That's just silly, Ink, though as usual with a good point at the core of it. Scrap, I think you did start off with a question that sent the conversation in some rather scattered directions. I think it is a natural error given what you are doing, which is to try to practice landscape design at an advanced level without having taken the introductory course. I sympathize, I do it all the time myself - end up specializing in "learning the hard way." I got a real kick out of your self-description of "wanting to do the PhD." Believe me, I relate. If you were to consult a landscape designer, s/he would start off interviewing you about your needs and aspirations for the site and would design according to those identified priorities. What I think is happening here is that, having perhaps not clearly articulated or listed those priorities because you think you know them, you are being distracted from them by one or more of common practice, alluring ideas, or other people's input. These things have led you down paths that move away from, rather than toward, realizing your preferences. I first heard this process described as being seduced by features you don't need when shopping for software, years ago when the department I worked for was shopping for its first every computer program. Same idea here. For example, somewhere, perhaps in your blog, you spoke with some clarity about a fence for the left side, where it should go and why. Yet in discussions here you have zeroed in mercilessly on the right side, where there is literally no point in doing anything because of your neighbour's tree, I think in response to some comments made. Another example is what I tried to point out three posts up. Why don't you make your priority list as if you were going to consult someone. What would you tell them was important, and what you needed the fastest? What is bugging you the most? I encouraged you to look at the walkway as you said you hate it, but if it currently meets your basic needs while other needs go entirely unmet, then that is wrong too. If you consult someone, they would be able to think all the way through the process from your most immediate needs to a final plan. Without experience, I don't think you can. Frankly, in my yard I can't either. I deal with what needs doing at the moment, and while I think three or four steps ahead, I focus mostly on leaving as many options as possible open for the next few decisions I have to make. I often find myself doing something completely unexpected but serendipitous. If I were to put my plans on paper, they would always incorporate a few areas deliberately grayed, labelled "see how this looks when I get there." Perhaps the right first thing is to build your fence. Or even just to set your fence posts. You can figure out the precise style of pickets or panels later once you see the posts installed. You can figure out the plantings later, once you see what it's like with the fence in place. Will you feel enclosed enough, or too much already, with just a fence? You won't know till you get there. Make the decision then. The fence issue seems like a logical place to start. Why not tell us about your fencing needs? Perhaps someone can help you flesh those out. But this time, don't begin by telling us what you have decided so that the discussion has to tear that down in order to get to new territory, and then has no direction once it gets there. Tell us first what you needs are, why you are thinking of a fence, and what purposes it needs to serve. It is the process of articulating those items that generates good ideas. You may not even need any input once you have made all that clear to yourself. KarinL

4 Fan Aloes, 1 'Lavender Lady Passion Vine, 2 Choisya, 1 Kniphofia northiae, 1 4" Galvezia juncea, 1 Tecoma 'Sparky', 1 bromeliad, 1 coyote mint, 1 3" cuphea and 3 lemon thyme, 2 4" Iris confusa 'Chengdu', 1 Hymenocallis, 2 3" epazote, 3 alstroemeria, 1 clematis, 1 salvia and whatever else I cannot recall off the top of my head. Some other things are waiting for the bump-the-pot game. There are various reasons for the stall--some are waiting for bed prep or the end of vegetable season space, others are rarely offered plants I could not delay purchasing, some are stressed and not healthy enough for the ground transfer yet, one is on hold to make sure it has no systemic in its system before placement in the caterpillar food area, and many are just waiting out the summer heat season. I sleep fine. :)

