Such a warm welcome to an old weary friend.I saw a posting from dear Nova.Where is our 'dillo????So glad all of you are here.Planting your hearts out,with such good faith!Bless you all my darlings!OUTofSPITE I'm flattered!Me responsible for you getting tangled in our Garden web?It is true there is no better way to go,than sharing and caring about each other, and the "plantfolk", that although silent to our ears, enrich our other senses so completely.And,YES,the neighbor who wears shorts in December still lives in my Building.However I've learned to accept his eccentricity.I'm knitting him a sock as we speak,get it ,a sock????????????-D

I have several different varieties of Acer japonicum and Acer shirasawanum that some would refer to as Full Moon Maples. I will take some pictures of individual leaves this weekend and post them on the gallery forum for you to see. They can be quite different. As was mentioned above one has to know the cultivar name to have any good idea of what tree they are looking at. It all can be very confusing at times especially when it is a common name someone is using. Unfortunately some trees have the wrong cultivar names on them also. Keep checking back on the gallery until I get them posted. All of these trees have had a awsome spring and look great. Kent

Hi, I have about 200' of parking strips which I have put all into flowers. The parking strips are so visible that you should try for year round interest. I have something blooming in mine from December until frost. I use a large selection of spring bulbs that bloom from Dec-May. I have perennial flowers blooming from May until frost. I use a combination of evergreen and deciduous perennials. I plant the early spring bulbs around all the deciduous perennials so they bloom and grow while the perennial is dormant. Some of the bulbs I grow are cyclamen hederifolium, cyclamen coum, winter aconite, snowdrops, iris reticulata, crocus, scillia, glory of the snow, hyacinth, muscari, anemones, species tulips, appledorn tulips, bluebells, and allium moly. This is the order that they bloom for me also. The spring bulbs are easy care and drought tolerant, as they go dormant soon after they bloom. They multiply quickly and really are beautiful. I pick easy care drought tolerant perennials that bloom at different times. I use some evergreens and some deciduous. Some of the evergreen perennials that I use are Pacific coast iris, bergenia, creeping phlox, candytuft, euphorbias, hellebores, lamb's ears, New Zealand flax, dianthus, campanula, sedums and sempirvions. Some of the deciduous perennials that have done well for me are daylilys, lady's mantle, coreopsis, rudbeckia, asters, salvia, golden margarite, red plantain, ornamental grasses and hardy annuals like hens and chicks. I do have 7 plum trees planted in the strip as well. I do have clematis vines growing up each one and they have done very well also. I use different varieties with different bloom times so I have clematis blooming from April until frost. Your trees are very small still, so you should wait a few years before planting a clematis vine on them. Make sure you plant one that won't overwhelm your tree. It is true what gardengal said about the negative aspects of growing flowers in a parking strip. I wouldn't let it discourage you though. I have had so many people tell me how much they enjoy the flowers over the years. Neighbors plan their daily walks along my sidewalk, cars have stopped in the middle of the street to tell me how much they love the flowers, people are always asking me what this and that is. You'll get much more postive feedback than negative. Good luck with your garden. Karen

pruning.. done right ... is a personal preference .. and really has nothing to do with a trees natural shape ... in fact ... the best pruners prune like crazy ... and you never know.. because it ends up in a natural shape .... and if you put it right there by the path ... it will be easy to prune.. and right in your face.. whenever you walk by ... i agree with gal ... no pruning for a couple years ... a tree should have a root mass 2 to 3 times what you see above ,.. and a BB had 95% of that cut off .. to get it to your house ... every leaf is a food making machine... so leaving as much of the canopy as you can.. for as long as you can .. will allow it to regrow that root mass .... try to think in tree time which is decades .. rather than or instant gratification world of.. i want to start cutting on it next season for instant impact ... you said : This tree is starting to send up some healthy shoots from about 8-10 inches from the base, and if I let them grow, they will probably grow into stems. ===>> i am guessing you mean multiple trunks ... again .. that would be a personal choice as to your 10 year pruning goals ... if too many are left to grow.. it will probably look like a shrub for quite a few years ... but then eventually .... you could start raising the canopy on each trunk and end up with a pretty cool multi-trunked plant... if you have the patience to wait for your goal ... HOWEVER ... if you ever see shoots down low.. that have a different leaf .. get rid of those asap ... they would be coming from below the graft ... from the root stock ... and are never preferred to the plant you paid money for.. above the graft .... see link on dealing with clay soil .... have you ever perked your soil to determine drainage???? .. clay soil is mostly a transplanting issue ... and once the tree gets itself situated.. ESTABLISHED ... its not really a problem ... it boils down to you knowing enough about your soils drainage capacity.. so you can water it properly .. without drowning it .. before it gets itself free range ... i say.. if it will make you happy.. to put it by the path.. then make yourself happy .. lifes too short ... ken https://sites.google.com/site/tnarboretum/Home/planting-a-tree-or-shrub