I feel as if I'm making a confession to you all. I always loved gardens but my folks never had much money or knew anything about plants so we had the ugliest, deadest yard on the block. I always hated that. My Dads mom had a beautiful garden and my moms mom grew a few rose bushes and a big loquat tree and my moms dad grew strawberries and tomatoes. My folks bought a house with clay soil and made a half hearted attempt at planting some unsuitable shrubs then promptly gave up. Everything died but the couple of pines and the Italian cypresses. My dad's folks garden was the magic place and I adored it. I always loved the prettiest yards on the street and I would stop and look at all the different plants on the way home from school. In particular I was in love with a Japanese couple's dicondra lawn surrounded by maples and bamboo and clipped things. They were out there almost every night working on it together. I can still remember them on their hands and knees pulling little weeds from the dicondra and talking to each other in Japanese. The azaleas were so beautiful and there must have been so many other treasures that I can't recall now. In my mind it was the best a garden could ever get. So then the years went by and I got a copy of the Sunset Western Garden Book in high school and I read that book over and over and learned the latin names and began to really look at plants in a new way. I got an understanding of plants and what they like and that different plants want different things and that it isn't just magic that some people have and some don't. I started making an herb garden out in the no mans land of the front yard. Then I started growing annual flowers from seeds and working them in all the while waging war with bermuda grass that threatened to ruin all my progress. I planted seeds mostly because I was spending all my money to go to college but sometimes I splurged and bought fuschias and any other flowers that hummingbirds liked. I soon had a big fuschia collection going in the back under dads big pine tree that managed to survive the early years. I hated my job in the women's clothes section of a department store so I found another one at a local nursery run by a Japanese couple and their son. This couple was so good to me and the hours I spent sitting by Sumi learning about flowers and just being in her gentle presence changed the way I looked at the world and about flowers. She had a great wisdom and kindness. I don't think I'll ever know such a graceful and gentle person like that ever again. Sumi's brother Ken was there too and he was a wonderful man with a gentle way and great sense of humor. I wish I could go back and tell them how much I appreciate all the kindness they gave to me. I loved them and I loved the nursery and every plant in the place. I just wanted it all to grow well and for everyone who got a plant to be happy. I listened to all the growers and customers and I read everything I could read. Then came my friend Robert who knew everything about plants and loved roses. After a trip to his garden I wanted to grow roses. I thought I didn't know much after meeting Robert, but he was also very kind and wise and didn't mind my inexperience. He was also a great enabler and got me started buying roses from RoY&T. That catalog was like candy to us and we talked about it on lunch and while we were planting up flower baskets for holidays. When bare root rose season came around, Robert was always so happy. We loved getting into the big boxes of bareroots when they would arrive. After a while, I thought my humble herb patch was nothing special and started expanding. I left them all to go to the University and then I got a job at Disneyland Entertainment that ate my life. I spent many many hours during and after hours in the park and got to watch all the plantings and talk to the people in charge of landscape for the parks and the hotel complex. All that time, my garden saw me through tough times and I faithfully got up to water it before dawn when I had to go to work early or get to school and study. All along the way I met people who loved plants and I took cuttings and collected seeds to grow in my own garden. My grandma stood by me all the way, encouraging me. I loved Lord of the Rings too and Narnia. I remember when my sister and I were young and went camping in Colorado. We walked out into a meadow and I said " If I see the tents of Narnia, I'm just going to keep going" and she agreed with me that we wouldn't go back. I try to put a bit of fairyland in the yard for kids that come by and for myself to remind me of the old days.

Melody, Is the damage like that all around the base of the plant, or is there a strip of undamaged bark connecting the untouched bark of the root base to the main stem aboveon the other side of the tree? If not, I think the gardeners have inadvertently girdled your plumeria which will stop the flow of nutrients and water back and forth between the leaves and upper tree and the roots below. End result, the tree above the damage dies. You may have to cut the tree off just above the damage and re-root. But perhaps you might then get new growth next spring from the root base. Just my 2 cents. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girdling So sorry. Mike

The factory issued feed has melted arount one connector. Even if I jump a wire the bad side, the screw that holds the feed onto the rail is part of the melt-down, so the screw on part won't attach. I'm going to try using a rail connection part to hold the wire... we'll see. Thanks a whole bunch for your input!

A proper roof is also very important, because leaks, cause rot, and numerous other problems, that can cost you a whole lot more money to fix all the damage than you would have, if you just had that fence pulled down and repaired it now. Since the diy previous owner, obviously was creative, but,had no real diy talent to go with it, it is probably a very good idea to get the foundation of the porch etc, inspected too. I would have that done before doing the roof, because, there is a possibility that it is unsafe and needs to come down or have supports added. Oh, and by the way, dont worry about the weight of shingles, that porch, is obvously holding a whole lot of weight right now. Have you ever moved a treated fence panel? They are not light weight. There are several of them up there too, which is a whole lot of weight,and when they get wet in the rain, double that amount of weight. It is totally unbelievable what some people do. I am guessing you didnt have a home inspector when you bought it, because, pretty sure that would have had to be corrected. There should have been plywood put on that roof, before the metal, and that would have deadened the sound of the rain. Bare wood, meeting rain, is always a no no. Good Luck to you.