Jim:If you live in NY area,and not in the northen part of New York State,Then what grow best here in New Jersey will grow in New York too. So far here in my backyard,Hardy Chicago,and Marseilles vs black made it into large trees,and again this winter they come out in one piece,in ground. I did protect them from the cold ,the first 2 or 3 winters,by using old blanchets,rugs,and wrapping them the best I could. Now They are about 7 years old or more and finally adult trees,so I do not plan to protect them anymore. I did have a lots more fig tree in trial here but can't say that any have done as well as this 2 when it comes to winter resistance. Best Regards VS

Thanks everyone, I am still hoping the leg will get better. This morning she had her foot (of her bad leg) sitting properly on a branch but when she flew into the feeder it really looks like she cannot move the foot. She isn't holding it as tightly to her body anymore so it must be healing but not sure if she can regain use of the foot or not, there doesn't seem to be any movement of the foot, it just kinda hangs there. Toes are not tightly curled at all just loose but not flopping if that makes sense. She is starting to get her rusty breast along with the other two fledglings. I feel so bad for her, I hope she will be ok and regain some use of the foot/leg but it has been almost a week now since I noticed this. Still hoping and praying though. Donna

As a mother of a child with his own issues, let me just send you a mental hug...and share a glass of wine (you do drink don't you? That helps...does he? LOL KIDDING). Anyhoo, what I really want to share with you is some advice that a doctor gave us when our son was about 2. Hospital kids do nothing but watch TV because there isn't much to do. I used to limit it substantially at home because of that. Turns out, from the therapist at the hospital, maybe I wasn't doing a service to my child in doing so. In a stressful situation, watching "tv" or movies or whatever becomes their escape to sanity. I don't know what his life was like previously but I'm assuming since he's with you it wasn't good. My son's life is wonderful, but he still used to get highly stressed at changes in his life. As she said, he literally would center himself while watching the back yardagains. In the hospital situation this came up in he was having some very intensive therapy and had taken to banging his head, which he NEVER did. At her suggestion, when he got stressed we watched a show together and it was amazing the difference that made. From that point on whenever we finished a therapy we would go back and watch something together. He still watches more tv than most, but I know what it is and I allow it when I allow it (no tv in the rooms etc in my house). But he still centers his little world often when he's being pushed too hard by sitting in his little "fort" under the stairs and watching a favorite show. You have to understand that allowing this for a child who needs it is not "plopping them on the couch". Think about his life...that time on the couch might be the only happy time he had...his escape. So to take that escape away adds to his pressures. Then you rip the house apart and that stresses him even more...yet he still can't have his escape. You see where I'm going? As the therapist told me...what we had planned as "ideal" parents was just a fantasy. My child wasn't going to watch cartoons...he was going to play outside or play games or read....And letting go of that fantasy was hard but as a good parent, when I did so I realized what I was keeping him from...his moments of sanity. You can't entertain him 24/7. It's not good for him because one day he'll be on his own and won't know how to entertain himself :) If a little tv time helps...and you monitor what he's watching carefully you aren't hurting him...you might actually be giving him a great deal of help coping with what's happening in his life.

As you suspected, water pressure on the back side is the issue. If you could divert the water or put drainage holes in a couple of spots, then a patch job would probably be all you need. I'd ask this in the Landscape Design Forum. What is at either end of the wall? tj