Why do people do that? Everything looks better with large trees! After hearing that, I think I'd be inclined to leave the trees and wait to see signs of distress. It does seem like maples can take a lot. The house across the street had a maple that was planted directly under the power lines, so aside from the trunk, the top of the tree was cut in a C. To say it looked odd...! My best friend had maple trees over in Braidwood. She really wanted to plant under them. The roots were practically on top of the soil, so she had someone haul in soil and we spread it out over top of all those roots. When it came to planting, we were forever running into roots. She got out the sawzall and that's how we cut the roots. I've read that you don't put soil over roots, there was no talking her out of it. That was over 18 yrs ago and the trees, when they moved out 2 yrs ago, were still fine. Now this is nothing compared to what's happened to yours. So I don't know. It's just with the birds that you're seeing, I'd be inclined to leave them. I do know a guy though that has a sawzall. I'd probably go ahead and buy a redbud and borrow that sawzall and go ahead and plant the redbud. But that's me and I've done it before. Gray dogwood must be more tame for other people. That was another shrub that we had to remove. At the back of our very small lot, we have a privacy fence. The gray dogwood was near it, then we made a path leading from the garage to a door we'd made in the fence. After 4 yrs the dogwood was coming up on the other side of the fence, the other side of the path and you could tell that the roots were going under the garage. We've got cracks in the floor, so who knows when it's going to pop up! Ha! I planted Silky dogwood the year after I planted the Gray dogwood. I'm not finding the Silky to be anywhere near as aggressive as the Gray was. They have it for sale at the plant sale you're going to. It's Latin name is Cornus obliqua. I also have the Corylus americana. I like it, I like it a lot. For some reason, after I planted it, the Japanese Beetles showed up. I'd never had them before. Maybe just a coincidence. It's a spreader too, but much easier to control with the spade. There's also more viburnums that would do great in shade. I know it says sun to part sun, most of mine are in shade and doing great.

Welcome to the area and safe travels! FWIW, Home Depot and the like would NOT be my first choice for potting soils. The best results with container gardening require potting soils that have significant texture and minimal fast-to-decompose organic matter.....check out the Container Gardening forum for more details. Once settled in, I'd suggest you visit some local retail garden centers (not box stores) and look for bagged potting soils with the Gardner & Bloom or Master Nursery labels (same manufacturer/supplier, different marketing). These are the best, highest quality, prepared bagged potting soils I have encountered in this area. More expensive than what you find at the box stores but well worth the investment. The other alternative would be to mix your own according to recipes found on the CG forum. Yes, Bellevue is an expensive area :-) It and many other eastside neighborhoods are upscale bedroom communities for Seattle. During my infrequent journeys across the lake (I tend to avoid downtown Bellevue - it is heavily congested and a traffic nightmare, especially at this time of year), I am always surprised at the slightly higher costs of everything. It'll take you some time to find the places with the best deals or shopping bargains, even with groceries, but they can be had. The Bellevue I remember when I grew up there (several...er...decades ago!) was a semi-rural community with a lot of open land and a quaint shopping center. Now it is arguably more urban than much of Seattle and with the associated crowds and congestion. But still some wonderful neighborhoods.

I went too. I was after prairie flox, but by the time we got there it was already gone. I picked up some white avens, golden groundsel, lyreleaf sage and a senna. All the plants offered were healthy, nice size, and like Dorothy said there was some very knowledgeable folks to help with selections. And there were alot of people there too. I wasn't expecting to see such a crowd.

Hi defrost…another early bird. :-) I'm adding to my houseplant collection this winter, which is pretty depleted. Some winters, I just have no interest, but this year I do, probably because this summer my garden time was minimal. Right now, I have some succulents that need repotting and I'm looking for decorative, ceramic probably. I'm going to try to find some shallow pots in a small to medium size for now. I have larger ceramic pots, but they seem like the wrong shape and size. By the way, if anyone knows who sells the best houseplants, besides Logee's in CT, because I haven't got time to take a trip there. I usually end up at Russell's and I stay away from Mahoney's, so I'm looking for somewhere new to try.