Have one growing in shade since 07 and one in sunnier location planted last year so both young - big difference - color, growth rate, habit all improved with sun(this is after only 1 year). Both are well watered. If you have a spot with more sun (please note- I'm zone 4) you will notice the difference. I figured I would use sunny spot to grow it faster and then move at some point - I can't imagine moving it after seeing result. Instead I need to move the older plant somewhere with more sun. Paul

Hi Kathy....i have a mature Sagae and moved it this last spring - boy, was it a heavy clump and yes, I had to dig and dig as the roots were deeper than most of my other mature hosta but I would not call that very deep..at least not here. It never missed a beat and was gorgeous this year. Your Sagae will become quite a specimen ... you might like it to dominate that particular bed ... no doubt you will adore it as most of us who own it do. My Liberty is a new babe only so I can't comment further on that. As to your first question, it is your personal preference that matters as to how deep your bed should be. I have read that the longer a bed is, the width should be greater as well. It is all about esthetics (to the garden gurus) but ultimately your preference and what pleases you. I like to keep trimming my free-form beds so they gradually get deeper with time. Lol I envy you your zone...we have -17 Celsius today with snow for next few days. Brrrr.

So your dad quit the auto repair industry, and went to school for aerospace engineering? That is what I wanted to do coming out of high school, aerospace engineering. I was on the doorstep to the Naval Academy in a bid to do just that, but fell short of my dream. I ended up becoming a mechanic because it was something I could do and figured I'd work a little while and then work my way through school. Only I never managed to make enough money to put anything aside in order to get to go back to school, got married, kid came along, and here I am in 2006 still working as a tech albeit self-employed. As far as me being "down this road before" when it comes to me attacking predujuices against my feild, you can be assured that I have been. I can't begin to tell you how many times a "customer" looked down their nose at me because I was fixing cars for a living, and their attitude showed right away that they felt for me to be doing this I either had to be dumb, or a crook, or you go ahead and fill in the degrading label as you choose. Many times it made me want to quit fixing cars, and physically throw them and their POS out the door. I'll bet your dad had similar feelings. The one problem though that I see reguarding your dads automotive repair credentials is about how you said he was only in this for two years. Many people try and start their own shop with little or no real experience, or training. That is one of the problems in this industry that has held pricing in this feild well below where it SHOULD be, especially if you compare what I(we) have to do to almost any other SKILLED LABOR field. When you wrote this "Now I figure with the rates higher in the NE...we should EXPECT to pay a higher charge for this service!! It's criminal." You pushed the button that got me on your case. My accountant told me just last month, with the investment that I have to provide the services that I do, and the costs that I am faced with to continue to upgrade tools and equipment to stay up to date, any other equivelent field would be charging over $120/hr with at least a 50% gross profit margin on the parts. That would work out to an average of right about $200/hr Gross Profit. Now that number is a little higher than industry average, first of all because I am one of a very few techs that specializes in engine performance, emission controls, and all vehicle electronics and has experience on just about everything on the street. Plus I have the mechanical experience that allows me to take on virtually anything, bumper to bumper. But one more factor, I also work by myself, which means the entire cost of the operation weighs squarely on the work what I produce. What this all means is that for me to work at full potential I would easily have to outprice all of my "competition" by more than 2 to 1, and anyone then that would compare prices normally would take the stance where you did earlier and use the word "criminal". That's pretty unfair, being called criminal because they don't understand the costs we are incurring to try and provide the best service that we can. Now in trying to keep that reputation from happening, the only thing that I can do is first, underprice, and second I have to choose what I am going to buy and which cars and systems I will no longer work on. Even though physically I have the means, without electronic support (O.E. scan tools) I have to turn ever more cars away. Right now if you by a 2007 Chrysler product, (Plus some 2004's and on up in numbers through 2007) I don't have the equipment that I truly need to function at the same level that the dealer does. Worse than that is I don't see where the $10,000 that I will need to purchase this equipment will come from, especially when I have the same problem to deal with multiplied by each manufacturer. Ten years ago, I had a single scan tool and I could do everything that showed up at my door. The cost for that tool was $3000 and change. That same expense today is over $250,000 for just that kind of equipment. That is an expense that we didn't have ten years ago, and one that virtually every shop out there is not making. Do you want to know just how big a quarter million dollars is compared to my shop? That amount is more than my shops total gross sales for a year. That amount is more than every tool and piece of equipment that I have collected over the last thrity years. Plus even if I hit the lottery and bought this stuff, it's not like buying a house and is equity. It's all depreciating assets. Ten/twelve years later the best expectation I can have is that they may still have occasional use (one or two times a year), and that I will be able to afford whatever their replacements end up being. After that, they are dust collectors, a quarter million dollars worth of garbage can fillers. That's the reality of the field I am in. One where we get no vacations, I'm always spending every available dime on something for the shop. We have nothing saved for retirement, same reason. Well, let me clarify, I have about $3000 in an IRA from a previous employment and we will have social security, plus I could continue to work at some level until...... So yea I take offense when I see a post like yours. But instead of getting angry, and just blowing it off, I take and grab the chance to help people get a better glimpse of exactly what it takes for their corner garage to be there. Now granted we are not all created equal, we have few if any standards (something I would like to change). If your dad retired from aerospace tomorrow, and wanted to open a shop we don't have anything inside this industry to make him prove that he is actually trained and qualified to do so. (That's something else I would like to change but I know it's beyond my abilities) Now, you wanted help with your Jeep. When you figure out what I am actually saying, you will find exactly what help I have provided. Granted it's not what you thought you were looking for, and it may take some time to understand it fully. But it's there. Me? I have to head to the shop today, I have a couple cars that I can knock out, and make more space on the schedule tomorrow for something else. If I was actually priced correctly, I would not have to work seven days a week. But If I was priced correctly for what it costs me for what I actually provide, I'd only ever get the nightmare cars that "no one else can fix". That would put me out of business in a month.

