Personally, I don't like the looks of either, and at the least it would take 2-3 years to "heal", but could fail some time down the line. Which would mean replacement then, the responsible party may then claim no responsibility, and your delay in having a new plant established to do what you wanted in the first place. In addition, in the second pic there appears to be very small buds growing from just at ground level, if so, I take that as a bad sign the the tree is basically in panic mode and believes it is dying. Lastly, I see no sign of callus forming in either pic (maybe I'm missing it). In short I would try for replacement of them all. The responsible party can go to a tree farm and buy HEALTHY replacements there, assuming they actually have a business license. Again, you can bet yours aren't the only one's in this condition, and the responsible party needs motivation to do their job correctly. JMHO Arktrees

Glad to have you here, Tracy! You don't have to just wait - that's why you get annuals and pots. View this year as a prep year that will make the remainder of your gardening years in this house more successful and rewarding. One other thing you can do this summer besides annuals & pots is to work on improving your soil. Once we are well into summer and you know what you have (& you may want an experienced gardener to walk around your garden with you to help figure out what are weeds and what are plants worth keeping) you can plant a cover crop to turn in come fall or start working in compost (does your town have a composting program where you can pick up finished compost free or cheap?) or even just top dressing with compost. I really think that the best thing you can do to have a successful garden is to start with good soil, and that's always easier before you plant, amending whole beds with organic matter rather than just adding it to planting holes which tends to restrict root growth. If you can't get compost, look up lasagna gardening or sheet composting. Any organic matter added will be to the good, particularly in your sandy soil. Watching your garden for a season while planting temporary plants (that's where annuals and pots come in) will help you get a feel for light levels, moisture levels (are there areas that stay damp to gooey all year or other areas that are powder dry in high summer?) while giving you time to decide what you want from a garden as others have suggested along with knowing a bit about how you will use the yard. Where will the BBQ be? Do you want a patio in sun or shade? Do you need a play space for kids? Do your pets have favorite places to run, sleep or dump? (Not good places for plants!) Where do folks take short cuts around the yard (don't try to plant there or else give them stepping stones to cross the garden.) Around here early fall is the best time to plant since warm soil and cooler air coupled with regular rain make it easier for the plants to settle in. You can spend your summer like KPaquette, visiting other gardens and deciding on plants and styles you like. (Take a camera and a notebook so that if photos are allowed you can have records of plants you like, & be sure to take good notes &/or make sketches to keep track of ideas and plant names.) Another good source of ideas is your local public library and book stores, as they often have great eye candy that will get your creative juices flowing. Finally, there are frequently sales in the fall, so you'll get more bang for your buck as long as the plants are healthy. Some ideas for this year's dappling - Coleus comes with red or green or yellow leaves (usually some combination) and likes shady areas. Outdoors, it makes a great pot plant that you can then cut back before the first frost and keep it all winter as a sunny window sill plant. There are many Salvias that may or may not be hardy for you (but aren't for me) like Salvia guaranitica 'Black and Blue' which grows well in a large pot and attracts humming birds. Scarlet runner beans are an annual vine that will twine up a trellis or strings. They have screaming red flowers that the hummers love and you can eat the beans as green beans if picked young or harvest the mature pods for dried beans. Nicotiana in a self-seeding annual that has red, pink, white, or chartreuse flowers with heavenly late afternoon and night-time scent.

Dee, We visited a place yesterday in Dickson. The Plant Ranch. You might call them and see if they have what you need. They had a biiiig lot of hollies, trees, and other shrubs in multiple sizes, ie, prices. After going there yesterday, and yes, Mother Nature spent some more of my hard earned money on more plants, I don't see any need in going to the big city any more for plants. If this place doesn't have it, you can't grow it. Phone # 446-2725 Roger

Well, it's Wednesday. Have you heard back from them? If not, either they are getting ready for a lawsuit or they figured out the problem! If you get a bunch of calls about it, I would send someone out as a courtesy to take care of it. Might want to check your yelp comments also! Nancy