The roof issue is one of the reasons only the house is being re roofed now- plus we were losing shingles with each gust of wind. I anticipate the breezeway will go away in the next phase of remodeling. Our roofing contractor has some ideas, I have some ideas but I hope a landscape designer will have the ultimate idea! Our idea for the breezeway: from the house make one step down to a covered landing (4x4' or so) and from that landing have a T stair, with one set heading to the back yard and the other toward the front yard . Each staircase would be approx 4-5 steps down and be against the garage wall. The front stair would end and have a boardwalk like path to the relocated service door to the front left of the garage. This proposed door is in line with the proposed porch off the front of the house. The stairs, back yard and front, would be somewhat protected from the elements by the garage roof. Need? Hmm- I WANT a porch I can sit out on and smell my soon to be planted lilacs and watch the horses on the far side of the road. I don't particularly need a covered breezeway-it would be nice since this past winter in MI was just awful. But what I NEED is a path, be it concrete, asphalt, wood, or paver stone, that I can safely carry stuff in from the garage. I would like to have the choice of using the front door or the side door of the house (at least one of those choice should be covered), and allow for drainage. If only the garage was built just 4 little feet farther west....but it wasn't. I agree there are somethings that can't be fixed in a house, location, design, and atrocious remodeling debacles, to name a few. I think, however, this can be fixed....I'm just at a point where there is so much to do, both interior and exterior, that I'm getting a bit overwhelmed by it all. We may need to live with the current set up for awhile and then allow function, instead of aesthetics, to influence our decisions. Once our current house sells (praying!) I can afford to hire a landscaping design professional to help figure this out. In the mean time, we need to think about the foundation landscape work: drainage, regrading, irrigation systems (DH will hate that one!) and re-seeding. Any ideas on how to join the house and the garage would be greatly appreciated. MM

Thanks you for the response, Sherry. It's good to know that the painted ladies will be okay. I wasn't sure how they would interact. Unfortunately, I don't think we have any of those plants, not even wild tulip trees. My parents had to buy ours, which is why they don't want the tiger caterpillars munching on it and perhaps damaging it. I've been trying to give the tigers willow leaves and branches, and while they seem to like climbing on them, I haven't noticed them eating any. They're sticking to the tulip tree leaf. Isn't there anything else? If there isn't, my mom will probably let us put them back, but I'm hoping for an alternative.

Army worms and tent caterpillars are different. The ones here in Alberta are generally Forest Tent Caterpillars and have a blue stripe on either side of their body and white spots down their back. Eastern Tent Caterpillars have a white stripe down their back with a row of blue spots on both sides. They are related and both are often called Army worms. There are others considered army worms as well and are colored differently, although, they usually prefer grass crops as compared to tent caterpillars who prefer leaves of trees and other deciduous plants. IMO, all of them are just awful to deal with but the birds like them......as did I when I was a caterpillar collecting kid! :) As for control.....maybe a soapy solution like Safers, sprayed on the plants will help. :) Ginny

Leafroller. Either squish the lump or unroll the leaf and then squish.