Just being honest here - don't bother. I'm basing this on two things in your post: (1) Your garden is new, it is not established, the plants are not mature, and (2) there is nothing in your list that can't be found easily and for not a lot of money. I've been through the whole shebang of moving plants, and frankly it just wasn't worth it. At the time, my garden was probably 3-4 years not, not fully established but not new, either. I took so much stuff, and it was stressful - I had to pot up everything up, then hold it in various places around the new yard until I could get beds cut out and/or find suitable conditoins for all the plants I took. And guess what? 7 years later, and I have very few of the original plants. Conditions in this house (particularly soil) are different than the other place, a lot of stuff didn't thrive here or didn't do well. I also didn't have room for a lot of stuff, I have more shade at this place whereas the other house was full, blazing sun. Plus a lot of the stuff just didn't fit into the scheme/feel of what I was trying to create at this house. Just not worth the effort, the hassle, and the expense (pots and potting mixed cost money!). I do still have a few things I took but they are woodies - two Japanese maples and a tree peony, they have done well here and would have costed a lot of money had I wanted to purchase them for this house anyway, so worth the trouble. If I were to move again (planning on it someday...), I would take a few things of sentimental value (a small Japanese maple my dad gave me from his house) and a couple woodies that would be expensive to replace at mature size (again, Japanese maples and tree peony). Other than that, will just have to start over, or build upon what may be at the new place, should I ever get there. Keep in mind that David was in a different situation. He had a lot of unusual plants, from what I recall, and a lot of mature stuff - and a whole heck of a lot of space in which to put it all. His new place is fabulous, if you haven't seen his post, definitely do so just for the garden/house eye candy if nothing else :p . Most of us - well, me anyway - are just not gardening on that scale or at the caliber of expertise. Again, whole other ballgame there.

Surely that cost doesn't include permit and engineer's stamp, which the 'garden center' should have told you may be required for a structure that high under that much pressure holding back that much weight, esp if it is above your house. Throughout the 9000 years since agrarian societies began, hillsides have been terraced and cut-filled to grow crops, as water running straight downhill is suboptimal at best and after the first thunderstorm throughout history every time folks became unhappy. So. Landscape timbers (4x4x8ft) hereabouts are ~US$1.00/ft so for two tiers at 3' each that is ((35*9)*2) [runs] + ((12*2)*6) [posts] = (630) + (144) = $774 just for timbers, then you'll need to drain which is ~150 for gravel & pipe and fabric and concrete should be ~75 and hardware should be ~200 so that's roughly 774+150+75+200 = $1200 just in 2 minutes of thinking about it. You'll need a path between the two so that's ~75 for gravel and 30 for fabric so you're at 1300+ just for that material, and tax at 7.5% is another ~100 so you're at 1400+. Figure 10% contingency for delivery and drill bit breaking and augur and such, and that's a cheap wall that'll hopefully last 10 years if you take your time and do it right and there's a couple dry years in there and slow melting a couple years. [/old landscaper] Dan

I'm seeing new growth all over, too! The one and only serviceberry/amelanchier arborea that I planted has leafed out big time, and many other plants are doing the same. My buddleia asiatica got top killed by a freeze, but I noticed that it's making new growth from the bottom. I saw a cloudless sulphur yesterday, and today I saw my first duskywing bouncing around, stopping occasionally to bask in the sun. It's either a horace's or a juvenal's - that was the first butterfly I saw last year, too. This is the second year in a row that I haven't seen spring azures early, so I guess the hurricane damaged their host plants - they're much less numerous than they used to be. I've been planting some more this afternoon - a dogwood and two red crossvines. I'll be planting some more tomorrow and the next day and the next day and the ........ :) MissSherry

Just be SURE you have someone proofread it before you make signs or have printing done and ask to see the proofs before anything is printed. The Georgia Master Gardeners once ordered 500 tee shirts that came back silk screened as "Master Gardners" We spelled it right but they didn't follow copy.