Thanks everyone for the additional suggestions. I've been mulling it all over. Burntplants, I hope termites and bugs aren't a problem. We have the foundation treated twice a year and the siding is vinyl but I will check into this to make sure. I hadn't considered this an issue because the wood mulch was a suggestion from our builder and 2 of our landscapers. You have me concerned however. After some thought, I'm concluding that overhauling the grade isn't a viable option for a couple of reasons. DH is dead set against it and the second one is that I don't think it will end up being a livable space for the reasons karin and almondstriation have mentioned. The long term landscape plan involves a much larger outdoor living space in the area of our yard that is above wall and will be connected by steps to our screened porch. This little add on patio on the lower level would not likely get used much. The outdoor living area on the upper grade will be an expensive project and I hate to devote time and money to a make shift patio that will push back the timeline of the larger project. Clematis is another plant I am adding to the list of plants to try. Almondstriation, thanks for that suggestion. I just pulled a volunteer oak seedling out of there so I know there are some forms of plant life that can survive under there......how would an oak tree look in that space ? :) I was reading the thread on landscaping around garden sculpture and noticed the picture with the two large sphere's and the gel fire fire pit. The area has very little plant material but it is dramatic. I hope my space can achieve that kind of interest but not in a tacky way. I did a photo search for "spheres" on Houzz and saw some examples that have me thinking. I would love to hear some thoughts on this from some of you who work sculpture into your landscape plans.

Yes! We actually experienced hurricane-force winds when Ike came through last year, and numerous homes on our block were damaged by tree falls - we watched it happen from our garage during the storm. Katrina and Wilma also affected us. This is an older neighborhood with lots and lots of very large trees. Ike happened about a month after the large oak fell, so I was a basket case throughout the storm. I now have a not-so-irrational fear of one of the remaining trees falling on the house, and do intend to find someone to assess the health of them before the spring monsoon season arrives. Yes, the trees around this house are either original growth or planted at the time of house build (1955), and are quite huge and very close to the house. I have an 18 month old son and worry constantly about the possibility of a fall. That huge pine Ken mentioned is two trees whose base grew together... they were tethered together up high at one point, but the tether has broken. That tree sits right outside our front door. The fact that the corner oak fell during a still early morning (i.e. no wind or rain at the time) underlines the fact that it could happen any time. Amazingly, so far we have no significant foundation damage per the home inspector 2 years ago. Again, thank you all for all your help. I'll work on clearing the base of the "sandbox pine" and will seek certified help on the remaining giants. You guys may be hearing from me again as I continue my work.

One of the most persistant of gardening myths is that clay soils are somehow uniformly "bad" - that is not really true. Yes, they may be somewhat difficult to work with (until you know the tricks!) but they tend to be nutrient-rich, retain moisture in dry times and limit the amount of leaching of soluble plant nutrients like nitrogen and potassium due to rain or irrigation. The primary trick with clay soils is to never attempt to dig deep planting holes -- all you will create is a great deal of work for yourself and a bathtub or bucket for your plants with the next heavy rain. Dig wide but very shallow planting holes and plant high. Use whatever amendments you like to mix with the dug soil to mound up to the top of the rootball. Easy peasy! Just scrape/rake the wood mulch away enough to remove the weed cloth underneath, then work it back into the areas you wish to improve. And it never hurts to add whatever other organic matter you have at hand. Using compost as a mulch less than 3 inches thick is pretty much a waste of time and money as the material breaks down and disappears pretty rapidly. 3-4" of compost applied this fall or winter should result in some pretty decent soil come spring. FWIW, any organic material is going to break down and shrink over time so any lasagna method intended to "create" 6-8 inches of soil is going to require at least 12-18" of ingredient material to begin with. And that is simply too much stuff to pile around existing plants, careful or not. Improving soil conditions is not an overnight situation and even less so if working around existing plantings. This is not what the lasagna method was intended for. But by applying organic matter in the form of mulch over a period of growing seasons you will develop a loose, fluffy, well-draining and very fertile soil condition over time. Always keep any mulch well away from trunks of trees or the woody stems of any shrubs to prevent rot and to discourage hiding places for winter feeding critters like rabbits or voles.

R 23.8 is the minimum basement wall insulation value for the Energy Star 2012 Standard in either of Saskatchewan's very cold climate zones. The cheapest retrofit interior way to reach that minimum while avoiding condensation in the basement wall would be two-inches of XPS against the interior of the foundation wall, (R-12) followed by fibrous insulation between wood or light steel framing with no vapour barrier. Building scientists Joe Lstiburek and John Straube, among others, recommend this system. (Variations that either eat up more interior living space or cost more in most cases, use ccspf, expanded polystyrene boards (EPS) or polyisocyanurate boards.) The key detail area is the space around the rim, which, ideally, should be sprayed with closed cell spray polyurethane or fitted tightly with foam board, sealed and caulked. This post was edited by worthy on Wed, Aug 21, 13 at 14:14