There's only one place that I know of in the entire metro (atlanta) area that carries katsura and it is a very upscale garden center in an expensive part of town. They carry a lot of trees that are popular in the north and their prices are reasonable if not actually low and the service can be best catagorized as very good - excellent. Just one problem, this place on more than one occasion has boasted how their trees are heavily fertilized. I overlooked it the first time to buy one tree there, a ginkgo and that tree is now suffering from the result of what I believe to be something that was overfertilized in the field. I recently called to see if they had something else and when I asked about the size they assured me it would grow quickly because "it's been heavily, heavily fertilized". No warranties there. I know of only one other small private nursery where the prices are fair and selection is good, they even mention on their website they don't sell bradford pears. But it's one of those places they follow you around and a lot of the stock has been there a while. No warranties there either. So I think I am being fair in my comparison. Sure bigboxmart won't have that hard to find full moon maple but neither do most small private centers. Only those specialty nurseries have that kind of thing.

A true mulch, from something that was once really alive, performs many important services to both the soil system AND the plants residing in that soil. Gravel can't even begin to take its place. First of all, an organic mulch (meaning from a once living source....carbon-based) buffers the soil temperature from excess heat AND cold; it slowly decomposes, providing a food source to essential soil microorganisms responsible for sustaining the life of our plants; as an organic mulch decomposes, it will also recycle essential elements back to the soil...to be taken up by the plants once again; the soil surface will remain cool to the touch and cannot reflect, transmit, nor store heat that might be detrimental to plants and soil in the heat; organic materials provide food for the macroorganisms which turn the soil and create essential channels for water and air movement. A mulch covered surface is both cooler and quieter for us human-types, too! And Steve....your ferns are gorgeous. Think how they'd look surrounded by a natural looking mulch! :-)

Don't worry about the 'best time'. All that matters is that you choose a SUITABLY RIPE fertile frond - they appear right the way through the season, and are especially plentiful round about now. Lots and lots of information on the net on how to harvest spore and recognize fertile fronds at exactly the right stage for sampling. Green sporangia are not ready yet; brown and already opened sporangia cases are too late; intact greeny-brown sporangia are the ones to look for. Dehisced spore dust will stay viable if stored in the refrigerator, so don't feel you HAVE to start propagating right away. But whatever time of year you decide to begin propagating, bear in mind that you need a bright and fairly warm spot - in winter, that inevitably means an indoor windowsill or a propagator box under growlights. Do you know why you failed before? That's worth understanding first before you go any further.

PS after bush hogging you will need to rent a large chipper to get rid of the brush