Jey_l, and Belgianpup, thank you for your input. I do need the help with figuring the best options for restoring this building to my purposes. When we moved here about 4 years ago, the structure was filled almost to the brim with the remains of the old roof, broken tree limbs, roof pieces, leaves, and those danged sweetgum balls. The pile of debris they hauled to the street was awful, and also included several old a/c window units and car parts and shingles and nails galore. Thankfully, the city trash dept took pity on me as a little ole lady, and picked it all up with no extra charges. I never saw how the roof was constructed, but I think it was a shed style which sloped toward the back, based on the lower rows of blocks toward the back. At that time, the lot had a fence on the old property line which was less than a foot from the back wall, which was the eastern side. And on the south end, it was about 5 to 6 feet from the other property line. This last year, we purchased another 25 feet of land from the neighbor behind us. This has allowed us to install a new 7' tall privacy fence around 3 sides of the new land, and we are planning to remove all of the old chain link running behind the building...but not until it cools off. No way would we be able to get close to the back of the garage any other way. We also had several trees cut down, and I mean they were big ones--4 pines 100 feet tall, 1 big water oak, and the sweetgum which was intent on destroying the building. We did not grind the sweetgum stump, but will let it rot naturally in a few years. But when we break up the cement slab inside the garage, we will then cut out as much of the root as we can and fill in to avoid a foundation problem in the future. I have the old spring loaded garage door opened to its fullest (faces west) and have propped it up with two of the cypress louvered "screen" doors we salvaged from our river house destroyed during Hurricane Katrina. I think this allows better air circulation, and improves the look of the garage somewhat. Belgianpup, I am puzzled by your assessment that it is not well oriented as a greenhouse. What orientation would any greenhouse need if added to this garage? I do not want to add more footprint of any structures to our lot, so I can retain the shaded area behind the garage. I guess when I say "greenhouse" all I mean is a plant safety area, which can all year long house any humidity and heat loving plants, including bromeliads, large container plants which like shade, equally large ones which like sun, but are somewhat tropical in nature. If it is considered a "conservatory" would that make it different from a greenhouse? I do need desperately a cozy place for my big plants, in containers, because our little cottage does not have room for them. And I would like to allow my two parrots to spend quality time inside this place during the winter out of the cages so they might exercise by flying. All trees surrounding the property are on the east and south sides of the garage. Only the small pecan trees on the east are ours, with the trees on the south being in our neighbor's yard. During the winds a few weeks ago, a really huge limb fell across our fence from the neighbor's water oak, which has much rot along its trunk and major branches. I expect more will fall in the future. Help me work out which direction to orient the gables on any new garage roof. If I stand with my back to the street and face the garage, I will be looking at the FRONT of the building. If I hold out my LEFT ARM, it will point NORTH. If I hold out my RIGHT ARM, it will point SOUTH. Mobile is at latitude 30 degrees north, all trees to the east and south are deciduous trees. There are no trees to the WEST which will affect the exposure, because they are all across the street--but they are primarily live oaks and pines, which retain all leaves winter and summer. Our house does create some shade in the late afternoon, but it does not fall across the garage at any season. The roof I was wanting to build would have its gable ENDS facing East and West, so there would be a chance to make the south roof into Lexan panels. Either total Lexan, or standing seam metal alternating with Lexan. I could also make it a LOW SLOPE and cover the proper roofing materials with plants on this south facing side. I think that would help cool the interior, but how about light inside? Could I still put some Lexan panels in a few places while keeping live plants on the roof? Then I would also KICK UP HIGH the other half of the roof, the part which faces NORTH. It would not intersect the south half of the roof covered with plants, but would be up high enough that I could have a lofted ceiling on the interior, and a wall of Lexan windows PERPENDICULAR TO THE OTHER HALF OF THE ROOF...and it is that wall of windows which would connect the two parts of the roof. In the winter it would bring in a lot of light there, and it would be mostly shaded much of the summer. Beneath the high half of the roof, sitting on the cement slab, I want to put in a 15 x 9 x 4 foot deep Endless Pool. No permit required if it is above ground. I figure this would help humidify the interior for my plants. It could also be part of the radiant heat source in the winter, right? Ok, another thought for the south part of the roof. Would it be a good mounting surface for solar panels if not plants on the surface? Or should I just reserve the main house roof which faces south for the solar panels? That portion of the house is in the sun almost from dawn to dusk. Even in winter, it is sunny because of the deciduous leafless trees. The other option for the roofing is to put the gable ends oriented north and south, so the flat portions of the roof face east and west. This will make the building look like an Irish stone cottage, which is a great thing. But by doing the roof this way, all chance of solar panels would be scotched. And planting the roof would be an iffy deal. It would give a lot of head room for the interior , but no way to have a loft with an elevated platform to expand the usable space. Other than the Irish cottage effect, I do not like this roof setup. Note: the INTERIOR FLOOR dimensions are 273 inches WIDE or 22'9" on the wall with the swingup door. 223 inches DEEP or 18'7" front to back This does not include the thicknesses of the cement block walls. I appreciate your help with the optimization of this little building. In our small city lot, it consumes a lot of valuable realestate, and I want it to pull its weight by contributing to our enjoyment of our space. We are getting too old to do all the heavy work ourselves. But we truly want to continue involvement in gardening activities winter and summer. I can see a small window a/c at least kicking the oppressive heat down a notch, or enough that we and our plants can have a chance to thrive. Jey_L, I will upload a few more pictures when I find them. My photos are organized by year/month taken. You ask about the way the blocks step down from front to back. Both side walls are the same, staggered. And the back wall is low all the way across. I do not think we want to keep that setup, but will build the wall heights up and equal all around. The tree roots lifted up a big chunk of the slab about 4 inches above its normal position. I think that will need to be dug out to remove the old tree roots, before we pour more cement to increase the foundation depth. None of the wall perimeter seems to have sunk, so I do not think we have to mess with that. And while my DH is very experienced with cement construction (he is a retired engineer), we would need to hire out the work. Thanks all, for your time and thought. And I put a canvas gazebo inside the garage a year ago to try heat abatement, but it did not help. In the far left is a portion of the crack in the wall due to tree roots lifting the foundation and slab in that area.

