Clay is nasty. I have been improving my adobe over time. I think my older beardeds performed because I only gave them an overnight soak when the top 6 inches of soil dried. I had prepared the 1st bed by spading in 2 inches of compost down about 12 inches (16inches would have been better). Our adobe holds the nutrients which is the good news. And throughout the year I spade in kitchen compost in any available spot. My hybrid tea roses don't mind the clay one bit and they get their soaking at the same time as the beardeds planted with them. It's a good combo. Many succulents, not all, will take more drought than beardeds. Gravel in clay soil doesn't really create good drainage. Organic matter is the best. But not peat in clay soils! Dead leaves I love. But they break down fast. If I could find nitrogen reinforced sawdust again I'd be a happy camper. It breaks down slower and therefore keeps the soil looser plus helps counteract our alkalinity. Everytime you dig you're creating air pockets. Roots like oxygen. Oh, containers & tall beardeds. A barrel half would work. Those rhizomes like to travel :-) The dwarf beardeds can take a smaller container. They would love your cold winters. Regular feeding is necessary as nutrients wash out of pots.

Last night was the second battle in this war, and thanks to Janet's link I made far more progress than the night before. 1) The dish soap/water combo in a spray bottle is great. Many of the buggers die within a couple minutes. I wonder if the soapy film protects the plants for the rest of the night? Maybe I'll get up really early and check sometime... 2) Janet was also right that soy & oil works far better than beer (yippee for me! The negro modelo stays inside tonight). I put out four little dishes, two with soy & corn oil and two with beer. The beer traps only had one earwig; the others had 40 or so.

The insects in pics 2&3 look like giant bark aphids, Longistigma caryae. They don't normally infest cherries but perhaps the tree is stressed for another reason and is just vulnerable to insect predation. Typically any sort of garden treatment for aphids will control these pests - a strong steam of water, hort oil, neem oil, insecticidal soap, etc. I can't see the raised brown lesions well enough to determine if they are more than just normal cherry bark lenticels, although they look a bit too regularly spaced for lenticels. Is there any sign of a sawdust-looking substance at the base of the tree or hanging from any of these lesions? That could indicate borers, a common cherry issue. Is the tree otherwise healthy? Good foliage development, proper flowering, no stem or tip dieback? Black knot usually presents in the branches first and moves down into the trunk when the disease is well established. Any swollen, blackened nodes in visible in the branches?

Hello, Let's see if I can at least get you going in the right direction. I think what I'm seeing is - Portulacaria Afra (Baby Jade) - Haworthia Fasciata (ridged stripes) - Echinopsis (round barrel cacti) I think there's Aloe Alworthia (Black Gem) & a Mammilaria (lower right) in there, as well. In terms of growing medium...I'm not sure. Where are your soil nutrients? I exclusively use pre-packaged cactus soil, which is part river sand, part potting soil and part pearlite. I also feed my potted cacti & succulents tomato plant food monthly during spring, summer, fall. My garden is a mixture of sand & soil. The cacti & succulents on-ground do perfectly well without additional care. Succulents are easily rooted. "Calloused over" just means the cut portion has been allowed to do just that, callous over, and is not oozing. Just allow to sit outside of soil at least three days. The reason is that cacti & succulents hold a lot of water in their leaves / stems. If planted just-cut you have a high probability of rot due to all the oozing. Once calloused over, I place in watered, well drained soil and leave it alone until I see evidence of new growth. That's usually an indication of new root growth, as well. I hope this has been helpful.