How large is the area for your veg garden? If it's of manageable size and you have enough material (leaves, manure and whatever else you have or can get), you can try to create raised planting areas. And perhaps for between those areas, lay down thick layers of straw or similar to walk on. I'll be interested in what the real experts here have for you as advice. We have about 1/3 acre deer-fenced in, and there's a very high water table or something in large parts of it. I was out there after last week's very heavy rain and could literally hear water moving under the ground. The same parts in winter I've heard ice crackling down there as I walk. Part of it in wet years has been muck all spring through fall.

Dave--(or anyone else?): I am really confused by these "weeping" Norway spruce cultivars. You show one picture of a 'Reflexa' that was not staked but is growing erect, then another picture of the same kind of tree that had to be staked. So, does this tree grow erect sometimes, and not all the time? As for the P. abies 'Frohburg' I find confusing statements. You say it needs to be staked or it will grow prostrate. Iseli nursery, and a couple of other places on-line, says it is an upright grower. Elsewhere I see a cultivar name P. abies 'Frohburg Prostrata,' with the 'Prostrata' sugggesting a flopping tree. So what am I supposed to think? Now in the Gotelli collection at the National Arboretum in DC they have two P. abies 'Inversa' trees. Both of these have picturesque irregular habits, but they are definately not prostrate. One, or I think both, have multiple erect trunks growing upright with severely pendulous side branches. I would like to grow one of these, but several sources say they will not grow upright. I have also seen another P. abies 'Inversa,' or so it is labelled, in the courtyard of the Winterthur museum in Delaware. This tree is also growing upright without any staking. And there is another similar tree growing prominently in the National Memorial Park in Fairfax, VA, but this tree has no label at all. I don't know if you have seen my postings in the trees forum under the topic "Large Willow" where I comment on the rampant confusion about golden weeping willows, but I may be even more confused and frustrated in trying to get information about the growth habit of these so-called weeping varieties of NS. I want to grow one or more, but what do I buy? And from whom? Are those I saw labelled 'Inversa' actually something that I can buy as 'Inversa," or is that an incorrect name? And this 'Frohburg' thing? Is there a 'Frohburg' that grows erect, and then another that is 'Frohburg Prostrata' that must always be staked--or which is more properly meant to grow along the ground. Of course, I assume that any of these that are potentially erect growers probably must be staked for a time, but from what I have seen with my own eyes (at the Nat Arb, and at Winterthur, and at the Nat Mem Park), at least one, and maybe more than one of these cultivars, can grow on their own after a period of time being staked, in at least some irregular erect fashion. So, is 'Inversa' one of these? Or 'Frohburg' or what? I have seen them, want one, but what one, or ones is/are it/they?? H E L P!! this is driving me nuts!! --Spruce

Hi Mike, FYI, under watering would cause the plants to wilt, over watering seedlings usually causes the leaves to yellow and be more susceptible to damping off. It really does look like you put them in the sun way too soon. Hardening off usually takes a minimum of a week, 10 days is better. If they have been in the full sun for just a few days, I'd say definately cut the amount of direct sun they are getting. If they have been in the sun a week or so, I think you can just leave them since most likely they won't suffer any further damage. YMMV. Betsy Here is a link that might be useful: Hardening Off and Physiological Changes

Hi guys - Thought you might like to see the results after following your suggestions. Who says you can't grow Kentucky Bluegrass in Southern Utah at 6,000 ft. elevation? It's thick, it's plush, it's beautiful. I'm watering now every 3rd day through this heat (95+) and wind (15-25 mph) but staggering the watering at 3:30 4:30 5:30 a.m. to drop a total of 1". I'm sure I can cut that down to once a week this fall and in subsequent years. The areas that are still challenging area along the hardscape and have rock or some hard construction substance under them, but even those areas look 100% improved. I've used shampoo 1/week for 4 weeks at 3 oz. per 1,000. Thank you again for getting me over the hump. Woo hoo.