I took pictures but they're way overexposed - will try again. We have two sod cutters - Ryan and Jason. They're amazing - when they get their teeth into a project. Almost comatose when they don't. Bahia, you've expressed my concerns but I still couldn't see any alternative. What we have now is low mounds of flipped over overlapping sods arranged toward the back of the bed, among the shrubs there. We'll round out the mounds with topsoil, and then place among them the largest rocks the boys can move, and plant woodland groundcovers - we have a pretty generous budget for plants. Also try to establish some moss. The way I see it, grass is a perennial pest anyway (although no worries here about invasive species like Bermuda). So we'll deal with it as it rears its head - which it will do more than if we'd turned all the sod, but that seemed too daunting a task to tackle manually. The lawn that's left we'll try smothering under fine sawdust topped with eelgrass - a good natural lawn-killer. One of my favourite books is Landscaping with Nature by Jeff Cox (Rodale Books). He reinforces this idea with his description of Rock and Berm Designs p. 32 It is a fun project, Wellspring. Really a dream job.

I have just planted a new shrub garden (house is just 1 year old) on a slope. At the bottom of the slope it is wet after a rain, but drains off within 24 hours. It is on the south side of the house getting east-west sun. Here's what I planted in the wet area: Itea virginica Little Henry 'Sprich' low-growing, gorgeous red fall foliage, green leaves in season with white racemes when it blooms. I'm totally enthusiastic about itea. It is accompanied by carex testacea and dolichostachya, acorus gramineus variegatus 'ogon' (shaded by shrubs), iris ensata, iris siberica, creeping jenny. Slightly up the slope, I added aster frikartti 'Moench'. As it gets drier further up my slope, I then used drought-tolerant plants like hypericum x hidcote, hepatcodium, salvia 'black and blue', lavandula, cryptomeria japonica globosa nana, deutzia gracilis 'nikko', hypericum albury purple, stachys byzantina, nepeta. I prepared the entire garden using wonderfully organic and screened garden soil brought in by a double dump truck. Here is a link that might be useful: Itea virginica -- info purposes only

I was just at the Musser site. They are still sending out potted plants. Another good one is Sunlight gardens in TN. I ordered from both when I lived in TN. I wasn't especially happy with Musser. Good price, but extremely small plants. Sunlight's plants were small also, but seemed of better quality. You could also order from ForestFarm.com. Prices are a little high, mostly because of shipping, but the plants I received were of exceptional quality. They probably aren't sending out plants now, but like the others said, I'm sure they'd take your money and send them in the fall. Terry

Common snowberry would probably grow, provide winter color. Your conifers are likely to be mostly Douglas firs. Salal, Oregon grape, evergreen huckleberry and ocean spray are typical associates on sites tending towards dry. Ceanothus (C. velutinus) and manzanita are found on the hottest, most exposed and/or sandy sites here. Columbia manzanita is so prone to spotting and blackening of the foliage that it is not really a satisfactory ornamental on the whole. There ARE some old ones in local gardens here and there, on rockeries and in other exposed positions. Often when examined up close the foliage is infested. Indian plum is characteristic of floodplains and other places where soils become damp in winter. Red elderberry also prefers it moist and fertile, the lush look of many deciduous trees and shrubs and woodland wildflowers hints at what they want. All occur on sites less than perfect in nature, and can be readily coaxed into growing in gardens made not on sites they would be found on spontaneously using simple tricks like watering a little in summer or planting against a south-facing wall. Going on walks and looking at nearby undeveloped lots, uncleared portions of city parks and other places where there is still natural vegetation and noting what grows where could be highly instructive. Keep soil fertility and moisture regimes in mind, as well as light exposure. You can actually analyze a site using the native plants that are growing on it.