PM, Japanese Painted Ferns breed like bunnies in my gardens. I started out with a hedge of 7 plants. Now, five years later, I'll bet there's 25 scattered throughout a 20' circle. JPFs are colonizing my garden in a way I could never plant. They come up between the bricks on the patio, they sprout in vertical cracks in an old short cement retaining wall, in the crown of hostas :( and throughout my moss garden. It's a very good thing they're so pretty or I'd consider JPFs to be a thug. I've never had one revert though so I'm curious to find out if your's is a seedling or a reversion on the original plant? /tricia

As can be seen in the Iseli photo if the specimen has some height then the branches can cascade rather than pile up on each other - references often recommend training weeping laceleaf maples up for this very reason. What is funny is how often people think they want the low mound instead of the more interesting and graceful staked/high grafted weeping tree. Even when the alternative is pointed out to them. When you get inside an unstaked one that has been growing for many years there is often a lot of dead wood due to the congestion of the branches. The closeness of them makes it look like it would be desirable, if it were possible, to grab the apex of the shrub and pull the whole top up and open, like a coiled wire. This post was edited by bboy on Fri, Feb 8, 13 at 13:01

So now you know how it spreads,seed & rhizome,especially the latter. My methods,never let it flower.Always cut close to ground level,just below a node,and spray/pour glyphosate mix into the cavity.Do that with every cane. Once done,you can mulch,heavily,though that will be in the way when the devil re-sprouts.....not if,but when. If you dig up roots,you MUST find every tiny offcut,lest a new plant form.You have to sequester the roots away from water,sunlight and any organic matter,they remain viable far too long.I used polythene barrels. Digging roots is nightmarish,but breaking the underground connexions speeds depletion of plant reserves.You can spray root ends in the ground if you can't remove at once,though the herbicide is claimed for foliar use.I am NOT saying that flooding root infested soil with herbicide will help! If you are a composter,the leaves(no seeds) and stalks,NO ROOTS,make good feedstuff. Hope this helps,and good luck.

Riverspots, your points are very good. The materials really do match the area. I'm from the east coast and am always amazed how many stone houses are in Austin. In DC only the expensive homes are stone. I do think the levels 'look' neat, but I trip all the time. I know, that is a personal problem :) I actually fell down the stairs into the eating area and broke two toes when we first moved in. My thinking in eliminating the levels, which may be the most expensive part, was that in addition to me liking it more, it would make the house more appealing to more potential buyers in an older neighborhood ??? Perhaps I'm biased due to my own clutzyness. I definitely don't need the second island so if it isn't the right match for this house, I could put a moveable big table on the wall in between the range and the dinning room for my purposes. I will definitely ponder what you are saying. I do like the big open space but I've been told we need to fill it up because our house seems very cold. Thank you so much for the candid opinion Jsweenc, Yes, the house will still be plenty contemporary, just not artsy funky contemporary. You asked what it is, aside from the contemporary style, that doesn't work for me. I thought it easiest to list the things I hate and definitely want to change, and things that aren't so bad but if I'm changing the other things, it would make sense to consider. Things I hate: I have bad knees so the stone floor is KILLING me. The textured stone is also next to impossible to clean. There is dirt in those crevices left from the day the builders left. The levels. I hate going down two sets of stairs to eat. If I had bar stools, I'd still have to go down one step to eat. I hate having to go down a step and then around the peninsula to clean it and then back up the step to get back into the kitchen. I hate having a double sink w/o being able to fit a big pot on either side. I realize that is a completely personal thing and many people love them. Things that I would live with but in a perfect world would be different: I normally like dark countertops but the way the light is in this house you can see every spec of dust from a mile away. So, I'd love light countertops. I'm sick of our contemporary cabinets but I do appreciate how nice they are and I could definitely live with them even though I'd prefer not to. When going to kitchen from bedroom hallway, it would be nice not having to hug the right wall so I don't have to go down the stairs and then back up the stair. Would love not having the stair from the kitchen to the living room. If I didn't have the other stairs, it probably wouldn't bother me. We live out in the country so the pantry is too small for bulk shopping. The house is ginormous, but there are very few closets, not even a linen closet (strange, I know). The current room behind the kitchen (which will be the new pantry and laundry/utility room) is an office with no windows and a tiny bathroom. The current laundry room is in the main hallway which is visible from the entrance into the house. The peninsula, while big, is on kinda far from the fridge, range, or pantry to make it really useful as a prep area so it's almost wasted space. I'm not sure what is ideal, but I know I would like my working areas to be on one side of the island so I didn't have to always be walking around it. Ideally, I wouldn't have to walk around the island to access the sink/dishwasher. I think we all agree on the fate of the big thingy around the stove ;)