wlorenz- I like your idea a lot and think bamboo would look great, but I'm really concerned for you about the roofing membrane. One of my bamboo digs about 2 years ago was a backyard where the owner had planted black bamboo without a barrier next to a huge koi pond. The pond liner was 45 mil EPDM. After about 5 years the bamboo rhizomes spread out under the pond and then started coming up. They pierced right through the pond liner and he had leaks all over. If you just plant your bamboo in a dirt medium right over your roofing membrane, it is possible for the membrane to be penetrated over time and you could have a real mess, and finding the holes could be a lot of work. I don't know if this would be a problem with a shrub or dwarf bamboo, but you should think about this before planting bamboo. I'm not sure what kind of barrier would be fail safe. If it were me, I don't think I'd even rely on bamboo barrier because: 1) I've even seen that stuff penetrated, and 2) there's no way to do a seamless installation of it to prevent downward growth. You might want to consider something like a concrete container with no drainage holes. I just don't know. One other concern is that you have a pitched roof. What will you do to prevent saturated soil from sliding and causing a mini mudslide?

Hi Fran and all: I just remembered this swap is happening and really wanted to come, but since I remembered at 11 p.m. tonight, I think I am too late. (I went on a field trip with my students for a week, and boy did I nap this afternoon after I got home from the airport!Meant to contact you for directions and I actually just woke up! Wow, can teenagers keep you running!) If for some reason any of you are late-nighters like me, I would love to attend. If not, have a wonderful swap and I will have to catch you all next year! I'm sure I will be talking to you all on the forum for all the advice I need with this new yard! Thanks Kathy

Hi Kathy, Welcome to GW and so glad I've been able to help you. You are more than welcome to come to the swap with or without plants, seedlings. Believe me when I say there will be plenty of seedlings for the taking. And please bring your friend from Billerica as well. I only start my seeds outside with the WS method. Gave up trying indoors years ago because I never had any luck that way. Now, I have tons and tons of seedlings to plant. This year the seedlings are no doupt going to be smaller than usual because the weather has been so crazy, so don't worry about how small yours are. Sweet peas from a novice gardener? There a several of us that want to know the secret you have. I've been trying for years and this is the first year I've had any seeds germinate from the vining kind. Reminders of the swap will be on the thread on the exchange page. I posted the link for it above. As for what to bring, you can decide yourself and just let others know what you are going to bring on the new thread on the exchange page. We will all be out in the gardens digging and potting stuff up for the swap. One simple thing to use to pot things up with is styrofoam cups. I use the 8 oz and 12 oz size and you can label them by writing on the cup as well. Then they can be reused for next year. See you posting on the new thread. See the link above for the thread or just click on the exchange link at the top of the page. Fran

Arcy, I don't know if they still sell them but we bought ds13 a phone at Sam's. When my oldest got an iPhone (ugh…that's another story), we gave her basic phone to ds, mainly for him to use if he was out somewhere and needed a ride, etc. He didn't really "need" the phone but it was only an extra $10 to my bill (first two phones on our account are regular price, whatever, like $40/each, but then additional lines are only $10). His phone is only for calling/texting, no websurfing/etc. Well, shortly after we gave it to him, he had it in his pocket while we were at a lax tournament. He brought it down to the hotel pool where there was a team party going on and a friend pushed him into the pool. We tried to save the phone, but had no access to rice/etc right away, so it died. I was due for an upgrade on my iPhone, but didn't need a new phone, so I used my upgrade to get him a new phone at Sam's Club. The salesgirl was easily able to use my upgrade for his phone, so it cost like $1 for the phone and she linked his phone number to it. Funny thing is… he NEVER uses the phone. He never remembers to bring it with him. If he does remember, it typically is out of battery b/c he forgets to charge it, or it's turned off for school and he doesn't remember to turn it on. As a result, I almost never can reach him on the darned thing. He really wants an iPhone b/c all his friends have them, but he does not need one. He is required by his school to have an iPad so he has all the features of the iPhone as long as he has wifi. So, no iPhone for him b/c he does not need 24 hr access to the internet…he can use his iPad at home, at school and even at Starbucks LOL. Wearybuilder, I'm sure there must be other options for you, like a pay as you go phone or whatever…the kind you buy minutes for. I do know that when I added dd to my account, it did cost about $40/mth for her line, and that was just for unlimited texts and calls. That is with Verizon-first two lines cost the same, then any additional are only $10 on the plan I have. Dh's phone is paid for through his work, so I sucked up the $40 to add her. Now she has an iPhone so she has a data plan also that adds to the price, but when I added the third line for ds, it was only $10 for him. Incidentally, when I went to get the iPhone for dd, I went to the Verizon store. They would only sell me this package deal that came with all these accessories she didn't need. They said they were required to sell them that way! I knew that I could easily get an iPhone from the Apple Storeand told them so, but the Verizon guys said their hands were tied. So they lost a sale. I went to Apple and bought the phone there (she was due an upgrade so I didn't have to pay a fortune for the phone). The downside was that by buying from Apple vs. Verizon, she couldn't keep her phone number and had to get a new one and it wasn't a good number. I kept her old number anyway b/c I knew I'd be using it for ds but his voicemail still has dd's message on it b/c she can't remember the password to change it, LOL.