Unless you are in a really high water table area, your garden is extremely close to a waterway, or for some reason planting in an extremely sandy soil area where you also have a lot of moisture...then most home gardeners are having an extremely small (to none) impact on their local water tables. We gotta remember there's 2 main worlds in the outdoor food production game...those managing a few sq foot to a couple acres...and those managing 100s-1000s+ of acres. While some information you get may be technically true for everyone, it may not be an issue depending on the actual variables and the scale of the operation it's being applied to. There's no shortcut around managing nutrient runoff on 1000+ acres even in the most hospitable areas. The home gardener gets a whole lot more leeway.

melvee: IMO, you should add compost during the growing season according to the individual plants needs. For example, it's not a good idea to overfertilize tomatoes, so I don't topdress them until the tomatoes have started to form. After that I continue topdressing every 3-4 weeks. Happy Composting, PJ

I KNOW I had updated pictures of our Cowboy Chic den but can't for the life of me find them. The 24x26 room isn't a brown brown, more of a orangy brown. Walls and sectional pretty much the same color. The carpet is an antelope print (that's what it's called but it's really an axis deer print, same as the skin on the coffee table)with brown in it. My punches of color are the pillows on the sectional. They're all the same style pillow in brick red, sage green, brownish green, orange, dark brown and gold. Even the tile is close in color and dark brown wood coffee table and end tables. This is the only picture I can find...oh, AND the ceiling in this large room is wood too. I think it's a personal preference whether or not you think it's too much of the same color. We've got a 10 foot long white Austin Chopped stone fireplace (goes all the way to the ceiling) that breaks up the color and plenty of other accessories on the walls (plus 10 windows). Monotone-ish den Vaulted ceiling Couch. We've had THREE couches in this den in 9 years :o The first leather sectional broke (handle) and was replaced under an extended warranty. The second leather set, I never liked. It was uncomfortable and too formal looking for our room. The third time was the charm and it's NOT leather. It's our favorite by far! We have two grandchildren that are here as often as they can talk their momma into letting them come over LOL At least 3 days a week. Even tho food and drink isn't allowed in there and shoes are supposed to come off at the door, stuff happens. Hands don't get wiped or they'll sneak a leaky sippy cup in there while I'm not looking. This is some kind of microfiber that at first glance and especially at a distance, looks like leather. A wipe with a damp microfiber cloth is all it takes to clean it. It's definitely a miracle fabric :) And the baby on the couch...he's the best accessory :)

they often need 2 or 3 years to really put down roots, some nurseries recommend to plant them in spring as they tend to suffer after fall panting. plus, they do spread, so are definitely not the right plant for small/ narrow borders (4-5 feet or less), so don`t blame it on the plant but make sure that you can provide enough space (just like for a Great Dane...) we have mild climate (7-ish) and they are wintergreen for me, stopping shortly when it freezes, and after 5 years+ mine are almost 4 feet wide (one plant) I just pull up emerging shoots when they start crowding nice Hostas, and find them quite easy to regulate, there are far worse spreaders. But they do need some space, so yes, if your border is rather smallish, be brave, shovel prune them and jump at the opportunity to research for something new to fill he gap ;-) otherwise, (in heavy soil), they last long and are really workhorses, not fussy, and such a great show in early fall