I live quite near you and have considerable shade. Viburnums are a good choice; there is a big variety to choose from too. Other understory trees/shrubs for our zone include dogwood, pieris, rhododendron, azaleas, euonymus (not burning bush, invasive here!),and hydrangeas. I have a caryopteris that does well in medium shade with late afternoon sun, and a weigela that is also happy in shade. Also grape holly and boxwood. There are others, like daphne, that I haven't tried but are supposed to be shade shrubs. You have to be careful about which of the colored hydrangeas; some are "cold hardy" meaning the roots don't die, but the rest of the shrub will die down to the ground and you never get blooms. The labels will not tell you that! Others like "Endless Summer" do fine since they bloom on both old and new growth; and there are some that are native here that don't bloom pink or blue, only white, yet are reliable. Of the colored varieties, to get blue flowers you have to put peat moss or ammonium sulfate in the planting hole to get them the acid they need; otherwise they bloom pink. Rhododendrons and azaleas will also require acid amended soil to do well, but they can do very well For almost all plants we need to lighten up our soil to improve drainage. Easily done by digging in some vegetative material, sand, pebbles etc. The county soil and water district is offering plants at great prices right now: Here is a link that might be useful: budget friendly plant sale from Franklin County

Very complicated topic. Any high cfm hood will make noise but you should go approx. 1200 cfm. To keep noise down, go with a remote blower (externally mounted on the outside of the building) - plan the exhaust to be on the side of the house where esthetics are not as important. Always go at least 6" wider than the range on an island hood (12" even better). With a commercial type range, choose a hood with Baffle filters (like a Viking). Always get the best quality hood you can afford when you go into an island. Cheaper hoods use ligher and weaker materials making the hood prone to shaking and wobbling with the opening of windows or doors. Budget minimum $4000 for a quality island hood with a blower. One of the biggest issues will be the 12' ceiling. most duct covers on quality hoods will only offer options upto 10'. To accomodate the 12' height most people will built a drywall or wood enclosure for the first 2'. Looks great. Hope this helps

We are guessing the old hood vents through one of the uprights going into the ceiling. Maybe not at all - we did find bare twisted electric wire connections hanging behind drawers in the island! :-/ We can't move the range without replacing all the granite, and other extensive work. this is the shortest route to make a big difference in there. I've posted in the kitchen forum area but not about relocating anything or building anything different... There IS HOPE - dealing with these guys is a little mercurial, but indications are leaning towards availability of extensions on the low end hoods. I have been sending a lot of emails out to the sellers of inexpensive island hoods on Ebay and Amazon, about getting extensions. Many say none are available, but I've also had at least a couple say you can get them but have to call them and order it direct. Some said - it's in their "store" but no way to tell what is compatible with what. Sample responses - From seller in Ohio - yes i have extension 36 inches each the cost for each are 99.00. you have 10 foot ceiling you need just one piece extension. thank you. for more info you can go to therangehoodstore.com Another wrote - Hi, the extension is only available through phone order. Please call us at 626-453-0550 to order it Thanks Regards, Ricky C. AKDY Trading, Golden Vantage Customer Support Team Another - Extension is. Not on eBay listing 10ft ceiling extension $180 12ft ceiling extension $230 We can send invoice after you won auction Thanks å¨ Aug 8, 2013ï¼Â8:54 PMï¼Â"eBay Member: xxxxxxx" > Ã¥ÂÂ��"ï¼ DISCLAIMER We are going towards lower end hoods because of the expense of the others - and the sheer fact that we actually only use the fan on a range hood about 4 times a year. Our outdoor grill however, gets a heavy workout. As long as it looks good and sorta works in some fashion - we're happy.

to trixieinthegarden - if I use an undercounter hood, don't I have to revent the whole thing? Or do all the under mounted models use recirculating vents? Right now, I have a nice arrangement that vents to the outside (I'm in a freestanding house, not an apartment) and I was hoping to keep this configuration (trying to save what remains of my budget!) Most are configured to vent through the top or through the back, sometimes offering both options. If you use a top-vented one you should be able to re-use your existing venting, depending on your vent size. Most take a 6 or 8 inch duct. The only thing that would be an issue for you is that undercabinet vent hoods usually have keyhole hangers for the back wall, so you would have to mount a strip just under your soffit at the back to mount the screws for the keyholes to hang. The vents are also attached through the bottom of the cabinet above so that takes much of the hanging weight.