I am seeing many different associations with the word "hedge". These could be the traditional UK land enclosure, natural (bird planted), garden enclosures, privacy hedge often against a fence(photinia) , mono-clipped hedge like privet dividing hone from sidewalk or neighbor, shaped borders (topiary-like), stately taller hedges using trees (ex.beech), lower growing hedges of roses or lavender, ect. mixed flowering shrubs often to encourage birds or four seasons of interest, unclipped or clipped tapestry hedges of evergreens. I'm sure there are more--perhaps the fedge, windbreak plantings, lane... I am the "old house" in the midst of new. My hedge is the flowering unclipped type that serves to demarcate the property line in the back. It is over 50 years old and contains groupings of forsythia, winter honeysuckle, lilac, spirea, mature spindle, rhododendron and Japanese maple. As was mentioned, the age of a hedge can be determined by the other species living there. I have noted bird planted undesirables have taken hold in hard to reach areas-some invasive species too. My maintenance of grubbing these out has been sporadic; it's a lot of work. BUT, my yard is full of bird song in the backyard, narrow as it is, and these are the nice garden birds. I have the option of making a traditional hedge on my country property which is appealing since the old grazing pastures were taken over by young maple saplings in the past 20 years and some introduced diversity along the property line would be welcome, I think. I wonder, Flora, if the work of gardening is considered less onerous by the Brits than here, generally speaking, such that the tending and daily concerns of looking after hedge and garden is expected as part of the culture. After all, the very archetype of the "garden tour" is a group of British matrons in dresses and hats!

Yep. He did say plants, didn't he. Gotta read more carefully. If these are small seedlings, it can be difficult to get all the factors in perfect balance. The Pro Mix I use, which is wonderful stuff, has no nutrients added. That's good, because I don't want any until the seedlings have one or two sets of true leaves. I try to resist getting impatient and feeding heavily. It's better to err on the light side. It doesn't take a large amount of any mineral to overcome a deficiency. The text book pictures you see that illustrate various mineral deficiencies required careful preparation of the growing medium to almost totally exclude a given mineral. Otherwise the symptoms would not be obvious. It is important to remember that an excess of some minerals can interfere with a plants ability to make use of other minerals. A plant can suffer from a magnesium deficiency, for example, even when there is an abundance of magnesium in the soil when potassium is excessive. I've recently learned that urea based nitrogen can hinder seedling development. I don't understand it fully, but I do know that urea is a big component of the popular soluble plant foods. I have on hand a bag of calcium nitrate, so I'm using that, sparingly, on my seedlings now. They need some nitrogen for vegetative growth. Other nitrates can be used. Also, since my seed starting mix doesn't provide it, I add a little magnesium in the form of Epsom salts once the seedlings get started. Chlorophyll, which is the foundation of photosynthesis, has an atom of magnesium at the center of its molecule. So I figure I need to provide some magnesium too, sparingly of course, to make chlorophyll. Plants need some sulfur and Epsom salts (MgSO4) has that too. Controlling mineral concentrations in the tiny amounts of medium we use to grow seedlings is tricky. But I am not trying to raise them to maturity in that situation. So, if I can give them a reasonably good start, they will do fine when set out in the open ground, where the chemistry doesn't fluctuate so drastically. That's a long winded dissertation on my amateur thinking thinking about seedling nutrition. The highly educated horticulturalists who produce seedling by the millions do better than I. I bought a six pack of tomatoes yesterday that are a little huskier and have slightly darker color than mine. But I'm gaining on them. Jim

Our Austrian friends had remote control roller blinds :) Joanie, I like my not-self-defrost freezer because it stays 0 all the time. When I take something out, it is frozzzen. I only defrost it every 3 years or so; I think since it lives in the basement, constant temperature/low humidity environment, and we don't open it every single day, it doesn't get so much moisture inside. People are going into your minifridge all day, stealing your yogurt, etc, it has to work hard to stay cold. So my freezer is for long-term storage, not the things I'm using in the next month.

This is a new era of buying and selling after the real estate "bubble". Two years ago we sold a condo in Florida and a custom mountain lake home in Tennessee. Both buyers were obtaining mortgages, one being a jumbo mortgage. The Florida condo was appraised slightly below selling price. It was completely remodeled by us (new kitchen and two baths, etc.). The inspector told the young lady she would never find a condo in better condition. All new appliances, new water heater, new air conditioner. We owned it for two years, but decided even as snow birds we would rather have a house. But her Daddy told her not to pay over appraisal. The comps were condos in the same development that had never been upgraded or maintained. Many had been rented out. We sold it to someone else for our asking price. They didn't obtain a mortgage. The home in Tennessee was not on the market. A realtor showing another home in the neighborhood asked if they could see our house. They came back with an offer the next day, which was not the greatest offer We decided to accept the offer and move to the Florida house we had purchased two months before. It gets confusing, I know. :) The inspector was ruthless, but came back with nothing wrong in our new custom built home. The pest inspector came back with nothing (yup the bank required it). The appraiser on the other hand was a bit rude. When I said I wasn't too concerned about the appraisal price since the sell price was below tax appraisal value, he said, Oh, we often appraise homes below the tax app. value now. He told us our home was beautiful, but every home in the neighborhood probably had the same upgrades. No they did not. In the end they said there were really no comps, which wasn't true. But the most chilling experience I had was that the two appraisers used exactly the same words in two different states. It is beautiful, but this doesn't count. This is overkill, it doesn't count. Only the comps matter. Only square footage matters. I have bought and sold quite a few homes in my life. In a brand new builder developed area you get the basic house for the price of the model. Upgrades are paid for as an extra expense. Years ago we had no inspectors and no formal appraisals. It seems the banks do not want to pay for the upgrades, and are driving the prices. Now it has eroded into buyers with cash that look at comps and again do not want to pay for the upgrades. Even 11 years ago I sold a home in Ft. Lauderdale by myself (height of the market) and the buyer had an inspector, obtained a mortgage, but no appraiser came to my house. I sold my "model" for a higher price than anyone had ever sold for. Does anyone think that perhaps the banks are running the market??? Money makes the world go 'round.