Others have already mentioned this, but good air circulation is a key component of a more disease-free greenhouse environment. Not only does the air movement help circulate heat in winter or help cool in summer, it helps to lessen threats of fungas spread in most underpot and crevices, and breezes/wind is one natural deterrent for spider mites (along with getting undersides of leaves wet). This basic integrated pest management system--good air circulation along with proper watering and tossing out diseased plants (and not introducing plants that are already infested into the greenhouse) will greatly lessen your need for bad chemical solutions. At best, you can do a lot with simple horticultural oil and soap in a hand-held spray bottle to kill off the first signs of scale, mealy bugs, aphids. Also, have a bottle of rubbing alcohol present to clean your pruners, knives, etc between plants, and DO wash used pots in a 10% bleach bath and then air dry. Another key issue is collecting and then using plants that are appropriate for the conditions in your space. Many larger "professional" conservatories are poorly planted in that full-sun plants are given full-sun exposures only in the most direct rays of summer, and then due to a wall, or too thick of shadecloth or glass coatings, truly don't get enough light from Sept-March. This causes leggier growth, thinner leaves, and stresses the plant, leading to a more optimal condition for aphids, mealy bugs and scales to really flourish on the stressed plants. ALso, allowing beneficial insects inside your house at times is always nice, especially katydids, ladybugs, etc. Just remember that caterpillars will eat various plants. You also made concerns about avoiding a dormancy in tropical plants over the winter. Well, to save energy costs, and to have overall plant health on all but most ultra tropical plants, you MUST have a forced dormancy. There is no "winter" in the tropics and substropics, but the dormancy that tropicals ensure for their health is a DRY SEASON. Typically dry seasons occur when sunrays are weakest (this is in stark contrast to Mediterranean climate plants that need hot and dry in summer and then wet in winter). So, to answer others remarks, selloum can take down into the lower 30s no problem, provided they are acclimated to gradual cooling temps over the course of a few weeks. At the same time temps cool, you MUST also lessen the water these plant have so to avoid a cold soil along with wet soil condition. This is also the rule for palms. Palms essential shut down all root growth when soil temps go below 75 F. Lower than that, they just "sit". You may have a frond open in the winter, but it is very slow, and overwatering tropical plants in a cool environment will definitely lead to their demise. Also, lower your humidity in the winter somewhat, and do not allow leaves to get wet (when it's cool). As water evaporates from leaves, they are cooled. This is fine in late spring, summer and early fall, but having leaves cool off slowly when temps are cool and the sun is weak is a sure way to cause fungal rotting on all plant parts. I assume that the water that youll have in your greenhouse is right from the tap or well, and therefore (in the winter especially) will be "cool"? Tropicals should be watered with water that is temperature in range of 70-80 F ideally. This may be difficult for you in winter, but would be beneficial if you plan to have a warmer temp greenhouse through Dec-Feb. If you use gravels for the floor, you can preventatively spray/wash it with a solution of 10% bleach or 20% white vinegar to kill algal growths. Just do it with good ventilation as to not harm plants. Unless you have ultra-tropical plants in your collection, and by that I mean plants from lands that would never normally have night temps below 55 F even in the "winter" (dry) seasons, I would allow a dry season dormany. Again, this saves fuel costs, doesn't encourage plants to actively grow when sunlight is weakest and in many plants, a dry-season dormancy is the trigger needed for many plants to flower (or at least know to go dormant before they grow that spurt in spring to then flower and fruit). Palms also like it drier when sun is weak and temps cooler.

