I'm a firm believer, that if something is to be planted into the ground. Purchase a healthy plant at the correct time for the planting time for your zone. Plant that healthy plant into healthy soil. Don't tell anybody that I have planted in July though...ssshhh...LOL My mulch theory in my above post: I planted healthy plants, those healthy plants started going funky. Back then our clay soil was much more compacted then it is now. Removed the mulch from around the root zones and did nothing else, plants improved back to normal. Your case, you planted a already unhealthy plant. Probably has something to do with the soil you potted with. I would make a potting soil change if I were you since things haven't worked out for you in that department. Hopefully you get things figured out! Don't fret though, plants are replacable if it should die. JIM

As long as there appears to be live material on the portion of the plant left in the ground, it will probably recover. I'm most concerned that your little band rose had weeds and/or grass around it and that your husband felt it necessary to use the equipment right there. From now on, pay particular attention to making sure that your Autumn Damask is watered and weeded (to prevent another weed whacker incident), and you should be okay. Just to let you know, and to give another view on things, I almost always plant bands directly into the ground here. For me, I find that they take off and grow better in the ground in my garden than in a pot. I've done hundreds of bands, both in pots and in the ground straight away, and the direct planted ones almost always do better in my conditions. (as long as the band is growing well and has a decent root system under it to start with.) I put a 4' tomato stake beside my small roses, as a TALL reminder for myself and my husband that they are there. Let us know how things go.

We had a robin build a nest under our deck one year. Same area (near the ceiling) where your robins built their nest! The 2 babies fledged and left in good shape. We took care not to approach or bother them. I would put mealworms out for them away from the nest. The parents would watch for me. Sometimes the father would trot up and look at me while I was watering the flowers. MORE MEALWORMS please! The parents did not return the following year. I think it was because raccoons and groundhogs started coming around for the bird food and worms. I used to store peanuts in a plastic garbage can out on the deck. One night a creature chewed a hole in the lid. I didn't know what kind of animal was doing this so I replaced it with a metal can/metal lid and wrapped a chain over it. The next day the ungrateful beast had urinated all over it! I stopped storing the peanuts (any food) on the deck. I also had to cut back on the number and type of bird feeders because they were climbing on these and knocking the food out. No more mealworms either as raccoons and groundhogs like these as well. We finally had to hire a trapper. The groundhogs were tunneling under our deck and I didn't like how bold the raccoons were becoming. The trapper advised us to seal all the open areas (lattice) around our deck to prevent future invasions. We trapped several raccoons and groundhogs, a skunk and a couple of squirrels and a rabbit. We released the squirrels and rabbit. I would like to mention that the trapper said trapped squirrels can be so desperate to get loose, that they will frequently break their necks trying to get out of these Havahart traps. The ones we had trapped didn't do this because we were checking the traps 3x a day and didn't give them a lot of time to worry themselves to death. Chipmunks were also a problem this year. Our neighbor said he had caught 15 of them this year alone. Did you know that chipmunks can weaken your foundation/sidewalks? Now I know why a section of our front sidewalk dropped.....:( I'm hoping the robins will try again next year.

When they were teens (17 and 18) we bought one daughter a puppy and got the other a kitten. We still have two pets, tho the younger daughter has moved into her own apartment. That dog misses her so-she waits at the top of the stairs near her bedroom door, hoping DD will come home. She never does. When she does stop by (a couple times a week) the dog goes bananas with joy, jumping and running all around. Even tho I am the one who always feeds her, lets her in and out, brushes her, and allow her to come up on my bed antime she wants. Go figure!