Jason I guess I could give you some instructions at how I would do that type of project. I plan to do another stair project this summer myself, about 25' long witha 5.5' rise. Note, this is not a one weekend, $100 job. A good place to start is by doing an accurate site map of the area, with all current structrures and grades shown. Thin stone veneer works well over poured concrete and is not beyond what a good DIY'er can do. A lot of the work is done like the wall project shown in the pages below. www.geocities.com/pls8xx/construction.html www.geocities.com/pls8xx/wallconstruction.html www.geocities.com/pls8xx/update.html If this is the type of instruction you are looking for, let me know and I will round up some stuff on steps. James

The gummosis (weeping sap) is a result. On your tree, it's a result of a canker (the longitudinal crack on the trunk), most likely caused by a fungal disease. Members of the prunus genus are well-known for this, and it's one of the main reasons most prunus species tend to be short-lived. The bad news is that while young vigorously-growing trees are less likely to become infected and, when infected, can often outgrow the infection (at least for a few years), your tree seems to be suffering pretty badly already. Low-vigor, pruning at less than optimal times, improper pruning, and high disease pressure can all contribute to the problem. When your tree was planted, it probably took a little while to get established and then, because it's not in full-sun, it probably continued to grow a little more slowly than it otherwise would have. I don't know when your tree has been pruned in the past, but the best time is early-spring just before most growth occurs. Your tree has obviously not been pruned very well; the subs left on most pruning cuts should not be there and need to be removed. Always prune immediately outside the branch bark ridge/collar. The other side of the high-disease-pressure coin is plant susceptibility, and sweet cherries are known to be more susceptible to disease (especially fungal infestation) than sour cherries. Because your tree seems pretty badly infected already, it might be worth considering a replacement. If you can get the tree's vigor up, it may be able to, at least for a while, outgrow the canker (of course, fast growth may also lead to other problems), but a new tree might have a better chance in the long run. It's impossible to really know how your tree will do in its fight against the problem, so replacement isn't necessarily the only right answer (although I probably would replace it). The fact that the tree's form is a little awkward is another thing to consider, when considering whether to replace the tree. ________________ If you are going to keep the tree, I would remove the stake if possible. Trees are better off when allowed to move freely. There's also less chance of damage from the ties or from the trunk hitting the stake in high-wind conditions. ________________ I'm not great at putting detailed pruning instruction in print. I've been thinking about writing a set of guidelines for quite some time, but haven't because it seems like such a big job. I'll give you some general guidelines and then you can ask specific question if you still have them. First, know how to make a proper pruning cut. On a small tree like yours, this mainly means knowing where to make the cut. At the bottom of this (click for link) page, you'll find a pretty good picture that shows where to make a cut. Notice the swelled area, along the bottom of the limb in the picture, that is the branch collar. Sometimes this area is harder to spot on a real-life tree, but the picture will give you a good idea of what to look for. Never leave stubs, but, on very small limb tips, it is possible to leave a lateral bud to form new growth. Second, prune for balance. If there's a limb on one side (of the trunk or of a parent-branch), there should be another of approximately equal size on the other, or two at somewhere like 120 degrees from the first branch (picture a Y-shape, looking from above). The limbs don't have to be (and often even shouldn't be) directly across from each other. If there's a dominant unbalanced branch, pruning can be used to slow its growth to allow its corresponding balancing branch(es) to catch up. Third, select branches with good branch angles. Your tree doesn't appear to have a problem with narrow crotch-angled branches, but it is something you need to watch for in the future. Narrow crotches can be removed (prune off the branch) or corrected with crotch spacers or ties. Narrow crotch angles are more likely to result in failure as the limbs get larger and heavier. Fourth, choose a pruning style. You don't have to stick rigidly to a certain style, but it helps to give you an idea of your pruning goal. For your tree, and especially since it's not in full sun, I'd choose an open-vase/open-center form. Picture your tree in the shape of a "Y", or an umbrella that got blown inverted in a powerful windstorm. This form allows for much better light penetration because the center of the tree (looking down from the top) is a hollow cone. Another important factor here is the desired size of the tree. You don't want branches to originate from too low on the trunk (mowing nightmare, difficulty of harvest, etc) or from too high (difficulty pruning, spraying, and harvesting). You do want to have the branches leaving the trunk in a well spaced manor so that you don't have multiple branches originating from close proximity (no ). Well, I think there may be some other things I was going to add about pruning, but I seem to be loosing my thought outline and have probably written too much already. If you have questions, I will try to answer them. Hopefully I've given you a start.

I thought it might be useful for you new wisteria growers to read this extract from the maintenance manual I put together for my garden: ---- Wisterias are outstandingly beautiful plants when they flower. BUT they need diligent care or they can turn into monsters! DO NOT neglect the wisterias! They are almost impossible to get rid of (there are 1000+ year old ones in Japan and China). It is far easier to properly maintain them than to risk neglecting them. Maintaining them, fortunately, is simple: � All new curly/whippy new growth should be pinched back to 6" or so from its point of origin. This can be virtually a daily task in spring and early summer when they are growing fast. A long-arm pruner makes it easy to reach the top of the tree. Do not let the trees get taller than can be reached with the long-arm pruner. (If you are a subsequent homeowner, we probably left the pruner for you � check the garage in the front corner on the right side.) The pruners can be purchased at Lee Valley Tools in Burlington or through their on-line store. � Watch for root suckers and remove them as soon as you see them. Most will appear near the base of the trees but they can appear anywhere in a 15-20� � or more � radius of the trees. When you mow the grass, inspect the areas near the trees for root suckers. Ideally you want to remove the suckers by tearing them off the underlying root to remove the bud-wood from the root. If it's too difficult to dig down, cut off the sucker close to the ground. More suckers will likely arise from the same location when the sucker is cut off rather than torn off the root. � Do not allow any of the root suckers to grow into the main tree or form another tree. The Chinese wisteria in particular is a grafted plant so the root suckers are likely a wild form which may never flower or take decades to mature enough to do so. � When the tree is bare of leaves, remove any seed pods you see (it's almost impossible to find them on the Chinese wisteria until the leaves drop in the fall.) You do not want to have to deal with removing seedlings! The seedpods will explode and fling seeds around the garden on the first warm day of spring unless they are removed! No not neglect this chore! � If the trees get too big or you want to shape them, prune them in very early spring before they leaf out or flower. Properly cared for, the wisterias are spectacular; neglected, they are a nightmare! ----- My pruning 'rules' are simplier/easies than most of the detailed pruning instructions you can find on the Web. But my way works well and you are more likely to do the pruning if it's simple than trying to follow more complicated/detailed instructions. Here's what our Chinese wisteria 'tree'/shrub looked like last sping after about 10 years of following my pruning approach: I've got my fingers crossed that the Japanese wisteria (on the right side of the last picture) will bloom this spring. It is 5 years old now and has flowering wood, but it may not be mature enough yet to bloom. One can hope.... :-) Here is a link that might be useful: long arm pruner

Contact the supplier directly or their website. Houzz won't be able to assist you with this.