Uniquely: The white salt-like particles in the Miracle Grow are probably sand. Personally, I would not return or trash the plants if the only problem is fungus gnats and the mushrooms; the last seems a bit extreme. Besides, doesn't Home Depot give a one-year guarantee if you keep the receipt? Oh, and I would not repot. Your soil is probably just kept too wet. No matter what you do, if the soil is stays too wet you will get fungus gnats (and sometimes mushrooms). How often do you water? Did you wait until the soil is dry before rewatering or are you keeping it wet? Clay pots dry out much faster than plastic or glazed (unless these are glazed clay pots) so if your problem is overwatering, it will be worse in plastic or ceramic pots. There will be several opinions on what you should use as far as planting medium. Since you are new to plants, I would suggest you keep everything as simple as possible. I grow all my tropicals in some type of Miracle Gro. I keep a plastic bin filled with 1/2 Miracle Gro and 1/2 perlite. You can buy perlite at Home Depot. If you have an option, go for the coarsest grade possible. Sometimes the local farmers' co-op will carry coarse perlite. You could also purchase a moisture meter which has a probe that allows you to see how wet the plant really is. I think these are a real asset until you learn more about watering and plants. Sorta like a security blanket. :-) Once you get the watering thing down, you can repot your plants in either plastic or ceramic pots. How you get rid of the white on clay pots depends on what it is. If you Google "How to get the white off clay pots" you'll see what I mean. Don't panic. Fungus gnats are quite common but they do flourish in wet soil (as do mushrooms). You can spray your plants with Safer Soap to kill the adults. The forming larvae will die when the plant dries. One important thing about watering: Every other time, water until the water runs through the pot (this is called "flushing"). It rids the plant of salt build-up which is a death sentence. If your plants are small (and since you only have three) you can take them to the sink. Set them in a drain and use the sprayer. This will not only flush the salts away, it will clean the foliage and discourage insects. Use warm water. Whatever you do, try not to stress. There is always a trial and error period when learning about anything and we all have made mistakes. If a plant dies, try to understand why so as not to repeat the same mistakes. But don't beat yourself up over it. We all lose plants at some point in time. Trust me, in future years you'll look back on this and think: "Why the heck was I worried about that?" :-D Happy Growing, Linda

First, of all- some would advise against amending at all for large plants that require a solid footing and have spreading roots. You didn't say how deep you were making your strip, but spot replacement of soil is almost always a bad idea and creates drainage issues. Best to work with plant material that can tolerate current conditions. Sod removal is a great idea and a little nutrient rich top dressing should be fine, but if your ground is hard because it is clay, a free draining pit can become a target of run off from the rest of the yard and also wick moisture from the surrounding soil. Furthermore, it will not drain normally at the bottom. Best to work with material that can tolerate your current soil. And then to play amateur psychologist: "Obsession" implies control. Bamboo, it could be argued, is antithetical to a controlled garden, especially on a smallish lot. Many would agree they CAN be controlled, but most would admit that they suffer in the end despite all the effort going into the process. I think you will find yourself happier with a row of clumping specimens in the end. I assume you are looking for a visual screen, given your dimensions. It seems to me that some clumper or another should be perfect for this application.

My guess for #1 is Lakeside Hoola Hoop. Its been on my list to buy so I've looked at a number of pictures. Now I'm going back to read the rest of this thread. (long one) Beverly OK now I read it. Nice house and plenty of room to garden. I like the front of your house, nicely landscaped. Good luck with the goutweed. It took me nearly 5 years to remove landscaping rock from around my house and I still have some under the yew in the front yard. However it was worth it and surprisingly satisfying. Removing the goutweed may be similarly satisfying. Happy digging Beverly This post was edited by BeverlyMN on Sat, Jun 15, 13 at 8:42

The birds aren't actually 'eating out of my mouth'. They land on my hand and pluck a single sunflower seed from between my lips. Of course, that neat photo op isn't mandatory ....... whatever you're comfortable with, or not. Individual birds of a species don't seem to vary much in personality, excepting how aggressively individuals defend their territory, there's variance in that, and nuthatches seem to be most territorial of the birds I've fed from hand. Even they relax though, in their tendency to chase away competitors when there are plenty of sunflower seeds in the offing. Different species are blessed with often markedly different behavioral traits, though. I'm one of those people not bothered by cold. We've had week after week of sub-zero night lows and daytime highs of 20* or lower, yet I've never worn anything warmer than a duck vest with a flannel lining ..... except when I run the snow blower - THEN I wear a coat to stay dry. I can endure the cold, but not so much when I'm wet. I said all that so I can say that I just walk out in the back yard and feed the birds whenever I want w/o much concern for the weather - though you won't find me out in the rain feeding the birds and enduring what Mother Nature dishes out with the same stoicism as that of a cow standing in the rain. It's fun, but not THAT much fun. Al