Hey Everyone, Thanks, again. I have more comments/questions throughout at ***** and at the end based on your latest round of discussion. lpinkmountain Thanks for the article. I hate for that tree to go, but think that it would look betterand I could replace it w/ something else like a cute red bud tree Ive heard about that newspaper planting. It sounds too good to be true! But, heck, maybe Ill try it. The ground in Tn is so hardso much clay! BarefootinCT. I love, love, love your house/garden. ***Do you have other photos I could look at? (Yellow is sort of my "dream" color. They always look happy to me and if I had my druthersor money, more correctlyI would redo this house.) Is there a path between the foundation plantings and this welcome garden? You said it spilled out of the foundation, but I cant quite imagine it. Ive attempted my first Paint drawing of what Im thinkingbutis the bed by the stone path a bedor just plantings? I dont want it to look like an island in the middle of the yard. *****Can you (or anyone) think of another thing we could do to simulate sidelights or add interest/width? Im just thinking that a new door/cutting the house wider is a bigger task than I want to take on(Im having a hard time getting hand people/builders here!!!) Some people have door frames hereand I have about 10 inches on each sidebut I guess it would look weird to only frame part of it. I mean, the purpose of the sidelight is to add more width and give the door more presence and visually shift it closer to center, right? Can you keep the door and just buy a sidelight thing? Saypoint Thanks for those links. I have spent a lot of time looking for plants. Its the deciding that kills me. Or deciding and then not finding it. I plan to go to the nursery today and just see whats thereand see what they might get in (Its hard for me, too, to be patient because Im a teacher and once school hits my life is pretty much over. I am trying to work less, however, but you knowyouth of the nation and all thatpretty important and hard to say "no" to!) *****You said.."A common mistake when putting in paths or walks is to put them so close to the house that you can't plant anything more than a couple feet wide in the pocket that remains, so keep that in mind." Sorry Could you clarify? The pocket that remains? Does the drawing I attempted work in this regard? *******For nowuntil I see plant availI am thinking of 5 or 6 shrubs that are evergreen and have structure (e.g., yew, laurel), a large holly for the corner of the house (or something else green and tall, but that doesnt need loads of light) and some little annuals. Not sure what would go between the yew/Laurel and annuals maybe something like Nandina which does well here, but Im not sure those colors of yellow/red would do well with the house and other colors. On the tiny welcome plot by the walkway, Im thinking just things like daisies and some little grasses, maybe bulbs in the winter/spring and pansies in the winter. Would it be better to have something more substantial but compact like heather or compact laurel? I prefer not to use annuals if I cantoo much work, reallybut I do like the punch of color they bring! Chelone Thanks for the encouragement. If you look at my photobucket links, you can get a sense of things inside the house. The house is smalland if we move the door to the side, people would walk in and have to take a sharp left as theyd "hit" the dining room table. Currently, you walk in the front and have an open path by the table. (I would add that I just knocked down a kitchen wall to open the sight line when you walk in the current door. We closed off the side door to create a galley kitchen insideor we willif any construction person ever calls me back.) See the photos at: http://s77.photobucket.com/albums/j49/andi956/ As far as using a front porch, I doubt we wouldand I dont feel the need for privacy really as we pretty much live in the large, fenced back yard. The street is nothing to look at, you see. Make sense? Karinl- Keeping me on task, are you? LOL. Thanks. I appreciate being reminded to slow down. Ive been thinking about all this for so long that it makes me nutsand I want to have it now. YesI dream of some kind of flagstone pathcottagey. (When I knock down the sealed up chimney that just into the kitchen the space will be used to house the fridge which opens up space for a row of cabinets opposite.)Its likely that I could use the chimney brick for a "grilling station" in the back.) ****What color stone would be best with my house/plant colors? I tend to like the sandy colorslight brownsmaybe with some gray, but all gray feels a bit cold to me. Yet, maybe thats better? Lazygardens Well, it looks weird on my house, but is common in my neighborhood. For some houses it looks ok, cute even. I just cant figure out why mine doesnt seem so cute. Hopefully the landscaping will help. And we may build a mud room or something onto the left side of the houseone daybut its low priority, mostly due to money and because we need a bath on the *other* side of the house first. (In fact, its possible well move!) OK would you all indulge me in a few more thoughts: 1. We are now feeling like the tree will goand perhaps, in its place, well plant a red bud tree. 2. I am thinking of the best path to the front door. Many people park in front of the house, some park in the driveway. I had put this little bed by the side fence because the concrete/blacktop there was so patchyand its not a dream, obviously. Maybe next year I can add lots of flowers (e.g., daisies, purple cone flowersomething that can stand being next to the blacktop but its tricky because then it will grow into the driveway In fact, I wish the fence line were set in a bit more!). Now Im thinking that it might make sense to take off one the far left section of the fence to widen that space so you dont have to zig zag around it to get to the steps. Maybe Id hang a bucket of flowers right thereor something to designate the entrance. 3. Can folks recommend colors for house trim and why certain colors would "work" or not. The blue is sort of happy to me, reallybut is bright, I admit. I thought about something that would match the siding, but I hate the house color, soo Out by the fence in frontIm not sure how I would mulch on the slight slopemaybe try those plastic edging things that hammer into the ground to keep the mulch in its place? 5. Final votes on porch shape? A small gable or a flat but wider porchand why? Gonna try to add a link, but here's the photobucket page in case http://s77.photobucket.com/albums/j49/andi956/ Thanks, everyone!