Ann's idea to contact your county agricultural extension agent sounds like just the ticket to me. We contacted our county extension agent once a long, long time ago, in trying to find out why we were having a problem with growing azaleas and rhododendrons in one particular area of the yard but not in others. With all the budget cutbacks they might not still do that, but it's a wonderful service. Someone actually came out to see the problem here onsite and didn't charge us anything to do it. The fellow who came out was extremely knowledgeable and pleasant to deal with. He almost instantly guessed what the problem was, semi-confirmed it by shifting a few plants within the ground from pushing gently on their stems, and sent some soil samples off to the state lab for confirmation: a moderately heavy infestation of nematodes (the bad kind of nematodes) that were eating away at the roots of the plants. I know this isn't your problem, but your roses might have something that a local county agricultural agent can diagnose just as quickly there. Our service was free, and I assume yours would be too, or at least not too expensive. Even if your agent isn't quite so sharp as ours was, you still probably wouldn't lose anything by spending a few minutes with him/her. We've had two (very mild) cases of downy mildew here. I double-checked those photos and the roses didn't have any ridges on the canes. But perhaps ridges might have appeared if the disease had gotten worse, so telling you this might not be especially helpful--unless you can look or have pictures of the plants in different stages of coming down with the disease. If the ridges are there from the very start of noticeable symptoms, then it likely isn't downy mildew. Your county extension agent is just the right contact for checking out Ann's other ideas regarding the potential for verticillium wilt and sudden oak death. Since they affect plants other than roses too, he might have had a better chance of hearing first about the presence in your area of those diseases before someone mainly concerned with growing roses would have. (I hope it's neither of those diseases. Fingers crossed for you.) One other obvious thing to think about that I didn't think to mention earlier... Try analyzing in every respect the locations of each of the plants that have come down with the disease, and be sure to tell your extension agent about the locations of the goners and whatever connections you might be able to come up with from an analysis of those locations. Example: You have your 180 plants spread among 6 different beds, but all the plants but one that died recently were located in the front beds as opposed to from the back of the house (maybe more likely something like a gradual spreading of chili thrips?). Or, you have losses in all your beds, but they all are located near the new stone edging you've given your beds (maybe too much reflected heat added now?). Or, your losses are in front and in the back, but started out only in those beds that you added some extra bags of ___ to last winter to improve the soil (maybe the bags' contents weren't insect/disease free). Or, your losses are all in places less protected from an especially cold winter that might have set up the roses for succumbing to the first disease to come along. Or, the losses are all close to the swimming pool (spilled some chemicals intended for a pool there?). One other suggestion that might help would be adding mycorrhiza, though it's some trouble when you already have the rose planted, and if it's something like verticillium wilt it might not help enough anyway. I once added mycorrhiza to two ailing established plants and I don't think I'd ever bother with that again, though I do still think mycorrhiza is overall a good idea and we use it when planting a new rose, when it's relatively easy to use. Those two roses I was hoping to help were virused and no amount of adding anything would have changed that. With this kind of (extensive and serious) problem that your roses are having, it might amount to a situation such as ours was. Or maybe not; it's hard to know, especially since the problem is still unidentified. In favor of adding mycorrhiza... would be the firm conviction of someone very knowledgeable in organic gardening circles that plants with this added boost actually can more easily repel disease, and that it's not simply a matter of additional pathways for more water and nutrients (that's a good hedge during droughts and also especiaally severe winters). You can't know whether or not a plant thus reinforced can repel something as serious as verticillium wilt, but if you are willing to go to the trouble, it's unlikely to cause harm. At least what I did in adding it to our already-planted roses caused no harm at all that I could see. For adding to established plants, use something like an especially large and long pencil for punching holes in the ground. (I had an extra knife sharpening steel that was about the diameter of two and a half pencils and it worked perfectly.) You want to punch 4-6 holes in the ground all around the rose, starting from maybe 6 inches out from the center of the plant and directed at the center of the plant maybe a foot down. Pour a small amount of mycorrhiza into each hole, and then spread the dirt back into and over the holes. You're counting on at least one root making contact with some mycorriza, either directly from the hole placement or soon as it grows some more to that spot. If you do decide to try mycorrhiza, be sure to never use any fertilizer that is higher than 1 or 2% in phosphate, as this will harm the mycorrhiza and might end up killing the plant that will have become somewhat dependent on the mycorrhiza working for much of its water and nutrients. One last thought: I still think it's a good idea to water very deeply every now and then if you can, because of the potential for a soil PH that is too high in a low-rainfall climate. This would be true even if your roses have enough water available for takeup; what you want is a flushing of the soil downward to get rid of any salt buildup, if one might exist (though it sounds as if you're giving a good bit of water). In a desert climate, there ought to be plenty of dry soil underneath the plant to take up the excess coming from a heavy watering, and a system flush is unlikely to make matters worse. If this summer was a bit hotter there than in the previous years where you've not had these problems, a higher-than-ideal PH might combine with the main problem, whatever it is, and make it worse by creating extra stress overall. If you are able to fill some watering cans for spreading water around while doing some deep watering, it wouldn't hurt to add a tiny bit of cider vinegar to the watering can, just on a guess that your soil's PH is very unlikely to be too low already and that adding a tiny bit of extra acidity probably won't do any harm. Big beautiful roots likely means no severe root-eating nematode problem. That's all I can think of. In spite of lots of people thinking about your problem from afar, I doubt that you are going to figure this out via internet suggestions. But if possible, do post pictures. The county extension agent idea is probably by far the most important suggestion to try. Best wishes, Mary

I have one row of yellow wax (Brittle Wax Beans, my rows are ~20 feet long) and one row of green bush beans (Blue Lake) and a half row of Royal Burgundy beans. I also have 1 teepee of pole beans (Kentucky Wonder) and 1 teepee of asparagus yardlongs. I have beans coming out of my ears! There's just my husband and myself. I'm getting a gallon of beans every few days. I've frozen LOTS and pickled some.