Hello! We have a border!! Where the pines once stood, there are now 9 rhododendrons ranging from 15 tall down to about 6.5 some staggered and finishing in a gentle curve embracing the house. All were planted about 5 ft. away from the pine line. What a story. About three weeks ago, a fellow from the CT chapter of the American Rhododendron Society sent me an email and recommended I contact Carol Yee in Ashford, CT. She is a rhody propagator by trade (soon retiring) but she runs a little business on her property called Carols Collectibles. (website is: http:/www.carolscollectibles.com ) Long story made short, I visited with her for several hours one Friday and finally I told her what I really wanted was all the mature rhody maximums that were growing next to one of her hoop houses. She said she was thinking of removing them to gain more sunlight for the hoop house and within a minute we had a deal. Sold all 6 of them. They are similar in variety to the maximums I had on the corner. I had brought a bracket of leaves from my rhodys so she could compare them. A very close match. Blooms are that pinky/lilac colorummspoken like a true expert. On Monday morning, March 31st, one landscaper arrived in the rain and hand dug my 3 tall rhodys on the corner. One was in place by afternoon. Boy, those guys really had to wrestle with the top heavy plants in gusty winds. The 80 border where the pines once lived had been cleared of debris and many roots. Tuesday morning at 6:45a.m., 18 yards of new soil arrived. At 8 a.m., another landscaper with a trailer and 3 men, followed me to Ashford to dig up Carols rhodys. It took 2 hours to hand dig them, tarp them up (home made B&B), load them and secure them for the trip. Winds were up to 40mph and it was raining. By 3:30p.m on Tuesday, the first landscaper had the 15 tall plants from the corner lined up on the new border, planted and completely staked (triangular form) and the six new rhodys from Carols were in place and staked. They were only out of the ground for 6 hours. It was still raining. Two hundred feet of soaker hose was set up the next morning and the stretch of 9 rhodys was completely covered with pine mulch. In one 24 hour period we went from nothing to everything. The area outside the sculptured bed I seeded with grass yesterday, as well as the front lawn that went wonky through the winter and tree work. Going into the backyard there is a hole already dug to take a flowering crabapple, malus "prairifire". It will reach about 20 high and wide and has persistent smaller than usual fruit into winter. Cedar waxwings love them, so Ive read, and I based the tree selection on its bright maroon blooming buds that supposedly mature into "hot mama" dark pink. Under that tree will be another island of smaller-growing rhodys that like some dappled shade. It was incredible luck to find Carols Collectibles and be able to come home with a border. She has a truly interesting place that literally she runs by herself and her dog, Little Bit, and a chicken named Peeps. Gosh, she has so many interesting plants and shrubs. This place is worth the ride, but call first to make sure shes there. Should be gorgeous when her hundreds of rhodys bloom. Many are field grown. Ive ordered Beddleia davidii "peacock" (small English var. of butterfly bush), Daphne tangutica, Deutzia gracilis, Strawberry Fields, and a few other things to help out with smaller garden areas. In back of the deck where I swore I would never plant another thing, the bed has now been expanded by 10 in length and 3 in width. Beginning to feel like I should attend a Gardners Anonymous meeting for my addiction. The newly transplanted rhodys are not showing any signs of stress after 3 days in their new home. Of course, its raining again. Fingers are crossed! Hoping for blooms, (and before and after pictures to pop into this message) Jane

Cedar Wood Vs.Pressure Treated Pine Aromatic Red Cedar: Cedar is a very stable wood. It does not warp, or shrink, or check (as pressure treated pine most likely will do eventually). A product using cedar boards will have a much nicer appearance, after 10 years compared to a pressure treated pine. Our cedar usually comes from Missouri, Oklahoma, Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana. It can be 50-80 years old. Cedar lumber costs a little more than the fast grown southern yellow pine, but it is well worth the extra expense. Cedar could last 30 years or more and will stay straight! Pressure Treated Pine: This type of lumber usually originates from the southeastern U.S., and can be a southern yellow pine species or a mixed pine species. It is a fast growing tree; being one of the few types that can be pressure treated. Other types of wood have a different cell structure and will not accept the treatment process. This pine, after it has been cut to size, is kiln dried to remove most of the moisture. Then it is bundled up and put into huge cylindrical tanks. Next, a water based solution of micronized copper azole is forced into the wood fibers under pressure. This process makes the wood very heavy and gives it a dark green appearance. This pressure treated pine (PT pine) is guaranteed by the manufacturer not to decay or have insect damage for 10 years or more. It is not guaranteed against shrinkage, warping, checking (splitting). We do not guarantee that this will not happen because it often does. When PT pine starts drying out it can develop "checks" which look like splits or cracks in the posts or boards. This is not an uncommon complaint from new owners of wood products. Actually, the wood is slightly shrinking, a natural seasoning (drying out) of any piece of lumber. When a fence post dries, the outer surface (sapwood) shrinks faster than the inner heart of the piece, and something has to give. For this reason, posts have a natural tendency to develop a V-shaped check towards the center. The result is the familiar "check" which is technically neither a split nor a crack. Depending on the weather and season your wood fence is installed, checking may occur right away, or might wait for warmer weather. We usually never use PT pine for the posts because they will decay in the ground must faster than a cedar post would. Because of this we only use cedar posts for fencing. Here is a link that might be useful: cedar

Since this post IS so old, I wonder if some who posted early in this string made any decisions, what they went with, and if they are happy with the choices they made. I have builders trying to get me to use EverGrain, another one wants to build with Latitudes. Neither of them want to use composite railing. They are really trying to sell their composite (I'm guessing they have some discounted contract with their dealers), but somehow no one likes composite railing. I was leaning on building using composite (possibly TimberTech, but I haven't found anyone in my area willing to go with TimberTech yet), and I was hoping the deck railing could be complimentary to the material on the deck and actually be made of the same composite material. This seems to be next to impossible for me to accomplish. What am I missing here?

I just wanted to add quickly that I have experience with both white vinyl and wood (stained). My neighbor's white vinyl fence (solid) makes up one fourth of our backyard fence. The other three sides are what we installed (basic wood fence, stained gray to match my siding). In my backyard on sunny days, it's very, very hard to see with that very white vinyl right there in your eyes. And (sorry, this is gross!) bird waste really shows on white vinyl. My gray stained wood fence has held up great over the past six years. I've only had to stain it twice (six years ago, and this past summer), and powerwashed it only two times, and it has stayed beautiful. I know it might seem silly, but the bird issue, the glare, and the grass that sticks to the bottom of the vinyl after mowing would be turn-offs for me. Good luck with what you decide! I hope this helps.