Thanks for your input. A picket fence definitely is not our style and would not blend well with the neighborhood. We will be putting a few skinny trees in at the uphill corner of the lot towards the street. They will be set back several feet so the line of sight isn't destroyed for our neighbors backing out of their driveway. Underplanted will be various drought-tolerant perennials. I'm not a huge fan of annuals. I'm not sure why I need to "frame the grass" with bricks? At some point we may put in a mowing strip of natural stones, but that is not a priority at this point. I'm considering putting in a dry stream bed leading to something of a rain garden to help deal with some of the water issues that we are currently experiencing and that I expect to compound with removal of the junipers.

I wish I had what you wanted. Darn. I have (limited supply but enough for one good trade): Aunt Ruby's German green Black Krim Carmello Cuostrolee Hillbilly Marianna's Peace Mortgage Lifter Paul Robeson Sungold I would like: Black Cherry Bloody Butcher Brandyboy Brandywine -- some of the more favored strains Costoluto Genovese Hartman's Yellow Gooseberry Indian Stripes Kellog's Breakfast Mortgage Lifter - Sudduth strain Peacevine Sweet Red Cherry Rutgers

You've got some kind of fungal disease that might be associated with your mulch. Melons don't really need to be mulched.. They look pretty sickly, so I'd spray with a good fungicide ASAP and hope for the best.

Dogwood is native here--probably some variety of cornus, if not specifically cornus alba. Well, OK--as far as they know about these things. I've read that over 90% of our natural vegetation on this particular type of soil (which is the same kind as Minnesota's, I believe--same glacier) was cleared for pasture before anyone stopped to figure out what it was. But I have seen them growing in "the wild" around here, in copious quantities. But no, I staked it and unfortunately that stump needs to be cut down some more--at least to ground level. I won't worry about the roots too much--and thanks about the advice re: the mound. I am excited. It'll be the first time in my life I've planted something outside a container. (And that was earlier this summer.) Sad, but true. But if Ms. Jekyll could start in her forties, then I'm at least in good company!