Kentucky - I have been trying to figure out how to make some raised beds- or raised pots for the front yard landscaping. I don't want the look of basic garden vegetable beds for around the front of the house though. I thought maybe I could dig 2 ft hole and put a 2 ft raised planter on top of it, that night work. I iam also thinking about making very big planters (they are ridiculously expensive to buy. I am not sure about the aestetic for my front landscaping, but after considering many materials and my craftsmanship capabilities I have a plan. I will just have to try it and see how it looks. It could sit above ground, part in ground or in ground. My design is 2"x2" wood frame cube (or taller) dark cedar stained (ECO friendly and plant safe). Side and bottom panels of 1" hardware cloth. Inner lining of natural burlap. It would sit on 8" concrete blocks (in ground) with the hole side up foradditional drainage. Inside bottom filled with river rocks then another lining of burlap to contain the soil and the plant and finally mulch on top, of course. It would have to be big enough to allow 3'x3' space for the roots to grow in the soil area. Again, the aestetic is the probelm (aside form all the hard work and digging). I think it wold look descent but odd. To build a retaining wall for the space under the front window of the house would not look right eiterh at the height I need it to be. I think the real solution is to pay for a backhoe to come in here and excavate the clay and then have new soil put in - way too expensive for me right now. I do have one narrow strip on the west side of the front yard that I am lining with concrete blocks to build up that soil area. I plan on very tall trellises lining that hill (all my land is hilly) and covering them with rose and jasmine vines as a privacy fence. The probelm is the area is part shade - never sunny and that is not goo for any of the plants I like. I bought the Charles Darrow Hybrid Musk for that location as it is reported by others to grow and bloom very well in shade. I also have some varieties of Jasmine that might do in that spot. I am also thinking of Camelias and Sky Pencil Holly. My Hollies are about 1ft tall now. It will be years before they grow big enough.

" It was so hot these two months.. on top of that i didnt get the chance to water it at all " That is pretty much the kiss of death for any maple grown in a container!! And with high heat, I'd say it was even a guarantee! My collection of containerized maples - most in much larger containers and not subject to even moderately high temps - require a thorough watering every other day. Not watering them for two weeks, let alone two months, would ensure their demise. I suspect yours will follow suit. Green twigs or under the bark is not a confirmation of viability. It takes time for the woody tissue to lose its moisture so remaining 'green' is not an indication that it is alive. And the dried and shriveled foliage is not 'early dormancy', which is triggered by conditions far removed from heat and lack of water but far more likely to be a sign that your tree is toast from a combination of heat and drought. Why did you not water during this period?

Ornamental grasses come in two types (turf grasses as well but that's another discussion) - cool season grasses and warm season grasses. Pennisetum - fountain grass - is a warm season type. That means it grows vigorously in summer and once it produces flower heads in mid to late summer or early fall, it starts to go dormant and the roots stop elongating. The established modus operandi all for warm season grasses is that they should be planted, divided or transplanted only at the start of their growing season as the roots will not 'take' or establish in colder weather or when they begin to go dormant. How much of a concern that might be for you is questionable but it IS an issue in my zone 9a winter climate!

Soonerplantfarm has quite a few. It's online but they're located in NE Oklahoma south of Tahlequah and I think they offer a discount if you pick up your order there. Maybe that's not too far for you. I've never ordered from them. I'm in southwest Missouri and tempted. Kinda pricey but it looks like the plants are large (gallon size and larger) so that's good. https://www.soonerplantfarm.com/Plant-Keywords/salvia