I see you added the pic of Podocarpus... that you are keeping as a bonsai. If a person wanted, they could keep an Oak tree at 18" ht. interminably by faithful regular cutting. But using such a plant in a tight space is far from optimum. In your case, Relleum, I'd select a different foundation plant for any new additions. In the future, the Podocarpus you already have may make its potential better known and cause you to want to replace it. As for what to use as a "foundation shrub" I'd consider that you probably don't need anything... depending on what groundcover you end up with. It may be high enough that it's sufficient. There's not a need to cover to cover all the space below the decorative brick band on the house. If you covered the bottom 12", or so, that would take care of it. If you must have a shrub, something that gets no taller than 2' without trimming for height, would be good. Even a perennial could work. Something like Gaura lindheimeri, though it gets 30"-36", it's upper portion is airily transparent in nearly constant bloom. Available in green foliage with white flowers or burgundy-tinted foliage with pink flowers. You could check locally for other shrub and perennial possibilities in this height range.

Thanks, Schoolhouse, My husband lost my old photos that I had on my computer from the last 5 years or so. I can't seem to find many older ones. Thanks for the feedback on the fence. Heidi, our yellow lab loves spending time in the front yard. She's not as happy a dog, now that we have a grandson. She is very jealous, and does naughty things to get attention when he's over. I'll be glad when spring comes, and we can hang out in the yard again. Thanks for the information on gotta garden, Nell. Organic Flutter-by is Sunday Girl, right? Sue

Hi, folks! My opinion on a typical pack of seeds would be 20-25, and fewer for large, rare or expensive seeds. Many times tomato, pepper, and eggplant seeds are more like 12-15 seeds. Counting out poppy or foxglove seeds is a pain, but a tiny pinch is about 40-50, so I do that. Some people measure out 1/8 teaspoons or 1/4 teaspoons of tiny seeds. I don't have a 1/8t spoon, and 1/4t is a large proportion of my seeds. If you're agonizing over whether or not to send in just a few of a seed, you can always ask the recipient, or you can use the gardenweb list search. Search for people who also have that seed, and read the list for people in this swap. If a couple of us have it, you don't need to worry about dividing up your small supply. You find the Search Lists function by clicking at the bottom of the page on Member Pages, and then choose Search Members' Exchange Lists. That is also a way to figure out who to send to, by searching for people looking for a seed you have. However, sometimes someone will type "No datura, please" but the computer just sees that "datura" is in the wants area. So this search can get you started, but you should still personally check. :) GARLIC: I'd love to try some different hardnecks! Cloves or even bulbils. Cloves are big--should we plan to send somewhat roomy envelopes and extra postage money to pay for getting the cloves to us? I grow two hardneck types and can offer bulbils, unfortunately I don't know the names. On seems to be a porcelain, one a rocambole. (One has a ton of tiny bulbils, one has larger bulbils, so please correct me if you think I'm wrong). You plant the bulbils at the same time as big garlic, and then dig it up the next year when it yellows the right amount. Then you replant it in fall, unless you want to eat the baby garlic. In my reading, it seems pretty definite that if you leave garlic in the ground without digging and replanting, it just splits into smaller bulbs and is less and less what you intended when you planted it. That happened to my mom. Dorisl, it's nice to see you here! I'll try to find good pink stuff to send your way. :)

How did I miss these posts this week?! I'm not getting notifications. Thedinos--somewhere in the first post (linked way above in the opening post at the very end under the kitty pic) I detailed which pull size on which cab. I'll see if I can paste it in here later. I based my choices around the Golden Mean, or Rule of Thirds, which would dictate that the pull size is roughly 1/3 the size of the drawer. Thanks for the compliments! I AM enjoying it. As much as I love the beauty of it, the functionality of my kitchen still blows me away 3 years later. I routinely thank GW silently for all the layout help as I prepare a meal. Oh, and for the AMAZING silgranit sinks! And...and...and. :) OB2B! How are you? Love your new built-ins! I'm still living with some Pratt and Larson tiles propped against the wall. The grayish green is definitely the right direction, but I'm just not sure that this particular tile is THE one. Because the hand glazed color can vary so much from lot to lot, I'm afraid of getting a run thats too dark or mottled. I need to go back to my old tile thread to look at other tiles in this same color range and order some samples. Or maybe I'll just start a new thread. :) Enduring! Another GW friend! I do still plan a bs. (Looking embarrassed thats I've lived with drywall for 3 years.) I've made progress on other parts of the house lately. The mudroom-let shelves were installed along with my master closet cabs. My live edge walnut mantles were hung last month on the see-thru fireplace against newly painted dark charcoal walls. My DR is now all fixtured-up with a new chandy and sconces. Our kitchen banquette is drawn up and waiting a final quote, although DH and I are arguing the back cushion fabric. Hope you're doing well!