I hope the problems cornus florida has been having is more a cause of a change in forest make up than infections but i fear it is a combination. Dogwoods are some of my favorites.

Jim, Come on down, I have two potted up. One in a one gallon pot and another in a three gallon pot. And there are a whole bunch of suckers in the ground. I plan on leaving them there until late winter - early spring before potting them up, since I don't have the room to over winter them indoors in pots. But if you want one of the suckers I could pot one up for you. My email is issaquahfish at msn.com. You can have one without a trade, but if you have anyone of the hardy Schefflera's I would be interested in a cutting or a start. They are very hard to find in North America. They sell them in Europe but for someone like me, it would be impossible to get. Crug Farms out of Scotland sell numerous species and about half of them they credit Dan Hinkley with introducing into the trade. It's too bad he wasn't able to do that here for whatever reason since he lives in Washington State. Next year I probably will be more aggressive in removing the suckers before they get any size since they are interfering with my collection of hardy and semi-hardy banannas. John

I've gotten my viburnums from various places. I got Autumn Jazz and Chicago Luster from Lowe's, Blue Muffin, Shasta and Aurora from Bluestone Perennials (small but cheap). I got Arrowwoods, Black haws and Nannyberries from our conservation department, viburnum trilobum from a plant trade, Onondaga from a seasonal nursery, and Mohawk from another nursery in town. Most of them are planted, along with some other shrubs, in a long L-Shaped shrubrow along one side of our property to screen out the neighboring property. The owner was planning to split it up into two lots, one in front and one in back, which would've really looked awkward. I think the viburnums I got from our state nursery were in an assorted "Wildlife" bundle. They're not quite as cheap as the single variety bundles of 25 but still very reasonable. Our new order form will come out around mid-November. I usually find people to share with when I order so I can get more variety. Arkansas, I think, has a higher minimum on seedling bundles. I believe you have to get 100 of each variety. Too many for most people. I got some Scarlet Oaks in a variety bundle one year and they have WONDERFUL fall color but they are probably the slowest growing trees I have ever planted. Glad I didn't plant them to shade my house.

The meadow isn't going to be substantially different from what you currently have. Left totally alone, it will turn back into forest surprisingly fast. Even if you left it for a year, it would fill up with enough woody plants that it would need serious equipment to clear. So it is less a different object, than that your opinion of it changes. Personally, I wouldn't bother trying to preserve the view of the garden by the road. I'd be perfectly willing to deepen or create a shrub border between the road and the lawn, then create a new garden on the other side of that border. That should eat up a fair amount of lawn.