If you can get 1/2 inch PVC tubing in 20 foot lengths, you can make a hoop over a 4 foot wide bed that's roughly eight feet high in the center. Shove four rods of rebar thin enough to go inside the tubing and long enough to get a firm hammering into the ground with a foot or so sticking up. A couple of bent nails or electrical conduit 2-hole clamps can help with steadiness by "attaching" the rebar to raised bed sides if necessary. Slide the tubing down over the rebar. Don't worry about roots. You can put up hoops in parallel like a Conestoga wagon or cross them in an X. You can also put up plastic tubing "poles", which means straight sections that don't hoop back down; they will be more flexible. How's your wind, and are you comfortable putting large sails into the wind? I was given a hot tip for edged and grommeted shade cloth: Harbor Freight. They also have scads of cheap clamps or you could use those huge binder clips! Also remember, you don't have to shade all the plants if some are in the shade of others. Here is a link that might be useful: Harbor Freight

Jey - I'm local too and since I do landscaping professionally, disposing of debris (and a LOT of it sometimes) is a pretty routine occurrence. Here's what I'd suggest: grab a copy of the Little Nickle (at any 7-11) and call a few hauling services listed there for estimates. Be able to supply them with an approximate size of the pile you need to dispose of, although they should come by personally to give you an estimate. And that will include dump fees. They will take it to a yard waste recycling station or to Pacific Topsoils, as that is the cheapest way to dispose of it for them also. At least you'll be assured the stuff is being recycled. 1-800-Got-Junk works too but they may be more expensive. An alternative is to contact Pacific Topsoils. They also recycle yard waste. And they rent containers by the day with a delivery and pick-up fee that is a lot less than the county. And they have yards all over the county, so should be convenient to you. And yes, all of King County's yard and kitchen waste is recycled into compost - Cedar Grove Composting. But they don't give it away for free :-) I've broached this subject here a couple of times, but the recycling process and Cedar Grove in particular is cutting edge and a very large and high standard commercial composting operation. Certified organic Cedar Grove Compost is sold all over the county at nurseries, garden centers, groceries and box stores. Unfortunately, unless you have the means yourself via a chipper or truck, disposing of a large pile of garden debris is going to cost in this area. btw, King County transfer stations charge by the weight not the truck load, so other than a bit extra for gas, multiple trips to the recycling transfer center will not cost any more than one, single, massive load. Yard waste is $82.50 per ton. (good to know so the hauling guys don't gouge you, although they should be paying a lower, commercial rate). Here is a link that might be useful: Pacific Topsoils recycling

I have had good results using a "hill system" in my garden. To start with, my soil is awful and I wanted a garden without having to ammend a large area. Since the water table is very near the surface in my garden, I needed hills (think of them as small raised beds)so that the plant roots could get some oxygen. I, too, did not have a tiller so I needed to be able to prepare a garden without breaking my back. Make your hills by first digging a hole 18 inches wide by 18 inches deep. Mound the soil around your hole. Now, fill the hole with a good quality planting mix. I have used MG potting mix, bagged manure, and a turkey manure mixture that I purchase by the truckload from a local mulch supplier. I fugure that almost anything I put in the hole is much better than the surrounding soil. Build your hills about five feet apart and you can grow almost any crop that you want on them. I finish the job by covering the whole area with 6 mil black plastic. This gives me a weed free, mud free garden area. This arrangement is ideal for gourds, melons, cucumbers, tomatoes, okra, pumpkins, snow peas, and even pole beans. I even grow collards on hills. I leave the black plastic in place and reuse the hills year after year. Further ammendment of the soil is easy because I only ammend the hills, not the whole garden area. You can start your lasagne system on top of your hills if you like. The hill system is not the best use of space and it does not lend itself to growing row crops like bush beans, field peas, corn, and the like. For most of the vegetables I grow, however, it works very well. Joe

I see faint, dark blotches in the middle of the leaves, so it's one of the lady's thumbs (which are Pennsylvania smartweed's cousins). Look through all their photos: https://gobotany.newenglandwild.org/species/persicaria/maculosa/ The easiest way to kill it is to pull it before it seeds. This post was edited by missingtheobvious on Fri, Sep 26, 14 at 11:32