One thing that would help with giving things a cleaner, sharper more "cared about" look is if you would make a distinct division between where the woods (aka "the bed") ends and the grass begins. Trees smack on the edge of a bed look awkward. Instead, they should be clearly IN the bed (by at least 3', or more if possible.) Putting some separation between the tree trunks and the lawn helps by keeping the grass away from where the light is too low to grow it well. Another thing that helps a lot is to limb up trees that are near the lawn so that light reaches below the tree canopy. Personally, I can see no reason to have a tree in a yard whose limbs are so low that they smack one in the face... or actually, as low, or lower, than the ceiling in a house. (Others might claim that such a reason(s) exists, but they never offer up that phantom reason for vetting here!) But creating a way for more light to reach the grass will help it grow better. You might consider limbing up the tree in the picture to either of the red lines I've shown in the illustration. To look the best, the bed line that divides the two areas should be a smoothly curving line that fits the site ... not cute loops and curls. The illustration gives examples of what you might do, but you could easily alter the line to suit the needs of the site. If you merely placed a uniform mulch in the wooded area and improved the grass that has hope of being improved, the whole picture would look immensely better. (You would not need to mulch the entire woods, but just its visible edge. And even free -- "tree trimming" -- mulch would be okay.) My experience with groundcover is not so much that it attracts weeds, but that if there are weeds present, groundcover will not cure them and the combination will truly be an intractable mess to behold. It's better to deal with weeds first. The one could mulch a place for a couple of years while making sure the weeds were dispensed with, and add (tried and true) groundcover later. Also, pulling weeds is not an effective way to get rid of them. Smother with card board with mulch on top, or use herbicides, or some combination of the two.

Anita, I don't know if this is appropriate but, I noticed you had a 'White Cap' for sale which is a splendid rose for climates-that-are-not-mine. It does great as a bush here but I have trouble with the blooms opening. But, I am propagating 4 of them right now and next year they should be very healthy-rooted bands (Lord willing and the creek don't rise, anyway). Whether I can come or not, I would be happy to donate them to the sale if you might want them and I could mail the bands to someone who would take them to the sale for me. Just a thought. If I lived closer I'd be a volunteer, but since not, maybe I can help a little this way. But if not, that's okay too. Gean

Just got my 2007 Bromeliad Extravaganza booklet in the mail. Here are the topics for the seminars. 10 am....... Dr. Lawerence Giroux on " The Jim Irvin Designer Collection" 11am....... Michael Young "The Artistic Bromeliad" 1:30 pm......... Dr Theresa Bert " Bromeliad Evolution;Tepuis and Highlands to Lowlands, Seashores, Mountains and Deserts" 2;30 pm....... Harry Luther " Bromeliads at Their home and Yours" So there you have it. Nice program booklet by the way!!

CatMom, I am considering it. I didn't get my hands on her yesterday to put the collar on. So funny, my DH hasn't seen her yet! For some reason she disappears whenever he is around. She loved all the teenaged boys who were here Friday night, some of whom are big, so hopefully she isn't afraid of men. In the meantime, some fleas showed up on my dog Oscar. Of course DH is blaming the stray...I'm going to try to dust her with a little Diatomaceous earth. Until I know she doesn't have a family I wouldn't feel comfortable using Frontline or anything more aggressive. I included a photo of His Highness, depressed about his flea bath. Beth P.