On landscape shows, I've seen a special tool that is used to remove large trees to be replanted, it creates a root ball. But most roses aren't that large. I would water the rose every night for a few days so the soil is wet. Also take a shovel and mark out the circumference of the root ball, going deeper every day. Then lift the root ball from the bottom into a tarp or large pot. If the rose has been in the ground for awhile, you will probably have to cut large anchor roots that can span up to 10 feet away from the root ball. I moved 5-6 roses this way earlier this spring. Only one showed stress and defoliated but is now better. But if you do it when the plant is completely dormant, you really don't need a root ball. It is then a 'bare root' which is how most of us started our roses in the first place.

I say make a plan or drawing first.I was just starting with a small vege garden and wasn't thinking of design, so just went with square/rectangular boxes Dopey me! My DH is a woodcarver/worker and I could have done some spectacular stuff! I will in my expansion! He's not off the hook this time! LOL. Anyway, do the design (really try to do the wide paths to save your back!), then just do one bed at a time! Maybe cover the rest of the area in compost and cardboard to start getting the soil into shape as you are developing your first bed or 2? That will make your next one even easier! I'm going on 10 years with the origional hardware cloth wire. Be sure to get the heavy duty stuff if you're using it for gophers! Chicken wire does NOT work! It's holes are too big and it will rot out in a couple of years! I keep my herbs separate from the vege garden proper. When I started the herb garden, I had discovered this board and the cottage garden board and made it much prettier than the basic vege garden. I have also lined the vege beds with flower planters to soften things a bit. Lastly, don't think of it as such a chore! Enjoy the ride! Nancy

It is cold here but I have a large attached garage with a lot of empty space. Can I move the boxes into the garage until we move? It would give me a feeling of accomplishment to clean the place out instead of adding more boxes which translates into clutter to the rooms. So far, I've organized and packed 43 boxes which are mainly books, CD's, DVD's and all of DH's stuff. He's now working at his new job and will not be here to help. I used to have the computer in an extra spare room which I made into an office. But I seemed to be in there more than with the family in the living room. DH asked me one day to move the computer into the living room and I did which turned out to be a perfect solution. I will admit to being on the internet when I'm watching a movie or TV. It's become an awful habit but it works for me. It's not as though I'm doing anything important while watching television. It will be hard to give this up even though the logistics might force me to do so. Talley Sue, I like the idea of tossing half. Maybe then I'll be able to toss more. I definitely know which items I wear and which ones I don't since I've already sorted them. Today, I have to go into town for a doctor's appointment. Tomorrow, I plan to do what's left in my bedroom. Then there's the 2 closets that have my clothes as well as 2 bathrooms and the kitchen which have been culled and organized. I also have some boxed stuff in the garage that I'll have to repack properly. I just have to pack up the stuff. DD is dragging on packing up her stuff. I might end up having to help her since she has two chronic diseases and stress makes them worse. For bathroom items as well as kitchen items, how long in advance of the movers coming should I be doing these? I'd rather not break it up into what I need now and those items not regularly used since when I pack it up, I will organize it properly into boxes so that I know if these items will end up in the new kitchen or the storage cupboards in the laundry room. I definitely won't have the same amount of kitchen cabinets and fantastic pantry in the new place so I will have to rethink some of it. I've never had a long distance move that the movers didn't pack it all for me. That's why I'm having a hard time figuring out how to proceed. I'm so thankful that I had organized and thrown out a bunch of stuff these past 3 years. It definitely is making my life easier now that I'm moving. I don't even want to think of how I'd have gotten started if I hadn't done this.

This is an entertaining thread. I've read all the way through, and realize that dh and I are extremely fortunate in that our tastes coincide on so many levels, and he's very agreeable after I spend hours researching agonizing over selections. What I have learned though, after we built a home 10 years ago, is that it all needs to be done at the outset. Because after the initial construction is finished he is extremely resistant to more construction mess. I had FREE labor offering to help me finish my sewing studio - no go. And the backsplash that we were going to finish after we moved in and lived with a kitchen for awhile - never happened. We sold the house 7 years later, and it was still ABB. So this house, my studio has been an integral part of the plan, AND I just found my perfect backsplash. I can't join the ABB club, or I will forever be without a backsplash. It's all just knowing your own particular dynamic. I'm agonizing right now over which sink to put into the kitchen. I've asked his opinion - he said "get whatever you want" We've gone over our plans with a fine tooth comb in the last week, and I found a few places where we could change selections or leave off, and he pretty much added everything back in.