I'm not an expert but like astrl said you need to cut off the damaged portion. Cut it back till you get to healthy white tissue with latex seeping. Dust the cut end with a fungicide and allow it to dry. Some people recommend sealing the cut with latex caulk. Good luck. From the pic it looks like there's a good amount of healthy stem left.

Suska6184, I was concerned about openign and closing these large drawers too. I visited a local showroom that had several banks of 42" and 48" drawers. I spent a whole day cooking and doing normal stuff in these kitchens, and I am sold. They were light and easy to open, all of them had blumotion and they worked so smoothly. It also allowed all the utensils I use to be at easy view level without having to shuffle through a drawer. I tend to be very regimented in the order that I put things. I am a scientist by training and these are similar to drawers that I had in the labs except not as large. Most drawers in my lab used to be 36-39" wide. Also, love the large lab sinks for this reason. I throughly agree on the pull out pantry though. I found the 15" pantry rather small. The 18" pantry was much more useful and seemed to hold more stuff and more sizes. Mackswim, I think you should really consider some small and narrow cabinets next to the hood because of glassware storage. Regarding the drop zone, will there be a wall that boundaries the 24" drawer to the left? If so, I wonder if the liebherr would create a visual stop. Just a thought. I think you can use that 24" cabinet differently. Bringing the fridge to the end of the wall and making the pantries a little larger would be great. Also, you have this great open space next to the fridge and stove. Do you have space in your island for a 6" cabinet to store trays and chopping boards and the like? I don't know where you are located but I spent about a month going to different showrooms to envision myself using many of these systems before I decided on them. My construction process starts in April and we hope to be done in August. Getting all the design and decisions made early are really important to me. A suggestion I say in a magazine has to do with a tilting pull out pantry that would make it easier to see the contents of the pantry. I will have to find a link to that system. Just some more ideas to complicate your decision making:-) Good luck!

Hi again! Beautiful picture! :) TY! I'm using my phone to do this. I just tried to post a pic straight by taking the picture and it just goes back to the main page. Whenever I try to either take a pic or upload, I get the 4 options to use camera, camcorder, voice recorder or documents. My pics r in the documents and I've tried to just post from the camera, but it goes straight back to the main question pg, like I haven't done anything,!! I'm wondering if I need to download something else? It's not letting me to the chrome extension,! I'll report now. Sooo, the vines are ALL OVER, but now the bottom little "clusters", kind of like a giant blackberry & the bottom round parts, are turning black one by one! The tops r still green w purple tip. Doesn't smell like anything I know! My twitter handle is @DrBrittGalb & I've posted pics on there for help!! & IG, drbrittgalandlunablupom (drbrittandlunablu) Im new to it, so I'm not sure which name, lol. Thank u SOO MUCH for ur help,! They are taking over everything now so I REALLY need to figure out if I should move them or not! Can't get to other blooming plants! Ttys! Britt