I have found that deadheading the HM's keeps them looking good and reblooming all season long. They pretty much tell me where to cut: where the new growth has started, usually at the base of a leaflet set right back from where the flowers have died. Clip there and the energy doubles into that new growth and very soon you will have flowers again. Susan

Are you able to do the 'fig shuffle'? Many people will move the container plant out to the sun sooner, moving it back to protection in the garage if there is a threat of temps below 40 degrees F, then back to the outdoors during normal spring days. Sounds like those yellow leaves mean the plant needs some light.

Hi Erin, I had total success with the seashell moat. Not one rose lost to them over the winter. What I do is a bit complicated but works really well and is easy. I buy mostly own root roses which tend to have small root systems. I use a 7 1/2 inch pressed pot (peat pot) place an inch of coarsely crushed shells on the bottom. The landscape supply company I buy these from runs them over with his loader a few times. You want them sharp. You need to use a pot that will decompose or you could also use a cardboard box. Just something to keep the soil contained since this method is much easier than the grafted rose method. Plant the rose in good quality soil with a spoonful of Mycorrhizal sprinkled on the roots and a bit of alfalfa and Tomatotone. I fill the pot to about an inch below the lip. Dig a hole that is big enough around so it's about 1 to 2 inches bigger than the pot on all sides. And maybe an inch deeper than the pot. Put the pot in the hole then fill the "moat" with the crushed shells and across the top of the pot so the rose is completely surrounded by shells. You don't want a gap that the little buggers can tunnel through. I then mulch over with regular mulch. Grafted is a little different. Dig a hole so your graft is 4 inches below the soil. Put your rose in the hole. Put about an inch of shells on the bottom of the hole over the rose roots. Using sticky soil try to build up a decent layer of soil around the roots leaving about 2 inches on the outside for your moat. Do this in stages. As you go up the roots put your shell moat in. Then surround the roots or shaft with a decent layer of soil around the shaft leaving the same amount of space from the edge of the hole for your shell moat. Keep going until you're about 2 inches from the top. Add a layer of shells across the whole top right up to all the canes and across to the edges of the hole. You want the rose root system completely encased in shells. I generally do a moat of shells about 8 inches deep since I read that voles don't dig below around six inches. I still put shells at the bottom of the hole but you can fill a really deep hole with soil until you're about 8 inches from the top of the hole. For existing roses I dug a trench around the rose about 6 inches away from the canes, I just used a hand trowel to dig a trench about 5 inches deep and filled it with shells and then added a layer of shells across the crown of the rose, squeezing then between the canes so the rose was protected. Just make sure that you plant the rose where you want it since it's a pain to dig-up, not impossible but still a pain. I figure if I can't shovel through it the voles shouldn't be able to dig through it :-) I was worried about frost heaving through the winter or the roses roots freezing but all of my roses were fine. They don't seem to need more frequent watering than roses planted just in soil so it seems my moat is a success. I'll post a step by step picture tutorial with a potted rose in the next few days. Meantime I hope this helps. sharon

What is your vision for the planting strip along the city sidewalk and the fore portion of the lot line? Unless you had a specific vision, I would not have done any work before completing the planning. Personally, I think your yard would have been better off with that area left to grass and concentrate bed expansion along the fenced area. Given that the bed has already been expanded, I'm going to criticize the shape of the bed and pair-of-boobs-shaped lawn. It is just not a geometrically pretty combination! There are too many curves that don't quite match and they make the bed to skinny in some places. When a bed contains a tree, the bed should be sized and placed as if it was a container capable of supporting the tree's life. Here, the tree is right on the edge of the bed, more how a weed would position itself in a container. Either put the tree in or near the center of the bed ... or, if the tree isn't moving, expand the bed so that the tree is in or near its center, never on or near the edge! If the bed is circular (like the tree is) it shapes and frames the trunk giving it added importance and finishment as a picture frame gives added importance and finishment to a picture. IMO, a circular bed around the tree would have made a great end to the bed, rather than continuing the bed to the city walk. Now, if you're going to have the bed continue to the city walk, it can't be so skinny there that you cannot plant something meaningful in it. It should be at least 6' front-to-back bed depth. Deeper would be OK, too. Along the lot line, it should be at least 5' depth. Deeper would be fine there, too. Back to your vision of this area ... are you trying to add privacy with taller material? ... or just some interest, but not privacy? Here are some goals I would aspire to ...