Al: Oh, I do indeed have more trees! I am a bit overwhelmed by the number of pots both in and outside of my home. I am an incurable collector. I could ask you questions about them all day. . . Back in March, you answered several of my questions about making the gritty mix when I was just embarking upon that adventure. I put a few plants that were on death's doorstep in the mix then. A few didn't make it (a draceana among them), a few are thriving (the aloe and spider plant love the mix!), most have held steady and are starting to show signs of growth (shefflera, swiss cheese philodendron). So I do have a sense of the patience required when repotting before the optimal time. I'm looking forward to seeing the results of undertaking things at the right time. It's been nice to practice with the mix, learn about it's water retention, and begin to tweak it for my needs before I moved my most-beloveds into it. This week I chopped an enormous floppy jade back to it's thick base and put it in the mix. Looking forward to that development. Also a favorite cactus whose name I don't know; it's about four feet tall, main stalk about 3-4" diameter with five stalks coming off the main, so maneuvering it was an exciting project. I was nervous about that one, but glad I did it when I got in there and saw how cemented the roots were in the hardest soil I've ever dealt with. I have a ficus lyrata (fiddle fig) that also reaches the ceiling, so I'm using your advice to give it a new shape. I'm planning on following roughly the same timing for it as for the elastica. I have a very big Bloodgood maple in a pot that's too big to move. I'd love to get that back to a manageable size, but it has just leafed out beautifully and I'm thinking that it is not the right time for that. Your comments are welcome. My other big question involves conifers. I have a very sick Wilma Goldcrest Cypress, and some kind of arborvitae (I think). I've noted that you don't recommend bare-rooting these, but cutting wedges. Is that correct? What about timing? Okay, I've rambled enough. As you can probably tell now, I'm addicted (like many folks I've read on this site). Thanks again for your help. I'm really enjoying learning about the plants, seeing their roots, and giving them conditions to thrive. blessings, brenda

Somebody on here (Lucky?) told me years ago that walnuts should be pruned in the summer. I didn't listen the first year and pruned a Juglans angustifolia in the winter. It still has a large black spot where the sap ran down. Since then, I wait until leaf out and prune. Same for the Butternut etc. I suspect those who advocate winter pruning have never actually done it. This from drclarkia.com: Any pruning should only be carried out in late summer to early autumn or when the plant is fully dormant otherwise wounds will bleed profusely and this will severely weaken the tree. This from the Royal Hort. Society: Juglans (walnut): Prune mid-summer, before mid-winter. I'm sure lots of other sources are available. Like I say, my experience often teaches me, and stars like Lucky and Guy Sternberg, Brandon and Beng and others have helped guide me greatly through the years.

Hello Mikey, I too have alot of damage but have been told not to trim, cut back or remove the damaged leaves or stems until the freeze, frost and artic weather has passed. I have lived in San Juan Capistrano for 16 years and the older neighbors that are familiar with this coastal valley say not until March 15th. The longest I ever waited was March 1rst and it was fine. Hopefully someone with more knowledge can tell you and post it so we all can use the INFO. I have included 2 pictures. One is of the large plant that was damaged and I want to cut it back all the way as it should have never been planted under the eve,Notice that is now all BLACK except a couple leaves at the very top, and the other is of a Helaconia that was burned and somehow the palms survived. Does anyone know if I should cut the Helaconia back to the ground when time to cut back or just leave it?

ah, I can relate to the angst, and I feel for you. Have some chocolate with that wine! I don't think anybody can really tell you what to do, but I'll just say that I'm glad that we did go forward with our remodel even though at the time it didn't seem like a good idea for lots of reasons. We probably struggled more than we would have if we had waited a year to start, but I'm still convinced we did the right thing by moving forward because, truthfully, you never know what is down the road. You could decide to wait only to find yourself in a different set of circumstances. As for the KD, is it possible to use the KD you are comfortable with to design the kitchen, for a fee, knowing you will be using the plans to purchase cabinets elsewhere? We did that with our first kitchen cabinet guy - paid him $150 for his plan even though we didn't buy his cabinets. (and only used a few of his ideas in the end anyway). That might be an option. Oh, and the floor angst - yes, I know that all too well! Keep looking - the perfect tile is out there. you just haven't found it yet. You will! Living without a kitchen isn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. Get yourself nicely situated wherever you are closest to a good water source. Since it's mostly just you, you can pretty much eat anywhere. We always ate, and still do, in the family room in front of the TV, or more often than not I was eating at my desk (and have the crumbs in the keyboard to prove it) We also thought we'd remodel over the summer and use the grill, but we didn't rip out till the end of October and didn't even use the grill anyway because I really wanted to keep it simple as far as prepping foods and cleaning up, and found a whole array of microwave foods that I never knew existed! I set up a folding table in a spare bedroom and set up the microwave and food supply and a few dishes. Across the hall in the bathroom where we have a large vanity with two sinks we set up the coffee maker and a small plastic drainboard thing. A lot of people like an electric skillet or hot plate, but I wouldn't have been able to wash too much in the bathroom sink, so I really kept it quite simple. If I had to do it again, I would have gotten a small fridge to keep in the bedroom because it was a pain to run to the garage for coffee creamer, salad, etc. Anyway, we lived like that for a few months, and it really wasn't that bad at all. I think you can do this! And when you have freak-out moments, which even in the best of situations you will have, you will find a lot of support right here :)