My area has that hard red clay, and azaleas do very well. Without amending. I'd plant them in my yard if I had any shade. crystal vision, we use an auger to plant, but it doesn't require two people. It's fairly heavy duty, but not enormous or terribly cumbersome. We use it for large plants as well as annuals and perennials. Other than the digging part, I have learned to love the red clay. I've not found anything (yet) that doesn't thrive after planting. I come from coastal SC (lots of sandy soil), so was DREADING trying to grow in stuff. I was very, very wrong. You can learn to appreciate it, too.

I think it just depends on how long the clump has been in the ground. My soil is not heavily amended so I use a shovel to dig around the outside of the clump, then use a garden fork to try to lift and separate to get off a section if I want to give just a few fans to someone. If I were going to divide the whole clump, I would bring the whole clump (very heavy) out and try to separate with the garden fork and the pitch fork (or fingers) that I have. I love my garden fork. If that doesn't work, the shovel is brought in again to chop it up, much as I hate to do that. I thought the link below about the different kinds of forks was interesting. Vickie Here is a link that might be useful: Forks

Pammy; you should get something in writing; especially with all of these wacky storms we're having. The neighbor could easily go to a storage unit. You can bet most people would put a claim into your home owners. Raising my hand! Had a neighbor that baby sat my daughter; she liked a few things I had; kind of talked me into letting her use /borrow toys; table; sewing machine.. She turned around & sold it at a yard sale a few months later & denied table & sewing machine were on loan. We had a neighbor at our old house that we did a lot with. The tools they didn't have we did; what we didn't; they did. It was a great relationship too; my hub helped them & their hub helped us. When the neighbor helped my hub; I cooked dinner for both families & would bathe the kids so the mom could relax because I was appreciative of the help. To this day; I can't believe what happened over an iron. I do not iron much; but I'm pretty sure I'd recently used it with no issues. I normally wash the fabric; then iron & cut the pattern out. The iron at this point was probably close to 10 years old; but even the box was in great shape. I take care of my stuff & it lasts. Neighbor borrowed my iron & when I went to use it next; it didn't work. I was making bibs for the neighbor. I wasn't able to just jump in my car & replace it. I was still recovering from my huge back surgery; was down close to 8 months. I saw her come home from Walmart with a new iron. Here I'm not driving; making bibs for 2 of the kids; I would have gladly given her a $20 to pick up a similar iron to what I had but she never offered anything. I didn't expect her to replace the iron; I was more hurt that she didn't ask if I wanted her to pick up a new one while she was out. The story was that my iron didn't work when she used it. What I did not understand is why no one bothered to tell me it wasn't working. Wish I remember how I got to the store to buy a new one. It bites but if you break something (anything) you borrowed don't you replace it? The solution should be discussed. In the case of something expensive; neighbor should have at least offered to get an estimate on repairs; then take it from there This post was edited by roselvr on Sat, Jun 8, 13 at 12:30

Well as the owner of two sheds, I will weigh in here. I think square looks the best but I think you will be fine twice as long as wide. I am assuming your 5' Overhang on each side is what is making it about twice the width, right? Best thing is to tape it off where you plan to put it. The main structure and with the extensions for the overhangs. The structure itself will be most visible -- the pillars/roof line of the overhang not so much (IMO). There is a Tool Shed Forum in the Garden Forums section you might want to try for advice and maybe a Garage/Workshop Forum here somewhere. I have a shed that is three times long as wide and it is hideous. LOL. It was an old chicken coop -- eck. I also have a square potting shed that is adorable.