Cricket Love, believe me once it sunk in, I was happy my yard is so private. I probably would be in jail or mental hospital if the neighbors had seen me. I was devastated, crying, swearing, stomping you name it I was doing it. LOL I will wish you luck but be prepared. It is a fight, you have to be committed. They can wear you down. It hurts to look at your gardens all pretty and come out and it is all gone in one night. They survived they came back this year so I have been out with all my sprays and anything that I can do to have my gardens. Solid fence does not work have that on one side, Believe me they will jump. I have sat in my morning room and watched them flying over the fence right into the middle of my hosta bed. mosswitch is right groundhogs will eat your hostas. So I have double trouble. I constantly have had them eat a garden and I find the hole stuff it with used kitty litter top it off with a three bags of dog poop. I have a Mastiff so it is big poop. That keeps them out for about a month. I did not have the heart to take a pic of the entire garden but I took a picture of my Sum and Substance before and after. Just a sample to give you a visual of what to expect. Do you think you can take this? LOL

It's a very attractive house, and doesn't need a lot of fussy landscaping in the front; I'd suggest you stick to something simple. Because of the height of the entry steps, the elevation of the front lawn relative to the street level, and the height of the foundation, the overall effect is a little dizzying; this may mostly be the photo, but it's likely to be at least partly the way it would look in person. So, I think the major issue is to tie the height of the facade back to the ground level. One way to do that would be to add a tall-ish, but not too large, accent tree off the left front corner of the house. Something that stays fairly narrow and maxes out at about the height of the gutters (or the lower edge of the roof) might work. Maybe even an old-fashioned lilac, depending on the conditions (sun, soil, etc). This would also balance the much longer right edge of the house (which includes the below-grade garage) with the shorter left edge. Or, you might get more mileage out of two large, but not too wide- spreading, shrubs; one in front of the steps and one to the left of the basement window (placed so it will not block the window when it's full-grown). This would tie the rather high main floor windows back to the ground level (the bottom of the window would be a foot or so above the top of the shrub) and would give a hint of the feeling that you were climbing in the treetops when you were approaching the door - that might be nice! One comment on the other photos, although you're not asking for advice on the other areas. Many of the plantings seem to be too close to the house - a very common mistake, especially with new gardeners, and most especially in small yards. The plants will do much better, and you'll be much happier with the effect, if you leave a few feet between the foundation and the plants. Narrow beds give a skimpy look and make the yard appear smaller and cramped; a wider bed more than makes up for the extra space it takes and makes the yard appear larger. The difference between a 10' wide lawn and a 7' wide one isn't as apparent as the difference between a 2' wide bed and a 5' wide one. I hope you get what I'm trying to say; it's late and I might be babbling a bit! You could improve on the beds in the side yards by using an edging material, such as wooden "bender board", to give some definition to the edges. Your back yard is really nice - those mature trees provide a great buffer from neighbors. It looks like a very relaxed and comfortable oasis; I'd try to keep it simple back there too. And one last point - your lawn looks fine! If you really wanted a uniform green carpet, you could have the back yard rototilled and install sod. Because it's not a large space, it probably would not cost too much - although I haven't priced it out. Otherwise, a few seasons of following the ideas others have given about lawn care should do the trick. I use corn gluten every spring and it makes a world of difference. Keep us posted on your progress!

I am growing hosta seeds this winter, and while I have goals in mind, I will not be quick to cull until it's time to plant them out in the spring, and probably later than that. Since I have 3 different goals (I want some streaked seedlings to use for future hybridizing, I also want piecrusted seedlings, and 3rd, yellowish-green or blue seedlings), culling will be different for each group. From the seeds that came from streaked, non-piecrusted plants, I can immediately cull out any that don't come up streaked or the solid colors I am looking for. But for the piecrusted, regardless of color, I will have to keep all of them for awhile because the piecrusting doesn't always show up right away. So I can't get carried away planting too many piecrust seeds, as I have limited garden space. Here's some seedling photos so far: These are from streaked 'Tsugaru Komachi' & 'Christmas Tree Gala'. I have 4 streakers so far, the rest are greenies & will be probably be culled soon: And these are from the piecrusted 'Regal Ruffles' & 'Lake Superior'. I will keep all these till at least 6-9 months old maybe older, before culling any: How deep do you plant? I lightly cover with moist peat How long to germinate? for me, about 10-14 days Cold stratification necessary? no, but I've heard germination rates can be higher if in the freezer for a month Do you use bottom heat? nope, they do fine without it Germination rates to expect? with this batch, about 70-80% Do they need light? they do not need light to germinate Wendy