Candor bears with Harrow Diamnod here and HD is slightly better, it's actually quite good some years because it has some acid and competes with later peaches. If you didn't have a significant gap between RH and HD something's fishy. I didn't answer sooner because I am pretty far from you in southeastern NY state. Thought some more regional advice might be better. Harrow Diamond has the worst growth habit of any peach I grow in that it doesn't send out much new wood in the center of the tree so after ten years trees it can get inefficiently leggy. If you're careful in encouraging central growth you'll probably be OK. I don't know how it will do there but Encore is a very good late peach here and is sold by Adam's County Nursery so it must do well in more southern sites than mine. It is rated very resistant to bacterial spot. The A C catalogue rates all their varieties for this disease. They sell other late varieties like Flameprince, Laurol and Ouachita Gold. Flameprince is described as having great flavor and also has good resistance.

We bought a flame-throwing weeder this summer when we were going crazy in our first season of fighting weeds organically. I'm developing/landscaping a half-acre yard and orchard on a slope -- lots of work. I hire a group of six high school boys. They are great workers, and love the flame-throwing weeder (and riding mower/tractor). When a fire started in the weeds under the gazebo, all work stopped and great excitement ensued; boys raced from all parts of the yard to witness the event. The only woman present had to remind them the water hydrant was a scant 12" from the gazebo: TURN ON THE WATER! The flame thrower makes the 4000 sq ft of graveled area we have in various pathways and patios look great -- after about 8 hours of labor, and for about a week! I'm quite disappointed in the efficiency and effectiveness of this device. We pull all large weeds that pull easily, and spot burn remaining weeds, not until they are brown and dried, but just until the edges of the leaves turn black. We do not bother to pull out the dying weeds; they dry up and flake off and away. Several weeks separate treatments, so any weed whose roots are not killed grows back nice and green. We're going to try treating the same area 4-5 days apart, and see if the effectiveness goes up. But what to do about all the seeds that blow in? Corn meal gluten, so far, isn't doing anything (does one need to wet it to activate it?). We do have landscape fabric under the gravel; I'm quite sure it is not being burned. To Rachel Beagan, how is your hillside of perennials now? Did you get control of the weeds and grasses growing in amongst the plants? I tried to turn a grassy area into a shrub bed about 15 years ago, and lost the intense battle against the grasses reclaiming the area. I didn't know at that time about sheet mulching with cardboard under the wood chips. I have now found that killing the grasses and weeds first by covering with thick cardboard, and THEN planting, then surrounding the shrubs with new cardboard and 3-4" of wood chips gives a much better result. I find, though, that the cardboard has to be replaced about twice yearly (rake away the decomposing wood chips, put down fresh cardboard, and cover with old and fresh wood chips) to keep the weeds away. A lot of work, but gives a better result than constant weeding, in my opinion. Better yet is to take out the sod (also a LOT of work), then plant and cardboard and wood chip. Bottom line for me is that weeds are here to stay; get used to it. I'm sure open to any reports of vanquished weeds in large areas, and how that was accomplished.

If cost isn't a problem... Then plant what you want to plant and enjoy. Trim / Remove later as necessary. Keep in mind also, depending on many factors, some trees will grow much more slowly than expected, some may grow faster. I have just less than 1/2 acre. If I just counted right in my head, I have 27 trees currently planted, not counting volunteers. Including 2 weeping willows, A curly willow, a pussy willow, poplars, river birches, all the things they tell you not to plant in a residential lot. Over half are 50+ foot trees when mature. I planted about 50 dogwood bushes last summer, now many are over 6' tall, some around 10' tall. I now have 4 Japanese Maples planted, and am planning on getting more. I also have about 60 different Hosta. I've totally enjoyed planting these trees, most just in the past year. It is a blast to watch them grow. I am particularly fond of the weeping willow I planted right by the road in the front yard. It was a 4 foot high stick just about a year ago and now is close to 15' high by 10' wide. It's fun. I find good deals on most of my trees, and the most expensive one was about $90 for a Autumn Blaze maple (10+ gallon pot) that was rather large - I would never buy a large one again, It is growing very slowly this year, while I watched a $10 maple (that came in a 1 gallon pot) of the same type just a short distance away grow to close to the same height as the $90 maple and grow branches like mad. At this rate, next year, the $10 tree will actually look larger than the $90 tree. In 5 or 10 years if I have to heavily prune some trees, bonsai them, remove them, or what not, then that is the way it is. I'm planting some sumac and a tree of heaven also (in a great big pot). I also have over 70 trees growing in pots currently. Some will be bonsai, some I will sell, some I will plant. If you later figure out a tree is a problem, try to remove while it is small enough you can do it. If cost isn't an issue, let the sucker grow and have it professionally trimmed / removed as necessary. I can manage pruning and removal of all but the very largest trees. I took down my 60' + dying spruce last summer with a sawzall. I get compliments on my landscaping from strangers that walk by, on a very regular basis, though some think I am crazy with all my trees, many appreciate the beauty of it, including me. I do vote for getting some long lived trees going if at all possible, such as the oak your speaking of. The oak is a good tree that should last more than your life time with reasonable care. Jamie p.s. don't plant any weak wooded trees real close to the house e.g. willow, poplar, silver maple. and I share ken's dislike for most fruit trees on smaller lots. Were planting some new fruit trees up north on 5 acres, which is fine on that size lot. In the city I limited my fruit trees to a single semi-dwarf cherry tree - that gets cleaned up rapidly by the birds. Thought my parents have had a apple tree in their side yard (city lot) for 20+ years with few problems, it is kind of out of the way, so the bugs don't bother them and it does need to be sprayed if you want to have good apples.

Great question Buildinva. I think I probably thought the extra $100 would mean more features. My mind thinks like that. I have been very happy with what I have. I miss it when I am away :( If I were to purchase again I'd go with the R model because it is not so intrusive looking. The L model is shown with a really cool toilet and looks more integrated than mine. I think the more familiar flat seat would have looked better on my old fashioned styled toilet. The only difference I can see off hand is that the dryer on mine is a bigger dryer. I don't always use that function, as I will use a small bit of TP to dry once and discard. The cord is a bit longer too, but I don't know if that would have been an issue or not. I didn't need the carbon odor filter either and thought it was just one more thing to fuss with. They both have controls that mount and I knew I didn't want a panel on the seat like the C model. The L model can have multiple combinations of spray strengths set. So one could have lowest, low, and med low set. Or lowest, med, high set, etc. I think there are a total of 4 or 5 combinations. I don't know if the R does that or not. It is a function within the battery compartment of the controller. So style wise I'd go with the R next time with the taller toilet that I have. And the other features seem pretty much the same. But If I could afford that beautiful integrated Regio model, I'd have that. I am sure that Toto has a beautiful top end integrated toilet too :)