I live in zone 6b not zone 2. Crape Myrtles are listed in most references as being hardy in my zone. They don't bloom well here like they do down South because of the lack of summer heat. But from my observations, the fall foliage is superior to what they exhibit in the South. Even though I live in MA, I grew up in Alabama and I missed seeing certain Southern plants including Crape Myrtles. I like to push the limits of perceived hardiness of plants and wanted to give some Crape Myrtles a try. They are quite root hardy where I live and are rarely killed outright. The first year or two can be a little dicey here as far as the top growth is concerned but once established like mine are now, the top growth can handle substantial cold snaps. I've had the Hopi CMs for 7 years and the Acoma for 8. I've had a Red Rocket and Pokemoke too for about 6 years but their top growth is not as hardy as the other two varieties. However, they are definitely root hardy here.

Thanks for sharing your experience. It's so great to hear from others who have gone through the process. We are building a house out in the country, as well. We are planning on doing the back up generator (we are in wyoming) so it's nice to hear that it is worth the extra cost. We are not putting in a basement (the water table is too high on our property) but I do have some concerns about my laundry/mudroom. I don't know the dimensions but we ended up stealing space from that area to make our master bath even larger. In the end we are doing a stackable washer and dryer but that will leave me room for a big closet for coats, as well as, a smaller closet with a doggie door for the cat boxes. We will also have room for a bench/cubbie unit. I've worried that I will hate the stackable washer and dryer (I'm short and with 3 small kids they will be used alot) but I thought I'd appreciate the extra storage. The mud is ridiculous here but we've been living in a mobile home on our property for a year while we built so I'm hoping that just the extra space (3 kids, 3 cats, 3 dogs in less than 1100 square feet now) will help me look past the mud that will be inevitable for a long time. We are afraid to pave our road because my hubby worries he will just tear it up snowplowing with his tractor in the winter. And it's true that gravel is cheap (relatively) and can make a big difference. We are doing a playroom in the bonus space above the garage but otherwise our house is just one level - thank you so much for sharing.

" I will also take some soil samples to the local extension office for testing". excellent idea! Always the first thing to do before adding any fertilizer. And if the tree is stressed due to poor soil conditions ( like compacted soil) , fertilizing a tree will do more harm than good. You should never fertilize a stressed tree. It is hard to tell why the original tree died, However It looks like in the early pictures that a car may have been driven on the lawn near the front door ? If so that may have compacted the soil in the root zone of the tree. Also it appears that the lawn is very green and healthy now. If you have fertilized the front lawn, that high nitrogen lawn fertilized is making its way to the roots of the two trees in the front , so no more fertilizer may be needed for now. As you suggested - do a soil test, that is the only way to know if you need fertilizer.

So far, so good with the Neato. Jo, I didn't get the connected version. I got the D80. I couldn't find a D85. Best Buy has them in the store. Plus, they gave me a $50.00 gift card. They had the connected version in stock, too. So, the price ended up being the same price as the out of stock unit at Amazon. The only difference between the D80 and D85 was the filter. Apparently, you can use the newer, better filter in any of the units. I've spend most of today playing with the thing. I don't think it will replace the vacuum cleaner, especially the Dyson Animal. I've got two collies and I didn't expect any robotic unit to do everything. But, I think it's going to significantly reduce the workload. I also have a lot of rooms with hardwood or tile with oriental rugs with fringe. She was able to handle all of them except one that had particularly long fringe and a really big carpet pad underneath. It does get hung up in a few places. I would check on her ever so often and found her hung up twice. I got her back on track and she just keep going. The space besides the toilet pedestals seemed to challenge her. I frequently emptied the bin. I vacuumed the filter with the Dyson to clean it. I was surprised by the amount of debris it managed to find. There were some areas that I thought were already clean, but she still found stuff and dog hair. I broke the house up into sections and did them one at time. She needed to recharge twice. But, I was running her pretty hard. The best part of the day was watching the dogs watch "Rosie". They didn't bark or attack, but sat there completely enthralled. I've always been a little strange when it comes to gifts. My husband gets off lucky. I like things like really good small appliances. If someone needs an idea for the holidays, I really don't think you could go wrong with this one. I'd get one of these for a guy, too. It's just too useful.