The area I have to work with is not big. Not even large, the area is defined by the meeting of our house and garage with a concrete walk on the third side forming a triangle. I live in an urban area, so space is limited. Now, you all have me thinking...If I put all those hosta together on the same space it wouldn't leave any room for more plants once mature. And that would be both boring and messy, especially if the plantaginea come back and I try to cram them in there too. I moved my Sum and Substance to the middle of the bed last summer, so it will be a centerpiece *hopefully* whatever I end up doing. Back to the drawing board! Thanks for all the great thought-provoking questions :) I will try to remember to post a picture tomorrow. So, this is how it starts...

Hello, helpful friends! I have a sad update to this: I sprayed some kind of anti-disease treatment on the tree when the leaves fell over the wintertime, as suggested. I got the spray on Amazon and Peach Leaf Curl was listed as one of the ailments it treats ("Dr. Earth 8007 Disease Control Fungicide"). This year, if this is even possible, the tree looks even worse. The leaves are still in bad shape, but now there are some kinds of crazy round black dots growing on the branches. As you can see from the photo, it's doing quite badly. Can anyone share thoughts of ideas about what I can do?

This is my general purpose potting mix - 2/5 John Innes 3, 1/5 Jack's Magic compost mix from Westland, This lightens up the JI and provides a bit of a peat hit) 1/5 leafmould or sieved compost (water holding and structural and 1/5 flint chicken grit or, if weight is an issue, perlite. I mix the proportions around accordingly but have failed to go completely peat-free for long term potting. Also, depending on time of year, leafmould might be in short supply but a nicely rotted down compost will do. If no compost or leafmould available, then John Innes 3, Jack's Magic (or Levingtons or New Horizon) and grit or perlite - 1/2 JI, 1/4 compost, 1/4 grit. Drainage, yet moisture holding is the necessary balance. John Innes alone will become compacted and have aeration issues.

Plant some herbs - something you will use for cooking regularly, some Egyptian topsetting onions, etc. Because they are fragrant, the deer will leave them alone. Since you will be going out to get snips of sage, oregano, parsley, dill, cilantro, thyme, tarragon, etc. regularly, it gives you an opportunity to pull out the occasional grass or weeds. Most of the time they fend for themselves. Of course the oregano will try to take over the universe, but can be controlled to a set area. Dill and cilantro will reseed readily, but can usually be controlled by removing the seed heads before they spread everywhere (and since dill seed is useful in cooking, and cilantro seeds are coriander, not really a problem). Parsley can reseed as well after the second year, but safer to just plant new seed. Basil is tasty and useful, an annual, but in reality even it can reseed. The topsetting onions are virtually indestructible, but if the topsets are replanted regularly, will keep you in green onions most of the year. It gets to where every time you cook, you grab the colander and scissors to grab a few things to spice up your morning eggs, meats, vegetables, sandwich, etc.