Following the guidelines here, Greengardener! 1.) Seeds - Check! Yep! Got 'em 2.) Containers - Check! Ready to go! 3.) Tablet and pen - Check! Laptop is ready to go! 4.) Duct tape - Check! Got that too! Both white and siver! 5.) Sharp utility knife - Check! Sissors at hand! 6.) Permanent marker - Check! Sharpie is ready 7.) Soil/growing medium - Um, um, um...... Bag's open, all soft and fluffy! Rose of Sharon are seeds waiting for me to take my "Leap of Faith". They got wet last week and have been in the fridge ever since. They are begging for me to sow them... I need to shut them up today!! I have a 2# deli container filled with soil mix, some nice holes cut into the bottom edges. Soaked it down with the sprayer to check the drainage... One baby, two baby, three baby seeds, press 'em down a bit. Almost done... now get that container outside and then into the cold frame it goes.... NOT! Well, hells bells! What the heck?!? The dang door's frozen SHUT! I hear a quiet voice.... "Well Momma, why don't ya get the hair blower on that freakin' door and get us the heck out of this heat?" Well ya little sh%t... the hair dryer broken! One more word out of you and it's into the freezer ya go! and later that day.... "Hey Mom? When are we going to have that stuff in the freezer for dinner? I want to go to Corey's house for dinner that night!"

Karyn Thanks for sharing your experiences, the good, and the BAD (forgetful)!! lol! I'm surprised to learn your brugs won't overwinter in the ground in your zone. You must have different kind of soil than Mark and I. But he does take his up and I just take in the ones I want to give a head-start in the Spring. I did lose Cypress Gardens (one of my favorites) last winter that was either too sensitive to our winter cold or was too close to the concrete driveway that transmitted extra cold to the soil surrounding the CG. I'm trying not to plant too close to my driveway now. Also, not too near outside wall edges. All my in-ground brugs are under heavy bark mulch and I plant in amended clay soil here. They do come up late, and bloom late, a negative aspect to leaving them in the ground but I have no choice, because of the lack of inside room. Brenda B

I've raised it up quite a few times, and yes, I hear a crunch or two sometimes. Last Spring was the first time I noticed smaller leaves obviously stress-related. But it had plenty of berries. That's when I put the rock there and said, what the heck I'll give it a try and worse comes to worse I'll take it down. Just to make it clear, this Serviceberry has been toppled not just once or twice. Like I said, I had it staked well for two years, but during a strong thunderstorm one of the cables broke. I will try staking again and take off some height. Ianna, yes a vortex. I suspected that I have created this situation out of ignorance after reading an article on walled gardens. It stated that even a garden surrounded by tall hedge can cause winds to play havoc with trees and shrubs inside. That's what I have - tall privet hedge that I used to keep sheared to about 6' but it got to be a real chore so I grew lax and the hedge is way higher now.

Let me rephrase my question because I see this discussion getting off track. Over and over I hear that compost is good for lawns. It builds soil structure and adds soil life. If we can agree on this fact, I can't agree and that's where we get off track. Compost provides shade, minimal nutrition, and beneficial microbes. It does not build anything, microbes do. It does not add soil life, but the shade it provides facilitates the population growth of soil microbes. Beyond the addition of the microbes that wash off of it, compost does not add life. Or maybe that's the life you were talking about. But regardless of whether I agree about the above "fact,"...if we can agree on this fact, my question is: does the mulching of leaves on a lawn serve the same effect as compost? Yes. If so, can a good autumn mulching of a thick downfall of leaves substitute for an economical and beneficial application of compost? Yes. If not, what's the difference between the two, and what DOES mulched leaves do for lawns? I already went there and you said it was off track. Paul Tukey is well meaning but not well informed. If you want to take your organic gardening seriously, you have to completely forget about NPK and start thinking in terms of protein, carbohydrate, vitamins, enzymes, and minerals. If Mr Tukey ever indicates something similar, I'll start to read his stuff. NPK was invented by chemists who believe the soil contains chemicals and minerals. While it does contain minerals, it is more important to know that it contains microbes that need to eat real food. They do not eat NPK they eat food. When they can't get food (and often when they can) they eat each other. The NPK mentality has been around for 200 years and it isn't going away soon. Once you embrace the idea of organic food and drop the visions of chemicals (NPK), you are bucking the entire world of agriculture but you are on your way to understanding how organic fertilizer works. You will also understand why compost is not a fertilizer (no food in it). As you can read in kimmsr's messages, he has a more austere approach to organic gardening. If there was a 'vegan' category for organic gardening, he'd be one of the champions of that cause. I read every word he writes looking for some biological insight into his methods. I trust that he gets the results he claims, but I don't fully understand why. And I clearly disagree with him (and the rest of the world) on the value of compost. I think people get good results with compost if they do not already have a good supply of microbes in their soil. Compost provides a "micromulch" much like mulched leaves. It is my belief that the micromulch provides additional shade under the shade of the grass blades to prevent moisture loss and stabilize soil temp. That function allows the soil fungi to grow extraordinarily fast and that's where the big benefit comes from. Chemists are locked into NPK and can't see the biology of the soil. I'm locked into food value. It could be there is something else, call it another force of life, that I'm not seeing. I'll admit I'm blinded by the strength of my current beliefs. And maybe that other force of life provides the nutrition from leaves and compost that kimmsr talks about.