 4 - 6 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 onion, sliced 1 large apple, cored and chopped 1 small red cabbage, quartered, cored and thinly shredded - (6 cups shredded) 1 full cup (9 fl oz) apple juice 3 tablespoon balsamic vinegar 1 tablespoon sugar substitute 1 teaspoon sea salt 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 1. Heat the olive oil over a medium-high heat in a deep frying pan. Cook the onion and apple for 5 minutes or until softened. Stir in the cabbage and toss well. Add the apple juice, vinegar, sugar substitute and seasoning and stir. 2. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for 30 minutes or until the liquid reduces completely and the cabbage is tender. Check seasoning and serve. The authorâÂÂs comments: This is a really good, tangy side dish for those who love red cabbage! I halved the recipe for just the two of us but it was so good we nearly finished it all, so no problem with making too much. When finely shredded--with a mandolin--the cabbage measured exactly 3 cups (200 grams) for my halved version. I used one small apple and half an onion but didnâÂÂt reduce the olive oil. Wolf was very pleased with this dish!

Summercloud - We do give the climbers some help - about once a year my DH gets on a ladder (or two) and ties up errant canes. For the largest, heaviest ones, he uses hardware which is supposed to be for hitching horses. It is a metal plate with 4 holes for screws, and then a heavy round link is suspended from that - that is heavy duty enough to hold the weight of the heaviest ones. He is a contractor, and is very careful and knowledgeable about how to attach the plates to the shingles without damaging them. The roses don't damage the shingles, but at the very top of the wall of the house where it runs into the soffit, some have tried to grow up through the roof (banksia lutea did that, and the little cane which stuck through the roof bloomed, which is how we noticed it 3 1/2 stories up!). For your shed, I agree with everything BirdsLoveRosesSoCalCoast said, except that I think you should get LOCAL advice re smaller ramblers or climbers which would work best in your climate & damp & wet conditions. California is so dry and hot in the summer that I cannot give you any specific recommendations. Just remember to find out whether the roses you may consider are once blooming (like Vielchenblau), or repeat blooming, so you are not disappointed. Your local Rose Society is a good source of info. Or, walk around your neighborhood/town, and see if you can find roses eating small sheds like yours. Jackie