Hi Diggerdee - your Sassafras may be pesty, but I like your little grove of these trees! I think it's a very interesting tree, with sort of windy trunks and those cool mitten shaped leaves (smell good too). Not to mention it's a host plant for the Spicebush Swallowtail, and thanks to a grove of Sassafras in a nearby woodland, these gorgeous butterflies visit my garden regularly through the summer. From what I understand, they do colonize through root sprouts more so than seedlings. I have wanted to transplant a small one from the nearby grove, but have read that there is a dismal success rate with transplanting this species - because the root sprouts don't survive. Too bad you can't move your grove to my house! :) Garden for life, I think you mean Barberry (Berberis genus), which are very prickly and difficult to prune, and also considered a noxious weed in Mass. Northern bayberry (Myrica pennsylvanica) is not prickly at all and has attractive green foliage that remains semi-evergreen through the winter. It is dioecious, so the berries only form on female plants. It suckers too, but won't spread hither and yon like the Sassafras. (see link) As for Dogwood, you might want to consider Grey Dogwood (Cornus racemosa). I think it's the most drought-tolerant of the Dogwood species, which generally prefer moist soil. It does sucker, but that tendency would probably be tempered by the dry habitat. Here is a link that might be useful: Myrica pennsylvanica - Bayberry

what is the problem with b&b? ===>>> first off... most of us.. do not have a husband who has very large machines .. to move these things around... lol ... i 6 foot BB... can weight.. 200 to 300 pounds.. you arent going to be hoiking that size things.. out of the car pictured above ... its no real problem getting them into the car ... and i often joke with the burly young men loading it at the nursery.. if they are willing to follow me home to get it out ... even if you have them delivered to the driveway .. moving them a couple hundred feet across the yard.. can be a lumbar disc killer ... sans heavy equipment ... now.. a large BB was field grown ... and if .. as it is said.. a tree is twice as big below as above ground... and you dig up a 6 foot tree .. with at most a 2 or 3 foot rootball.. you should be able to conceptualize ... that a vast majority of the root mass is cut off ... and since no one can see into the ground.. there is some loss.. simply because the digging itself causing severe root loss ... so.. based on all the above ... i would never go.. about a 3 footer ... and do be prepared.. that once you sink the roots ... it might only be a 2 footer.. lol ... so when i say 3 foot .. i mean the tree part ... its all about the stress you are applying to the plant ... thru digging .. transporting.. and planting.. and the larger the plant.. the larger the stresses involved ... i highly recommend you call your COUNTY extension office .... and ask them about their suggestions for your COUNTY ... that is a good way to start with LOCAL opinion .. feed us back that knowledge .. and we can go from there ... i even found out.. they had a tri-county forester on staff.. and though it took a few weeks, he eventually visited and offered many opinions ... and also ask if they have any spring plant sales.. my MI soil conservation dist offices sell 1 to 2 foot trees and conifers for a buck or two .... this is a good way to plant a lot of stuff .... on a low budget .... and do understand.. there really is no instant gratification in this project ... one thing you really need to get thru your head though.. is that this is not suburbia .... and this is not a one year project ... i would suggest.. with the scope of what you are trying to accomplish.. a min of 5 years.. to get this done ... coffee buzz is kicking in.. and my eyes are vibrating.. no chance to reread the above.. lol... gotta go .. perhaps do a couple laps around the acreage ... lol ken

Except for that second summer after I moved into my house, I think it was 2000, I haven't had any more problems with the bagworms on my cedar shrubs. I check them quite often, just in case. I'd love to have them removed, but it looks like someone tried to remove part of them, because there are old stumps that were under my wood porch, that were exposed after I removed it. I think these things are tougher than nails. Had to pull some more yellow buds off the hibiscus today, and deadhead the Texas Red (which is a daily job). I planted my two red pentas, a lantana 'Irene', tecoma, and butterfly bush (B. davidii x nanohensis 'Nanho Blue'). I'm work so hard to attract the butterflies that must be churning a new path north this year. I did order 3 butterfly houses (2' mesh enclosures) today (I call them my butterfly birthing centers). TW - how do you just KNOW all this stuff? Simply amazing. I thought I was reasonably intellient, until you came along, and put my butterfly to shame! LOL. Susan

Lots of shrubs suited to this condition - red or yellow twig dogwood (the shrub referred to in the link), clethra, hydrangeas, fothergilla, rhododendrons and azaleas, chokeberry (Aronia), skimmia, pieris, Enkianthus, Disanthus, various viburnums, etc. Visit a local botanical garden and/or nurseries and see what grows best locally under these conditions.