I have had Chocolate Chip Ajuga for going on 7 years and it is well behaved. If it moves more than you like, just pull it up or dig up around the outside of the area where you want it. I have no problem getting rid of extra pieces since the neighbors like it too! Plants that I don't want here are some of the usual suspects: Bouncing Bet - still pulling and spraying starts after several years Species Hardy Geranium - also pulling out new seedlings several feet from the original plant. It only blooms for a short time and then spreads its seed and runners all over the place. Obedient Plant - never tried Miss Manners yet though Bishops Weed Older Variety Purple Coneflowers-I grow the newer different colored ones and do not have a problem pulling the few volunteers that come up. The older pink ones were a disaster to keep from seeding every where. Goldsturm Rudbeckia-a few plants tried to take over a whole bed. In two years, I had several plastic garbage bags full when we dug them up to give away. Linda

We are on a tight budget and wondering about building in stages, for example: finishing off the main square footage with a general contractor and then finishing off the square footage where the other two smaller bedrooms and bath are later ourselves. We would designated this space as storage for the drawing plans. Pros's Con's ?? Are you financing this build yourself? If not, this may be difficult to do because the bank will consider it a one bedroom house and will appraise it as such. That will impact how much they will lend you for construction.

Hi I had a similar situation from my first marriage . Saw my daughter once at two months and then again 35 years later lol The meeting was arranged by friends and she was at their home during a visit to my home town . Total surprise for me lol Interesting that during the meeting I had no idea who she was but immediately noticed how much she looked like her mother 35 years ago of course lol She was married and had children of her own my grandchildren which were almost teenagers . had intentionally avoided the meeting as I was totally unprepared to explain what happened . Interestingly that was not a problem we talked mostly about her kids and her mother her life but almost nil about the past. She said that she was very happy to have finally met me as my name had come up in conversations over the years lol Wasn't bad and am sort of glad that it happened though I certainly wouldn't have arranged it She returned to her life and me to mine naturally and since we live almost 2000 miles apart we do exchange info a bit. Has tapered off in the last few years My grandchildren send me Christmas and Birthday cards As to your problem there's really only two choices either do it now or much much later?? Good luck with whichever way you decide!!! gary

I think it's disingenuous to suggest that a well-made 5:1:1 mix needs constant watering. It doesn't. Even the gritty mix, that holds even less water than the 5:1:1 mix doesn't need constant watering. Do you have to water more often than more water-retentive mixes? Yes. But there is a price to be paid in the form of lost potential for the convenience of soils that hold water for extended intervals. Denise: there is a monetary consideration that clearly delineates hobby growers from professional growers. Nursery/greenhouse ops wouldn't be willing to pay employees to water twice as often as a heavier mix because they've weighed the cost of limitations due to temporary periods of excess water retention against the cost of watering more frequently, and decided it's to the advantage of their bottom line to sacrifice some lost potential to save labor $. The hobby grower is in the hobby to scratch their nurturing gene. for the most part, They actually feel good about spending more time with their plants and offering them the best care they can afford, as opposed perhaps to the cheapest soil they can find. Think of it in terms of the difference in perspectives between a puppy mill and the owner of a new puppy - two completely different worlds. So, care given by a nursery and greenhouse of will always be in consideration of the bottom line, which means following their lead will not always be in the best interest of the plant. Your care and mine are far more likely to be about providing the best care we can. Holding up the practices of a greenhouse or nursery is a little like asking us to emulate a puppy mill. I know - tugging at your heart strings. I wasn't really trying to do that - just the first good comparison that popped into my mind. Chicken farmer/ pet chicken, beef grower/ pet cow is another. If a plant is properly handled during a repotting session, it would be extremely unusual to lose a plant. Look at the two following root reductions where well over 90% of the roots were removed:Here, I have just finished pruning the top. This is after the root work was completed: Here ^^^, about 1/2 of the roots have already been removed The plant with root work complete:Note the size of the roots I removed. Many were more than 1" in diameter. In subsequent repots, I have removed all the knobby roots from the bottom of the bole. This plant was grown in the gritty mix - note the remarkably (for a maple) fibrous root system. The entire soil mass, you can see, is densely packed with the fine roots that do the lion's share of the work. After the root work: If you look, you can see the wire that shows this tree was layered above a poorly formed (but not unhealthy) root system. Where each of the 7 main roots are now, those that emanate horizontally from the trunk, I bored 7 holes into the sapwood and treated each hole individually with IBA rooting gel. I ended up with 7 perfectly spaced roots that will look great when they are later exposed on top of the soil. One more series, just to illustrate how little trees care about having half or more of their root systems removed: Again - note how healthy the roots are. ^^^ I wouldn't suggest you approach root pruning this radically, but removing 1/3 to 1/2 of a young plant's roots (younger than say 25 years) should be no problem. Plants that grow extremely fibrous roots (boxwood, azalea .....) need a slightly different approach. Keep the roots always wet while you work. First remove all problem roots (crossing, encircling, girdling, j-hooked roots - roots that grow upward, straight down, and roots that grow back toward the center of the root mass. After the problems are corrected (makes future repots much easier - the first is always the hardest) concentrate on removing the largest roots with the fewest fine roots attached. We know that root congestion negatively impacts growth, vitality (health) and yields, and those limitation become increasingly severe as root congestion increases. Pruning a bit around the edges of the root/soil mass and potting up is a half measure that ensures limitations remain until someone physically gets into the root mass and corrects the congestion and problem roots. Even planting out (in the landscape) will not eliminate the effects of congestion in the soil mass that existed at plant-out time. Al