botann, I used to have a landscaping business as well, for 14 years. I understand about a fabric then sand base under the liner. I preferred concrete for various reasons, one of them being integrity of material. I agree that properly installed liners can work just fine. There is zero information given that indicates proper installation of the subject pond, and basic physics tells us condensation occurs on the liner on the soil side; fine roots like this condition a lot. Eventually fine roots form large roots that expand in diameter and may create a condition that punctures the liner. I am not saying that the liner will definitely be punctured, but rather 1. the assertions made above that I responded to were not germane/problematic to the issues in the OP (and I should have stated "may poke the pond liner" @ May 11, 10 at 0:53) and 2. large roots near a pond liner - botanically and physically - have the potential to eventually put the liner at risk. Will it happen? Not guaranteed, but why do something over if the proper choice can be made the first time? Small pond, match the scale with a smallish specimen plant for design and botanical reasons. Best regards, Dan

They are wrong as I have found most who comment on it. The tree in the picture and the many I finally have (after 4 years of searching) is called 'Select Weeping Nookta Cypress', aka Weeping Alaskan Cedar, botanical name Chamaecyparis (or Cupressaceae) Nootkatensis 'Select'. Langendoen Nursery Inc, (http://www.langendoennurseries.com/) 52 Carlton St, Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON L0S 1J0, Canada grows them and supplies them wholesale to garden centres but most are gone by mid-spring. I have had garden centres tell me that same as you have been told and then when I go see the tree or they send me a pic of their Pendula Dense Form or Pendula it is not the same. The tree is quite rare and few places offer it. That's why even garden centres and other nurseries get it wrong all the time and also why you rarely see it growing anywhere. I have seen fewer than 20 of them in all of the GTA. When I look at the tree is reminds me of a waterfall and part of the reason I find it so beautiful, not to mention I love having a tree that rare.

I've got an arrowood that deer don't eat, but it's in an area the deer generally avoid. I just planted a weigela in a high-deer-traffic zone, and so far they haven't touched it. Would a japanese maple work for you? It's not exactly a shrub, but I've heard that deer don't eat them. And I've found lilacs to be very deer-proof, maybe some varieties have good fall color.

Last year I broke down and purchased two traps (I strongly dislike them) This year I did not send out buffet invites ;)) with the traps earline pa, I have found the traps to be highly effective in drawing the jb's AWAY from my plants. The key is putting them somewhere that is far enough away from the plants you're trying to protect. My hubby put one on a birch tree and I scolded him because the jb's were landing there devouring my tree instead of falling in the bag. We use 3 traps on about 1 acre and finally had to pitch them because we need new lures and bags and now the little nasties are eating my valuables! I'm going to WalMart today to get new traps! My birds just aren't cutting it.