Okay - loads of information to consider. Thank you very much! Thoughts so far-- I am, obviously, on sand and in the desert. But, aside from some very ambitious junipers there are no native trees for miles. With the exception of a few small ponds - all of these are lined in cottonwoods that are 150 feet tall, at least. They do love their water - and with water, can grow well here. When you drive around rural outskirts of Reno you will see a lot of cottonwoods planted around peoples homes and animal structures. Also russian olives, many pine varieties, etc. They're easy to come by, not too expensive, quick growing, and provide what we so desperately need out here without other houses and trees to assist us - shade and wind protection! Of course, all trees would do this to some degree, but we get back to that "bordering on invasive" criteria. I also have a fruitless cherry tree on my property. What a waste that is! Expensive, short lived, disease and pest ridden. Ugh! So, I think, when weighing the options, I still want to work to keep these trees alive. I also have 20 bare root firs and spruces as well as some oaks I plan to use to replace the trees on the drip line that are completely gone. I suspect the group of trees pictured has found some source of water. It may not be enough, it may be salty, etc. But there are two lines of cottonwoods - One along the North side and one along the West - and both are nearly all dead. Considering all these trees received no care for a few years some of them must have hit water to still be alive. I am trying to repair the drip system and make sure all the living trees get water :) It's tough! The person who laid it out wrapped it here, there, and everywhere. Some trees have 2-3 drips, some have none. Some drips work, some don't. So, guess I know what I am doing with my weekend!

I'll echo Debra's comments - - first and most importantly on your new granddaughter. As for the weather just west of Augusta, GA, its been terrible. Probably by the dsame day you got 109 Augusta set a "hottest day ever recorded" at 108. I don't know how many days we've been over 100, but there have been far too many and the days it "cooled down" it was between 95 and 99! My daylilies are struggling too. Watering just does not get the job done. Friday evening, we had the first thunder storm in two months or more. What a blessing to get 2 1/2 inches of rain. Everything looked much better Saturday morning although several of my first-blooming-year seedlings are still struggling. My established beds look alot like early spring - - what I mean is only a few green leaves showing. The difference is that everything else is crispy, brown leaves. Awfully ugly! We're expecting weather between 98 and 105 again this week. WHen will it end? Larry

I think the vine, in searching for light, decided to turn back out after going in that hole. And while it was in contact with the potting medium in the neighbor's pot, it just grew some roots. I have other hoyas making homes in their neighbors' pots, too. Only they were just "crawling" on the surface of the mix and sending their roots downward, so it was easy to remove them and put them back to their own pots. I guess it's their time of growing, isn't it? Xuan

It is sealed system, so I wouldn't worry that way. Probably over-stated the "aggressive" bit. They always advise no copper lines outbound from RO or distilled water units. Stainless is better -- which may be what your dispenser has in it. In the greater scheme, however, you can think about it like a tea-kettle. I remember when I was a child mom's tea-kettle was caked inside with calcium-like precipitate from years of use. Same kind of thing that happens to heating elements in water-heaters. That's what hard-water does. Distilled water is zero-ppm/TDS. RO-water is typically 5-10ppm/TDS. "Ideal" compromise for the purpose would be, maybe, 20-30ppm which is about what bottled drinking water is. RO water at mom's house is about 5ppm/TDS and her tea-kettle today is absolutely clean after 18 years of daily use. If you want to get nuts about it (like I am, it seems to me) you can buy a TDS meter for about $20.00. However, getting a little anal here. If it was my unit, I'd run RO water in it and not get too excited one way or another. It will break and need to be replaced sometime for some reason regardless. Certainly, I would run RO water to it as opposed to tap-water. I notice my RO dispensing spigot is metal and has not deteriorated in almost two decades so am wary of over-stating. Here is a link that might be useful: Inexpensive TDS meter