I have a 1998 Jeep Cherokee that has given me good service. It has the 4.0 liter in-line 6 cyl engine rated at 190 hp; Automatic transmission, 4 speed with torque converter lock-up clutch. The engine and transmission is yet good. It is aging out due to too many winters in road salt. Holes have appeared in the rocker panel. The remainder of the body is good. There has been a few electrical circuit losses in the body wiring due to corrosion, namely the fog lamps below the bumper and the washer pump for the rear window. It is stiffly sprung and jarring over bumps and railroad tracks. Fuel mileage is not good compared to modern offerings, but not bad for 190 hp. It gets about 19 mi/gal on the average and maybe 20 mi/gal at steady freeway speeds. Gas mileage does improve when touring on roads limited to 55 mph. The ride is stiff - keeps you awake on long road trips. Interior noise is a bit too much for long trips. Its a driver's machine. For long trips, there are plenty of other offerings that are more comfortable with better mileage, but still, there is something about this thing that I like. My model has the 3-mode transfer case: part time, full time, and gear reduction. Its a great vehicle for snow, but the heater output could be better. In winter, it never gets really hot unless it is loaded. The cooling system has two fans: the bigger one is electric an only comes on if the coolant goes above a set point or the air-conditioner is turned on. The second fan is smaller an belt driven with a viscous drive. When the coolant is cool, the fan idles at low slip speed and increases as the unit get hotter. Under normal driving conditions, this fan is enough. It is fully gauged: volts, fuel, temperature, oil pressure, speedometer, tachometer, trip meter, and turn signal indicators. Optional equipment is an overhead display that can display, among other things, outside temperature and 8-point compass directions. The radio has very good sound. According to CONSUMER REPORTS 2017 Buying Guide, Jeeps to avoid are: Cherokee 2014- - 2015 Grand Cherokee 2007, 2010-2014 Liberty 2006 Patriot 2008, 2014 Wrangler 2006 - 2009, 2012 - 2013