I don't know if you want to try a trellis around the perimeter of one bed about 3ft above the ground for the pumpkins? Could grow the butternuts with the pumpkins. Some people like to build slings for the fruit up off the ground. I don't but let the vine hold them up. At 3ft up any that fall won't have far to go yet are up off the ground. Do you have a bed with N&S at the narrow ends? That would allow the vines to travel, which those two love to do. Read that as travelers towards the sun.

Thank you, Leslie! Stephen, I'm retired and most of my spare time is spent working in the garden. Not all ten acres is worked on. Some of it is left natural with a minimum of interference. Most of my work in the garden is maintenance even though I've tried to keep that to a minimum. I don't grow anything I would have to spray to keep it healthy. Nothing that self seeds to the point it's a pain. The only plant I shear is the Crocagator and I'm usually behind on that. I don't even grow any trees with large leaves I have to rake up. Small leaves are absorbed by the groundcovers or chewed up by the lawnmower. My lawn has been reduced to the size of the average living room. A certified arborist drops his chips off here and I use them as much as I have time for. My wheelbarrow has more miles on it than my truck and my tiller has more miles on it than my lawnmower. I am landscaping a new area of about 6000 sq. ft. and should have it done by this Fall. There's a lot of prep work involved consisting of stumps, old logs, roots, rocks, grade change, and blackberries. Water is available and the rock wall is finished. The work is going smoothly, albeit slower than I'd like. At 72, I'm slowing down a bit. That, and my wife keeps dragging me away on vacation. The work is fun and it keeps me young. If I had stayed behind a desk at Boeing, I'd be dead by now. Mike

This is not as uncommon as you might think!! I see it fairly often in wooded properties around here, although usually one tree is considerably younger than its companion. I suspect the second tree is the result of birds (or other tree perching critters) 'planting' it but it could be a natural occurrence as well. Most often they are left alone. They seem to manage quite well in these situations so unless it is in a highly cultivated or landscaped garden, I'd be inclined to leave this pair as well. For sure the second, skinnier tree is far too large to dig out and doing so would impair both root systems.

Hi, thank you. I am not thinking about digging the palms up. Now if becomes clear to me that the palms won't be able to make it, then my only solution is to cut the palms off at the base. I wouldn't try to excavate around the roots to save it. I am sure the shaving brush tree roots are tangled with the palm roots and that effort would be futile. As for the strangle fig roots, I am not quite sure what to do yet. So far I have been cutting it where I see them, sometimes I will dig a little to get back further and cut it closer, but it has spread everywhere and quite out of control.