Someone's bound to come on and chastise me, but...About the annuals thing: there was a time 20 yrs ago when your 2nd teeshirt would have been most appropriate in my book. I'll NEVER forget when, 20 yrs ago,3 yrs. after moving here, I met the local garden club president, standing in line at the bank. And I swear to you, I am not kidding, that after I told her about our gardens,she asked me, "What's a perennial?"* But now annuals are yet another extension (along w/ tropicals etc.) of the vast world of "the advanced gardener". My version of your annuals tshirt would say "Friends Don't Let Friends Buy Impatiens" (but then again there ARE some exquisite exotic impatiens...!)and I bet many gardeners have their own fill-in-the-blank dislikes. best, mindy www.cottonarboretum.com/ * I am NOT saying that garden club presidents are all like this.That experience was mine, in my particular town, in 1990.

"Integrated Pest Management is not using several methods at once to control a potential problem, as I have heard some dexcribe it." Actually, the basis of IPM is often using a combination of methods, techniques, and materials to manage pests. Just about every definition will include language stating this. The Clemson University site states it well: "IPM is a decision-making process that anticipates and prevents pest activity and infestation by combining a number of different strategies to achieve long-term solutions to pest problems." IPM is also not a simple A then B then C list of choices, rather it is a more holistic and complete way of assessing all of the available choices to come up with the best solution, or set of solutions, arrived at after a thorough understanding of the problem is achieved.

What is your soil type now? How much organic matter is in that soil? What is that soils pH? How well does that soil drain? How well does that soil retain moisture? How is the nutrient balance? Along with a good, reliable soil test from your state universitys USDA Cooperative Extension Service, or a lab recommended by them, these simple soil tests can be of help in getting that soil into a good, healthy soil. 1) Structure. From that soil sample put enough of the rest to make a 4 inch level in a clear 1 quart jar, with a tight fitting lid. Fill that jar with water and replace the lid, tightly. Shake the jar vigorously and then let it stand for 24 hours. Your soil will settle out according to soil particle size and weight. A good loam will have about 1-3/4 inch (about 45%) of sand on the bottom. about 1 inch (about 25%) of silt next, about 1 inch (25%) of clay above that, and about 1/4 inch (about 5%) of organic matter on the top. 2) Drainage. Dig a hole 1 foot square and 1 foot deep and fill that with water. After that water drains away refill the hole with more water and time how long it takes that to drain away. Anything less than 2 hours and your soil drains too quickly and needs more organic matter to slow that drainage down. Anything over 6 hours and the soil drains too slowly and needs lots of organic matter to speed it up. 3) Tilth. Take a handful of your slightly damp soil and squeeze it tightly. When the pressure is released the soil should hold together in that clump, but when poked with a finger that clump should fall apart. 4) Smell. What does your soil smell like? A pleasant, rich earthy odor? Putrid, offensive, repugnant odor? The more organic matter in your soil the more active the soil bacteria will be and the nicer your soil will smell. 5) Life. How many earthworms per shovel full were there? 5 or more indicates a pretty healthy soil. Fewer than 5, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service, indicates a soil that is not healthy.

Joellen, That is a nice one! But the price kind of took my breath away. It's half what I paid for my big compost tumbler out back. It certainly is nicer looking than my plastic container though. I've seen some at TJ Maxx and may have to look there again next time I'm over that way, which may be soon since TJ Maxx is my guilty pleasure :). Dawn, I spent a while trying to figure out what IPM stood for and never even got close. That's interesting. BG (before gardening) I'd have never understood why IPM was even necessary, lol. And speaking of pests, a couple of times lately I've seen a little cluster of white eggs about the size of a small pea on leaves. Does that sound familiar, and if so, are they eggs of good bugs or bad bugs? I don't know what to leave and what to remove, and don't want to automatically remove everything since some are beneficial. Suzie