AiliDeSpain , I can see that happening. I guess my boy is different, well, I know he is. First off his tail looks like a racoons tail. His name is Squeaky, because he doesn't meow, he squeaks! He acts more like a dog than a cat! When he want's petting, he comes to me and puts his paw on my arm or leg. He cuddles like a dog. He is protective like a dog. If a stranger comes to the house he defends me like a dog, he growls at them and has attacked when they made a sudden move towards me! LOL

Mike, you DO know that you can't grow citrus in the ground where you live, right? Freezing temperatures and that sort of thing, lol! Anyway, about your clay soil: the only real 'fix' for clay soil is organic matter and lots of it. That would include fallen leaves (ground up), grass clippings, bark fines, compost, manure, etc. Leave out the sand! When planting into clay soil, it's best to amend an entire planting bed with your organic material rather than planting hole-by-hole. The latter causes problems that john bonzo mentioned in an earlier post. He's absolutely correct that it is not recommended that anything be added to the planting hole or backfill when digging one hole at a time. But creating a whole new bed is a GOOD thing. Incorporate the organic content with the existing clay. By adding layers of compost and mulch over the planting bed, you will do much to prevent compaction of the clay after amending. I have very hard clay soil and love it. All we do (after the initial tilling event) is add new mulch once or twice a year. Does all that make sense or just confuse the situation?

Steve - Glad you enjoyed Nitobe & the Buddhist temple - it's high time I paid another visit over there. When I do, I'll pay particular attention to the Nitobe front gate. I enjoyed your pictures - and your Tea House has again set me thinking. Maybe if I tidy up the space under our deck I can give it a similar function - especially since we have a couple of chairs that look just the same as yours and that are certainly comfortable............ Herb

Thanks for the pictures. It looks like you have a lovely space! The dry stack stone wall is great. (I'm jealous, we don't have one. Just a short section in front where they must have stacked a few larger rocks found during construction.) Looks like you also have some light, so you're not dealing with deep shade everywhere. About how many hours of light do you get in the area closest to your house? I also have porch envy - it'll be a great place to still be able to enjoy your garden when it rains. I see what you mean by the grade now. Depending on what you're imagining, you might use the grade to help you make different areas of your garden. If it were me, I might eventually try to make a larger area more flat near your house - the size of a small patio plus deep planting areas around that. That way you could establish a sitting area. Or you could just make a path to a sitting area farther away from your house. The pieris sounds like it was naturally doing a common technique to propagate shrubs. It will grow into a full shrub eventually, even though it doesn't look good now. Dioecious means male & females on separate plants. Deciduous means they lose their leaves. But looks like you've got both covered. As far as the Mitchella, sounds exciting to find just what you were hoping for! Just know that most native plant folks frown on wild collecting, because it has decimated many plant species in the past. Wild collecting is prohibited in some natural areas open to the public. Some people are also cautious about collecting seeds, and feel you should only collect a small portion, say 10%, of seeds. You'll have better results from your Mitchella if you do a little prep work first. The berries have chemical inhibitors in them, so cleaning the pulp away will help germination. I use plates & other kitchen things to handle seeds so they don't get lost. Just mash the berries carefully on a plate or another surface and gently remove the seeds. You might also rinse them. Many people like to grow native seeds up in flats first, but you could just plant them in the ground. Growing them out in more controlled conditions will help you get much higher germination. Wintersowing techniques are probably easiest for Mitchella. Some of the seeds will germinate next spring, but some will need another year. Mitchella are hydrophylic, which means they don't want to dry out. You'll need to sow the seeds right away no matter which technique you choose - you can't store them dry. If you're starting them in flats (or the gallon milk jugs or whatever more typical for wintersowing), you'll want to check them until things really freeze to make sure the soil is moist. If you don't know how to do wintersowing, just Google it. There's tons of information online, and it is quite easy.