Yay for the wireless in the salon, Chelone! I have a good source for flight suits..is there a particular color you have in mind? They're not particularly flattering, I'm afraid. I do love the flooring! Jim and I installed it, and it's the perfect solution for a farm house. It has held up amazingly well with the parade of dogs, farmers and now Jude in his walker. Not a mark on it! Pictures of the birthday party are uploading on photobucket this very minute. We had a wonderful time, and Jude was thoroughly confused by the goings on. After gifts and cake, he crashed for a couple of hours. When he got up, he was like a little drunkard for a while. Too much sugar isn't good for anybody ;) He fed me a couple of bites of cake, and I'm hoping that someone in the press gallery got a shot of it. Kathy, I envy you the daffodils, but your mention of them lets me know that spring will be coming along here one of these days. We're due for a warm-up, and the weather people are predicting rains and possible flooding. As they tend to be a little overly dramatic, I'm not getting too worried yet ;) I wish I had tidied up the kitchen before bed last night. I love having an island in the kitchen, but it seems it's a catch-all for items needing processed. Not many dirty dishes, but an odd assortment of things needing a home, and some of my year-end bookwork needing attention. Speaking of that, I should get busy. I think DD and DS will both be over today. I'm into October on the books, so maybe I can get that finished today, so we can find out how much the fine folks at the IRS would like us to contribute this year :/ Have a wonderful Sunday, all! Brenda

1000 SF is approx 20 x 50 feet, that is not so big that she couldn't use a "lasagne scheme" as Adirondackgardener calls it! I am using lasagne techniques all over the back yard. I find it is simply the easiest (albeit slowest) way to create new beds without tilling, weeding, etc. especially when you are starting with overgrown areas that are infested with invasive plants and weeds. Not to mention the seed bank that has accumulated! I start with a weedy overgrown mess and lots of Vinca minor, then I dig up and cut the small trees and shrubbery, and then smother with a couple layers cardboard or other paper. Then pile on coffee grounds, compost, leaves, straw, garden refuse, etc. I do not buy ANY of this, it is all collected from local sources. Sometimes I mow the weeds and Vinca down real low first, sometimes not. In the way back, where it's totally gone wild, I want to make some gardens of native wildflowers and grasses. That is VERY weedy - with some terrible intractible invasives like Buckthorn and Oriental Bittersweet. I am using bags of grass clippings picked up at the town compost center. I open up the bags and lay them down flat, then spread about 2 inches of grass clippings on top. The grass clippings are so dense they kind of congeal and make an impenetrable layer. This is an experiment so I don't know how well this will kill the weeds yet!d Well see. Optimally, I wait about 1 year before planting in lasagne, but they can be dug up a little and planted before that. Things are growing so well in the lasagne beds, it has exceeded my expectations.

Compost is what the maker makes of it. What you feed your compost decides its quality. Before putting unfinished compost around plants, consider just how "hot" it might be. Hot being not referring to temperature, but to the stage at which the compost has matured. You know that compost takes nitrogen out of the soil to effect breakdown of what is put into the pile. Hence, unfinished compost, still in the process of breaking down, will continue to use nitrogen from where it finds it. If the compost is still in working stage, then it will continue to rob the soil which plants you put into it, might need to survive. Tender new plants, seeds especially, should never be put next to unfinished compost...dug in or not. Put next to tender roots, the plant will not do well and may die on the spot. Don't be in such a rush to add compost to your soil when its not needed right away. New plants can start off in less than ideal soil and you can always add the amendments later. If you must add compost, then buy some commercial composted sheep or other manure and give your compost pile time to come to something. On other gardens, mulching the unfinished product can be done but keep it away from new plants just coming into the world. Especially true is don't top-dress around peony--you'll change the depth they're in and might prevent bloom.

Bark nuggets don't do the job of weed control as well as ground up bark or woodchips of equal thickness. Buying mulch by the bag in your case is not cost effective. Whatever you use as mulch, don't put it up against the trunks of trees and shrubs. That will help a bit on vole damage because they can't hide under it while eating. Snow is a whole 'nother ball game. I've never been bothered by voles so I can't offer much along that line. They're just not a problem in my garden and I'm out in the country with a lot of plants. Are you sure the voles were causing the dieback on your junipers? Did you actually see the teeth marks? A lot of junipers have branch dieback for a variety of reasons and not necessarily voles. Mike