Thank you all for your suggestions. The main reason for the advice to move the bushes was due to their initial installation. We hired a professional landscaper to develop a plan and she did create an initial plan. However, after that she basically disappeared, refused to answer our phone messages, and apparently stopped working as a landscape professional for some time. In addition, the nursery that was providing the plants didn't have some of the ones the plan called for or didn't like some of her choices. Since she wasn't available, and since we had no gardening or landscape experience, we pretty much trusted the nursery to do all the plantings. Now some of plantings aren't working out in terms of color and size - some of the shrubs in particular have overpowered their area. Ironically, where we wanted large bushes to screen out our neighbors, the lilacs and cherry laurels that were planted haven't done the job. I posted pictures below to illustrate. On the left, behind the lavender, there is a variegated redtwig dogwood that is overpowering the korean spice viburnum behind it, the eryngium yuccafolium in front of it, and the echinacea beside it. We were thinking butterfly bushes might work better here. Here is the same shrub from the back. The viburnum is pressed between the redtwig dogwood and the pyracantha on the right hand side. This composition of this whole planting area seems off to us, with tall things in the front and short things behind, etc. but we are unsure what to do with it. Here is the side where we wanted a screen. You can see the neighbor's propane tank and back porch. The master gardener suggested sambucus here: Here is the sambucus, which has completely obscured the view out of this window. We love them and they are beautiful, but we would like to see the river as well: If you have any further comments, I am always opening to new ideas. Thanks!

Oh my. What is a passionate rose lover like you doing in that glacial hell hole? Reading about your endeavors has exhausted me and I haven't even lifted a shovel. I admire your grit and determination, but would love to see you rewarded with thousands of blooms on your rose bushes for all your hard work. I bet they could use engineers in zones 7 to 10!

Lou, I would be very interested in seeing the state of the roots for the tree you dig up. So if you are of the mind, post pictures of what you find. The first Sugar Maple I planted did not survive, so when I replaced it, I took the dead plant and cleaned the roots as an educational experience. Having this stump, and a good deal of research online about ornamental tree production taught me allot about what to expect from my new plantings. Particularly in respect to most trees in containers are containerized, and not grown in that container. Meaning, they are field grow, bare root harvested, most roots removed, then planted in a container, then given a growing season to recover before being shipped out that fall or early the nest spring. This was absolutely the case with the tree that did not survive. This solved allot of my questions as to why I was seeing the pattern that I was from previous years growth. Namely why the current years growth was so much less than previous years. Also taught me that the replacement will not behave normally for at least 2-3 years if not more. As for my own tree, I do believe it can be saved. The ground rarely freezes very deeply, or for a prolonged period, so it will have time to recover some before spring. Visually overall the tree looks good, but I recognized problems due to a pause in growth when it should not have, growth rate did not increase this year over last, growing leaflets paused turned black before growth again resumed after a few weeks, oddities in the trunk etc., and just did not grow as much as it should have. Fertilizer is not a problem, as the lawn gets what it needs, and it does not show any sign of nutrient stress, and I do I keep the grass away from the tree. I have also been working to improve the soil, and now beginning to find a small population of earthworms, along with some fungi appearing after rain. All of which tells me I'm making progress with the soil and it's ecology. I don't expect it to grow as fast here as for you in north Texas, but I'm sure it can do better than it did. It's nice to know what yours have done from a personal experience, it gives me a measuring stick to to speak. Anyway, I for one would appreciate hearing what is happening with yours particularly since they are from the same grower. Hope your others turn out to your liking. Also if you seedly does not change, and is consistent in a variety of environments, you just may have something worth developing. Arktrees

Thanks Dandylioness! I'm not the best person to ask about "wicks" but I can give you a simple (non scientific explanation,lol...) I use a piece of yarn although I'm sure anything similar will work like a piece of cotton string, an old shoe lace. I insert it through one of the hole in the pot and it helps remove the excess water (perched water) that always seems to pool on the very bottom of the pot. This way, when we get a lot of rain, it helps drain it...Hope that made some sense :o) Here is a link that might be useful: Here's a picture...I believe it belongs to AL