The storm drain is finally fixed. The guy who's auger got stuck called last week. He said couldn't wait for our other guy to retrieve his auger and was coming out the next day to dig it out. We told him he could only do this on three conditions. 1) If he was willing to charge us the same price as the other guy we were waiting for. 2) Would either hand dig the hole or use a mini excavator so as not to disturb the tree roots. 3) I wanted this in writing BEFORE he started digging. He agreed to all. We were there the entire time. We even had a guy from another plumbing company come out earlier in the day and give us a quote. Their quote was twice what we were paying for this guy to be able to get his equipment back and finish the job. I have to say he did a good job. He was very careful digging. Instead of driving the gravel truck onto our lawn to unload the 2 tons of gravel that were needed to fill the hole, he used a wheelbarrow to do this by hand. When he was finished all that was left was a pile of dirt about a calf high, 6' long/2' wide. Looks like a grave! ;) In any case, I'm glad its over and no longer have to worry about my trees being killed. Much thanks to those who offered their advice/support during this time.

Anita, I wouldn't trim off any leaves that still might be able to contribute to the plant, even if they are broken. And don't worry that the rest of the leaves are drooping. This time of year, hostas start to look pretty sad. We are building a pond and patio in our back yard, and my husband completely squashed several of my hosta. I didn't say a word, because I know they'll come back next year just fine. Besides, it's not a good idea to dis the help.

My moonflowers, which are related to morning glories, sent out new branches when the tops snapped off this spring. I've never pruned morning glories, but there's a chance they will do the same. I would carefully straighten the bent stems, and not cut them unless the vines began to wither where they were bent. Sometimes a plant can rebuild a bent stem, but it takes time and must be treated gently, like a broken bone. Either way I don't know if they will bloom, because I don't know how they behave in your climate. The vines will definitely need something to climb, otherwise they will sprawl on the ground and likely get stepped on by imbeciles. Can you put a trellis in that spot? A teepee made from three or four long sticks tied together at the top? Make sure to sink the poles deep into the ground, at least a foot down, so it can't blow over in a strong wind. I've had that happen. I've also had wind and rain rip vines off of poles. You may want to gently tie the vines to whatever poles/supports you use, to prevent this. I hope this helps; blue morning glories are worth saving for their beauty alone, and it sounds like these have a special place in your heart.

My plants in the raised bed are nearly 5 years old now, The one in pots are between 2 and 3. The ones in the pic in the square pots are chandler and brigitta(bred in Australia), in the round pot is a dwarf raspberry called ruby beauty in Europe and known as shortcake in the US. In the raised bed there I have Berkeley, bluecrop, spartan and Goldtraube all northern highbushes. I got plenty of berries the last 2 summers, I never weighted the pickings though. So far I never changed the potting mix in the beds , I mulch heavily every year or two, and I repot in to bigger pots once every year or when the root seem to have grown and filled the old pot. I'm not familiar with that fertiliser however seems like a good choice and a good combination of organic and inorganic, plus I see it contains sulfur,ammonia and fe sulphate so it will lower ph too. Over here it's not recommended to fertilise late summer or autumn , but I don't know what's the climate in Melbourne is like. I m sure is lovely in the summer that you can grow southern highbushes and rabbit-eyes. i don't know what seasol is. And finally, I m not an expert Alec. I started just like you, I have killed my fair share of plants due mostly to over love and too much TLC. In fact as I was repotting a toro bluberry last week, I noticed that the root was tiny but the bush had grown like a weed last summer with new bull shots everywhere, maybe I over fertilised it and I m not sure if the root system will catch up or the plant will succumb. Your sunshine blue looks very well, the legacy one on the other end not so good in comparison, if the root ball is not damaged it should be ok. You are definitely on the right track and are getting a nice collection of plants this April. Soon you'll be collecting a lot of berries mate, but don't rush it I hardly got anything the first 2/3 years.