Wow, JC, I want an Ursula....seed! Don't know if I have anything rare or weird you want, but..you can dig up what ever you want. I was just re-reading the posts to get a head count/names, somehow I spaced Fawnridge was the one bringing the pulled pork..soo.. he can't come..are burgers and hotdogs okay with everyone? DH will be on a Harley poker run thing, so burgers and dogs will be easy for me and feed the masses. If you are vegetarian, please bring your own Bocaburgers or soy dogs, if you don't like boigers or dogs, bring your favorite lunch. I have a large boat cooler for ice,it'll be full of bottled water. If anyone wants sodas or iced tea, please speak up about that too, and I'll add some to the cooler. As far as where everyone will put their plants....hmmm..I guess we'll play it by ear! It sure will be great to meet all the fellow GardenWeb citizens! Megan

There isn't much first aid, other than tying them up after the fact. According to Traci DiSabato-Aust, author of The Well Tended Perennial Garden, this resembles a lynching. Consider growing them through supports which are in place before they start growing. Next year, cut some properly sized and shaped pieces of remesh, and anchor it over the plants with rebar. They'll grow up through the remesh, and hide it with their foliage, while obtaining the needed support. I have Chasmanthium growing in every sun condition from full sun to mostly shade, and all of them need support except those under thick-canopied trees. They seem to benefit from the protection from soaking rains.

Barb...both happy and sad....Happy he is moving forward with his life. Knowing he will go far as long as he stays focused on his studies, and learns to quit being so wasteful. Sad because he is moving on and we will be seeing very little of him in the next 4 years or so. We havent made any new life adventures yet. House needs some TLC. I suppose first we will get used to having a home with just us and the critters and go from there. Chell I used to be a dog and cat groomer. I loved it too. But my employer was a deedeedee. Never had the money to pay me each week and always "owed" me. And she never gave me my tips either.Then at the end of the year she reported more earnings for me than what I had really made.Fortunitly I kept records and proved my case and won, so make sure you don't let the same happen to you. I have kept my clippers, blades and accessories and still will do a neighbors dog or two once in awhile to keep my skills up.....but don't miss the hair stuck in places I did'nt know existed....lol. Love all the pictures the everyone post. Always enjoy seeing ya'lls babies. Regina