laag, that is exactly what I meant. I did not mean to replace one's landscape every 5 years. We just need more conversations on the order of, here is a good place for some instant gratification; over here is where you plant your beech tree for your, or someone's, grandchildren; here you want some quick impact but don't use that ornamental grass x because you'll never be able to wrestle it out; and so on. The other thing is, I don't think a knowledgeable gardener has to plant his or her yard JUST so that it will be beautiful for the next buyer or so that buyer doesn't have to do anything to maintain or rejuvenate the landscape. Let the buyer beware! So I see a balance between responsibility vs. freedom. Irresponsible might be knowingly planting something in a way that it will destroy the foundation in 5 years; responsibility AND satisfaction can come from plantint a nice small oak that you may, or may not, get to enjoy as a shade tree, but you know it's the right plant for the right place, so you nurture and cherish it, and someday you or someone else will get the benefit; freedom is planting some large evergreens for a screen that you just need now, that might have to be thinned later by you OR someone else-- In between all this is acquiring more landscape and plant knowledge or advice so you are avoiding totally daft creations--for the evergreen screen, maybe researching it a bit since there are choices that are more or less painful down the road-- but not merely existing to create a legacy.( How do you like your garden? Oh, I hate it, but in 20 years someone will really like it.)This is all still compatible with planting "real" trees and things. In reality, no matter how carefully you plan, it will not necessarily fulfill that dream in 15-20 yrs anyway and certainly without knowledgeable maintenance. Here is a funny thing about mature neighborhoods. In many of them, the trees are way too big for perfect (or even good) aesthetics with the small homes and lots--but the neighborhoods are beautiful in fall with glowing maples, oaks, gingko. If we followed a roadmap for scale, everyone would have had to plant only dogwoods and redbuds and Japanese maples. In some neighborhoods, hardly a home is sited on the lot in a way that a nice shade tree can be placed to provide both proper shade and not dwarf the house. So were those people visionaries, planting trees that in 20-30 yrs would be breathtaking, or irresponsible for not finding the perfect species that would not exceed 20 ft, or whatever? I agree with the shrub myth, too. In my current home, I have some ginormous azaleas that I HAVE crawled under and seen, gosh, there are actually 4 shrubs here and if I could possibly rip out 2, I wouldn't have to prune so much. But I'm not sure it can be done now(well, maybe anything can be done with the right tools and risk-taking). So one of my convoluted points is that even if one person plants the "perfectly spaced for maturity" landscape, or whatever, it will still never be care-free, and a succession of subsequent, generally plant-ignorant and/or plant-disinterested homeowners (I think that's fair; it's not meant to be holier-than-thou) will likely screw it up. As in, beds with lots of space between plantings have to have regular attention to mulching and weeding ("look at these idiots who planted here before us--they just left us these puny shrubs in a weed farm!). So one of the myths is that humans have some kind of amoebic shared mind and will carry on the garden vision of the previous homeowner. All that said, I LIKE being well-warned, in print or otherwise, about the characteristics of a tree or shrub or whatever, and find myself doing a lot more research before trying something (can almost get paralyzing) so that I can make an informed decision about placement, maintenance and so forth.

I'm fairly certain- though not 100% sure- that the plants are all of the same variety. We do have a fair number of uninvited grasses growing in the back, and I'm glad to have some that can survive in the shade from our oak trees. I noticed several other familar looking grasses while trying to ID this one, including at least one other rosette grass, so it is possible that the first, uprooted plant was similar, but not the same. But if the fall plants can be somewhat variable, I think that could explain why they don't look completely the same? Also the uprooted plant was a smaller, less mature plant. I think the closeup photos from the first and second groups show the same sort of somewhat hairy stem and blade. To me they look the same, but I'm not a trained botanist, so if there's a glaring discrepancy, I could easily miss it! If you see such an incompatibility that's not likely to be due to variability of a species, please point out the difference, and I'll apologize for posting photos of two separate varieties. I don't mind being wrong in public if I can learn something from it! jekeesl, once I got onto the Dichanthelium "track", my first thought was laxiflorum. I do think I also am hosting another species or two from this family (including commutatum), so I'll spend some time with the 'Name That Plant' web site, the USDA Plants site, and Google Images to see if I can determine which ones I've got. Many thanks, Virginia

Ecotypes can have structural differences (morphological) and/or functional differences ("eco"physiological) which are genetically induced by habitat location. This may result in visibly discernible differences in the same plant species, i.e., leaf color(plain or patterned), stature (short or tall, bushy or slender) or functional differences, such as extracts of different types of oils and chemicals. Ecotypes do not necessarily occur as a function of widely separated geographical locations and can occur in a single population or in nearby populations. In a recent observation of a native Asarum species population, there were leaves with prominent white venation, some with very little venation and others with solid green leaves. Although Ecotypes may have appearance and functional differences, they are still able to cross-pollinate and produce offspring. Rb

You seem to have the idea that the sewage treatment takes place in the septic tank and all the leachfield does is allow a place for the remaining liquid to be absorbed into the soil, but that is not true. Inside the septic tank the sewage is digested by anaerobic bacteria and converted from a thich slurry into a gray liquid, but the gray liquid discarging from the septic tank is still toxic effluent. It must also be mentioned that the leachfield is not just the perforated pipes on the discharge side of the septic tank. The perforated pipes merely allow the gray liquid effluent to be absorbed into the soil below grade where Aerobic bacteria complete the breakdown process. Some ppl than ask the question, how can aerobic (air breathing) bacteria survive underground?The aerobic bacteria survives because normal atmospheric air can penetrate 3 to 4 feet into the soil. The amount of air penetration would not be enough for a person to breathe but it is more than sufficient to support the bacteria. If the effluent were to go into a drywell as you suggest, the empty portion of that drywell above the effluent would quickly fill up with methane & sulphur-dioxide and there would be no oxygen to support the aerobic bacteria so the effluent would not finish the treatment process. I would also like to correct a statement you made in your original post: Quote; "We are building a new house in an area without municiple sewer and without specific regulations regarding sewage treatment." That is not true, you may live in an area where code enforcement is marginal and many ppl elect to ignore the codes, but there is no area within the United States of America that does not have a plumbing code. If your local jurisdiction has no code, then the state code applies. Taking this to the next level, the Plumbing Codes are not building codes, they are health codes, and they are enforced by your local board of health and the Federal EPA and while all the other trade inspectors can redtag your job, and demand certain changes be made before you can proceed with your project, a Plumbing Inspector is a sworn law enforcement officer with full arrest powers and they can not only redtag your job, a Plumbing inspector can arrest you under both civil and criminal charges for major violations of the plumbing code.