We feel your pain Our neighbors let a bird planted Ca Oak start, they are on the city side of the line, we are in the county. Those oaks are highly protected. It has almost all of the massive growth on our side of the fence and has destroyed an antique horse stall, favorite apricot and several other fruit trees. We could probably apply for permits to prune, pay for an arborist etc....but, because of the lack of thought in planting I am afraid of liability when the tree splits in half and takes out both of their rentals. So are not touching it. The condo association on another side did the same kind of thing, planted giant fir trees to block the view of our old house. Granted at the time my dad and the developer where having issues and my dad was not in to maintenance... But we now have a long section of the lot that is in heavy shade. They also over water their lawn massively, they have their own well, so our plum seem to rot before they ripen-they are close to the property line. On the plus side, our blueberries like the fir needles and extra water. And where they skipped the firs, we put in a citrus grove that can enjoy some free lawn water once they get bigger. Our Veggie garden is right in the middle of our lower yard and new fruit trees are being put in where we control the water and the sunlight (well other than the new citrus grove)

tree trunks need air.. if buried.. they will rot and kill the tree ... they can NOT cope with constant moisture ... with me so far ... in contrast.. roots need near constant coolness and moisture .. which we call soil ... once 'established' ... they can take care of all that ... so ... take your blocks... make a 6 to 9 foot circle ... bring in top soil that nearly matches you native soil ... and plant the tree .. so the root/trunk interface is at the level of the second bricks ... we do NOT use potting media or foo foo soils for backfill, especially with trees ... regardless... it will need to be staked for a year.. to get some roots down.. until the soil settles ... if you have clay soil.. advise and i will change the method ... perhaps .... you would be better off.. getting native soil from behind the garage.. and using that.. than bringing in mismatching soil ... if you were wanting to put in a perennial garden.. you would be better off.. stealing the native soil for the tree.. and bringing in a good soil for that bed ... its getting a bit late for planting trees.. unless you have a warranty .... where are you ... ken

Do you know how long it takes for mulched or shredded leaves and plant mmaterial to decay once tilled into the soil? Can't say "how long" as that is controlled by garden-to-garden variables like weather, moisture levels, humidity, etc. It can be anywhere from 2 months to 6 months. So while it is true that they will decompose faster than whole leaves, they will still bind up the nitrogen in the soil while they do. Thus the need to add additional nitrogen sources to the soil. Leaves are also very acidic so until they have decomposed and the pH has leveled out near neutral, the bed's pH can be very acidic. Thus the need to measure the bed's pH and "fix" it if necessary. Why go to all the work and expense of planting a crop, waiting for germination, and then discovering crop problems due to soil problems when it is so easy to fix it up front? ;) Don't get me wrong - leaves, especially shredded/mulched ones, are a great soil improver. They do wonders for the soil tilth and its water retention ability and do offer some nutrients. But it sounds like you added a great deal of them and anything other than finished compost added to the garden in very large amounts has the potential to temporarily create other problems that may need to be addressed. Dave

I used my poor man's walls of water before I got hoop houses. Use 6 liter soda bottles filled with water and lids and ring around a tomato plant and then set a cage around them. I left them on all season and the ones with the extra heat radiating back would come in 2 weeks before the ones that didn't. I also looked for early season that would withstand the cool nights. Some of the earlier tomatoes are gold nugget - yellow cherry, Taxi & Azchtoka (sp?) for yellow tomatoes. Smaller reds are Kotlas and Stupice and Prairie Fire. I say a small ripe tomato is better than a large green one. Good luck gardening.