If you think the roots are badly congested, pot up slightly now, without disturbing roots other than to make a few vertical slits in the root mass and cutting an 'X' on the bottom of the root mass. If roots aren't badly congested, just wait. Get the plant outdoors and acclimated to full sun asap in May - as early as you can, as long as you're conscientious about moving the plant indoors when temps under 50-55* are predicted. The plant will respond extremely well to outdoor conditions. I would repot just after Father's Day. Let the plant recover until after the 4th of July, then cut it back as hard as you want to. The plant will back-bud vigorously, and you'll have up to around mid-Oct outdoors for the plant to recover .... again, if you watch temps. It's best not to cut back hard AND repot at the same time. If a plant needs both, I prefer to repot first, which leaves all the photosynthesizing machinery intact. After roots have recovered and have a good amount of stored energy, THEN you can pretty much cut back at will. Attempting stressful operations like a full repot or hard pruning are best avoided in winter and early spring for houseplants. Planning your repots so they take place between Father's Day and July 4th pretty much ensures a plant with good energy reserves that is better able to withstand stress than at any other period in the growth cycle. This, combined with maximum photo-period and photo-intensity, makes for the fastest recovery time and lowest vulnerability to insects, disease, or other complications related to low energy or slow recoveries. Al

I can't speak for others on this forum but I tend not to plant anything in "clumps" and take a wider view of my garden beds. I do plant perennials (not hostas) in groups of three at an angle to a path or walkway. This generally translates to a more noticeable impact with some perennials. Astilbe comes to mind due to its airy foliage. It's often suggested that planting in groups of 3 or 5 offers sufficient impact. Multiples of some perennials can provide a more significant impact in a garden bed as opposed to "specimen" plants (i.e., one here and another a few feet away).

I need to complete a hardwood floor that was partially installed several years ago. Looking at the layout, the existing floor is "U shaped". The kitchen is one leg of the "U". Part of a long hall would be the other leg of the "U". and the bottom of the "U" is a short foyer area. This is all continuous hardwood strips running parallel to the bottom of the "U". The layout of the floor needing to be completed will be a flipped over "U shape". One leg of the "flipped U" is the dining room. The other leg is a continuation of the hall. and the base of the "flipped U" is a landing at the top of 2 sets of steps; one set of stairs going down to the basement, one set on the other side going into a sunken living room. My problems are: If I begin at the existing flooring and work up both legs of the base of the "flipped U", how do I make sure the strips are lined up properly when they meet at the base of the "flipped U" AND how do I insure the top step nosings for both sets of steps are properly positioned for the top steps? If I start at the base of the "flipped U" to make be sure of the top stair nosings positioning, how do I join the new floor to the old since both tongues would meet? Do I cut off the tongue where new meets old, cut a groove and top nail? Thank you. john

My U is 70" from counter edge to counter edge. My peninsula is 38" wide which leaves plenty of room for me to cook on the kitchen side, and people to sit on the family room side. I'm also pre-reno, but I will keep my U when the time comes to do the kitchen. Here's a link to one of my inspiration photos. Here is a link that might be useful: [U-shaped kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/vista-real-residence-contemporary-kitchen-los-angeles-phvw-vp~105664)