I must admit that I am quite impressed as to how helpful everyone on this forum has been! Thanks again everyone! Suzi, thanks for the encouragement! I sure hope the condo is not for too much longer because I have a feeling by next summer my balcony will have a hard time accomodating all of my planned citri (citruses/citri?). I would love to have your local and actually the misses and I are currently considering making move out to California in the next year or so (we should both be done with school this semester, finally...). It's just an idea right now and we would not move out there without job security, but it sure sounds appealing! Brett, thanks for the tips! I'm glad you said that about the pot size, there's a good chance I would have bought ones too big. I had a question about that though. A lady with some citrus experiance at my local nursery told me just to use a premixed Miracle Gro soil for citrus/cactus which actually had alot of the stuff you need to use (perlite, organics, sand) but I do not see too many people on these forums doing anything aside from mixing their own. Anyone got any suggestions for good deals ordering coconut husk chips? I do want to check some local nurserys and see if they have any by chance, but I am not sure I will have much luck here outside Chicago. As for fertilizer Brett I was considering using Osomocote slow release for outdoor/indoor plants (19-6-12), unless anyone has any objections or suggestions. The pointers were quite helpful Brett, thanks! Toni, It would be awesome to live in a location that had citrus trees at all of the bix boxes (as painful as it generally tends to be entering any and every big box). If you are refering to Pesche's in Des Plaines, it is indeed open, but I honestly do not kow much about their buisness history. It was a pretty nice place, quite a bit of selection, very helpful staff but the prices were indeed a bit high. I still bought a few things there (general potting soil and a bottle of superthrive) and would probably go back. I have never been to any of the other places you speak of, but one of my customers at the coffee shop today mentioned Jamacia Gardens to me and said I should check it out. Is there anywhere local you suggest getting the components for a good growth medium or do you order your components online? I would like to use coconut husk chips as well as the rest of the usual suspects (perlite, organics, ect) and was wondering if you know if they are locally available. As for prices I know those are steep, but I have actually checked out Gardenwatchdog and it seems as though Four Winds is one of the best rated companies. Also, I emailed them the other day w/ a question about shipping prices (the previously posted dilema) as well as to see if there was any chance that they had any 2-3 yr old Taroccos since their site said they were out. I was blown away by the response I got from customer service. The CS rep told me he wasn't sure but thought there was an extra 2-3 yr old Tarocco he might be able to sell me and that he would let me know in the next couple of days. He then told me a good deal of info on all three variaties of blood orange they sell and his personal success with bringing any indoors during the winter. He then proceeded to tell me all about what he thought were good suggestions for a novice as well as explained to me the whole shipping situation (which actually made sense after explained, it has to do with older trees being able to be packaged togather into one box where mixed age trees generally can't). In all the response was over 5 paragraphs, and I must admitt I was impressed! I might still order a few trees from them unless I can find all four of the trees I want from one supplier that is reputable and cheaper. I am going to check out those local nurserys though. As for selection I am not 100% sure but leaning towards a bearss lime, varigated pink lemon, gold nugget mandarin and possibly an oro blanco grapefruit (if not, either a tarocco blood orange or cara cara navel). Also, the owner of citrus.forumup.org also ocassionally sells some plants and has a few Meyer lemons right now that I believe he said would be $28 including shipping and that they should fruit this year. I was not initially planning on having 5 citrus trees this year, but I am planning on making it work. Thanks for all the help again Toni! Mike, I really appreciate the call to Four Winds for me! I emailed them and got an impressive response explaining the whole shipping situation. Their customer service is amazing! I found a Meyer for cheap, so I think I am going to give it a shot and I will surely keep you updated on it's status! Thanks folks! Joe

I'll reinforce some of the others' suggestion, and maybe change some. If you're looking for the cheapest possible way to create a landscape, try the following: Go to your library and check out some books on garden design. While you're there, get one or two about plant propagation. Read, read, read. Take notes. Plan on paper. Keep in mind when you plan that what you're planning isn't cast in stone. If the yard is completed slowly -- to accomodate your budget -- then you'll have plenty of time to change your mind. And in the end, there's something very satisfying about seeing a plan become a reality. Also, it's not necessary to buy nice paper or colored pencils. Printer paper and crayons work just fine. Or notebook paper (you can draw lines the other direction to make a grid and use the grid to approximate space in your yard so you're not overplanning the space). And if you have a computer, that's even better: I don't know about Macs, but the IBM version of the Windows operating system comes with a very basic program called Paint which works just fine, and you can change the layout to your hearts content without throwing away a scrap of paper. If your soil is heavy, start collecting leaves and plant material scraps *now* and create impromptu compost piles. Get stuff from your neighbors: grass clippings, fallen leaves, trimmings, etc. If your yard is unplanted you have plenty of room to create piles for composted material. With time, patience, a lot of hard work, some indulgence from your neighbors, and a few large and unsightly piles, you can have a decent amount of soil amendment for cheap or free. (Though you may have to compost for as much as a year to generate enough for your purposes). I definitely second the getting-cuttings-from-your-neigbors approach. Or drive (or walk) around town and find plants that really strike your fancy instead of limiting your selections to your neighbor's tastes. And make sure you understand propagation (getting and using cuttings) before you go, not just so that the cuttings survive and thrive, but in case the owner of the plant you lust after takes some convincing because they don't understand propagation and need it explained that what you're after won't damage their plant. For pots to grow cuttings in, yogurt containers work fine, and you can pot up to gallon milk containers when you need to. The things that will be tough to find for cheap or free are the hardscape items. One recomendation I have is for mulch paths (or mulch in general): you can usually get mulch from power companies when they have to cut down brush or trees for maintenance purposes. If you tell them you want the mulch from the next job, they'll make it and drop it free of charge (or exceptionally cheap), though you have to be willing to accept an unknown (usually large) amount and you'll have no control over the timing. If you're worring about getting too much, try making arrangements with your neighbors for taking any excess off your hands. With patience, time and (sometimes huge) effort, you can have a nice landscape for the price of rooting hormone, soil-less sterile mix (for the cuttings) fertilizer, and some hardscape materials. Now, you may not want to go about it in this bare-bones a manner, but I took my suggestions to the extreme just as a reminder that landscapes do not need to be store-bought and expensive. Good luck!

Ryan- Despite the fact that it’s called a bamboo palm, it has nothing to do with bamboo. I suggest you re-post this in the Palms and Cycads forum where you will get better answers.

It's normal for older leaves to yellow and die off, as long as you're getting new ones at the top. When it comes to watering it's best not to go by regular intervals. As weather fluctuates water evaporation rates change as does plant up take of water. You need to check moisture in the soil and water as needed. It's best to have fast draining potting soil as then it's more difficult to actually over water the plant. You can also give it an occasional good flush with water to prevent build up of excess mineral salts from fertiliser. I'd use the slow release fertiliser when repotting, they don't need a lot. With the vagueries of Melbourne weather I'd be careful about leaving it out all the time this time of year. (I'm in Darwin but know how it can be down there). The Bamboo Palm is Chamaedorea seifrizii and it's a multi trunked palm, so it will keep growing more trunks/stems (I have some with stems over 4 metres long). The Parlour Palm is Chamaedorea elegans which is a single trunked palm. So you have multiple plants in that pot. Due to competition from so many of them growing crowded together you'll have to expect some of the weaker ones to die off. That's normal. Otherwise, they're a good indoor palm and fairly slow growing. They can get up to a couple of metres tall, but you won't have to worry about that for quite a while.