Allowing frogs around the pond is also a good way to keep the fish population down, and the other way around is also true. One product that has worked better than anything else I have ever used in the past is called Aquascape. It's in a powder form. Water stays balanced. 3 regular gold fish have lived in it for the past 6 Winters. From June to October, I add my Lion Goldfish with them too. I cut the tree that's made so much shade last Sunday. A smaller one is growing and will soon take over. Meantime, I installed netting which protects and allows me to see the beauty of the fish and the pond. The two spruce trees allow plenty of shade on the south side. The filter in the center runs year around and keeps the water moving, so my fish survive the rigorous Vermont weather. I see them through the ice in the Winter. I do not feed them from about November to March. When they start eating, I feed them frozen shrimp and goldfish pellets that soak overnight in my fridge. The longest one is 9'' long now and the size of a coke bottle. When I first got them, they were all about 2" long and the size of a nail clipper. One of them had a baby (black at first) three years ago, but it turned orange by the end of the Summer. It's a good idea to keep a Heron decoy to scare the real ones away, as you see in my first photo at the top. My cats watch the fish from the 3 season porch. What a treat for them!

I trim both my purple and yellow every year because of frost but you probably don't really need to. On the other hand, it probably wouldn't hurt to trim it before moving it. Lantana can get leggy if too long. It is getting a little late to move it now. I would have done it a month ago or wait until October. I don't think anything can crowd out Lantana. Depending on what other drought tolerant you put in why can't it just be a ground cover for them. It doesn't need much water. In regards to planting anything new now; I think in your zone its getting too late now. I would wait until Oct for them also.

Why do growers stress shade for hellebores? Because they are less familiar with the natural growing conditions of hellebores than they'd like to think? Or that hellebores are shade lovers is a myth that is just very difficult to move away from :-) This is a topic that has irked me for ages. Nearly every site you encounter - with the noted exception of our own Joseph Woodard's excellent hellebores.org - will stress the need for siting hellebores in shade, why I am not entirely sure. Hellebores in their natural setting are not focused on shade - most can be found in very open settings along forest verges or in rocky meadows. At most they may receive only a small bit of shade -- in their natural setting, Corsican hellebore (Helleborus argutifolius) grow in full sun in rocky crags and hillsides in Sardinia and Corsica! In most parts of this country, hellebores can grow and perform beautifully in more sun than shade. I'd limit shade placement to those areas that experience hot summers and even then provide as much early day sun as possible. It's been my experience that hellbores thrive in sun with only modest shelter from the hottest part of the day or form the most intense sun. They produce erect, upright plants with a profusion of flowers in these locations. As to locating plants of size to bloom, most garden centers will carry sufficiently large plants that will bloom the first year - they are frequently sold in bloom at these outlets so that the consumer can confirm flower color. If ordering by mail, look for vendors that provide plants larger than 4" sizes. Most of the larger hellebore speciality nurseries - Heronswood, PDN, Pine Knot, Sunshine Farms, etc. - do so. Here is a link that might be useful: link to online vendors

I suspect he does this when you're not around because he knows he's not supposed to be doing it. He may also be doing it because he's on the wrong side of the fence, and it's just easier to do it where he's at than returning to 'his' area to relieve himself. You may want to put a pad in the forbidden area as well, since he seems to be able to get to it. That being said, I don't like pee pads and wonder if he was trained to the outside before you got him. You didn't say. If he was, and you are using pads, you may as well say you are retraining him and he may be confused. Regardless........I hope you are taking him outside to run off his energy and letting him relieve himself there. Is that an option? Taking toys away won't accomplish anything. Reinforcing the positive is the way to train him, whether he's attention driven or food driven. You say recently but how recent is that? He may be acting out a separation anxiety or massive change of habit and environment. Have you considered crate training? This is not an impossible situation, but you may have to sort through a lot of variables to work out a useable routine and for sure you will have to invest some time and patience into the solution. The inside fence bothers me when you are not around. I have seen dogs literally hung up on them and dangling when the owners are absent.