Sf_rhino, just arrived to LA, with my plants! But let me tell you, it was painful! I arrived to the airport about 2 hours before the takeoff. Right outside there was a USDA station, where you submit your luggage for an X-Ray inspection. I had 6 plants all packed into a single box (3 feet miracle fruit, 3 feet Jamaican passion fruit, 1 foot curry plant, 2 unnamed passion fruits (they were called yellow and purple at the market). I went straight to the USDA officer and said I had plants for inspection. The lady was very nice, and helped me to unpack and pack the plants back. She was *very* carefull with them, and thanked me for my patience. The box got a yellow sticker "USDA inspected". She looked at all the roots, and took a couple of leafs off the miracle fruit that looked a bit eaten up. My box got a yellow sticker "USDA inpected", and off I went to the TSA checkpoint. Unpacking and packing took about 30 minutes. Once at the checkpoint, I realized I had to put my plants through an big X-ray all the luggage was going through. "No way" I thought, "they will be dead for sure". So I said to the TSA officer, I had live plants that were going to be potted, and I didn't want them to get irradiated. They tried to convince me it was 'ok' to put through the scanner, but I politely stood my ground. They offered hand inspection, I said 'great'. The TSA agent got a bit ticked off by this, and while my wife and son went through the metal detector, she invited me to go through their X-ray body scanner. I declined, saying that I don't like to be X-rayed. She said, "this is not an X-ray". I said "I know exactly what it is," and she offered a pat down. Once I went through the metal detector to the search area, my box with all my plants was also there. TSA officer searched me, then asked me to take the plants out of the box. He didn't unwrap them, but gently squeezed them individually, and looked inside the roots of the miracle fruit and a curry plant. He was very polite, but very slow. At this point we are getting sort of late, and my wife is getting nervous. Next, there is another USDA station right at the gate. Thank God there was the same lady there that inspected me at the first USDA station. She just nodded and smiled, and said "go ahead". At this point we were almost the last people to board the plane. They were about to shut the gate. Bottom line. It's possible, but arrive well ahead of your departure. TSA was respectful and pretty much doing their job. They had the new scanners and the new software that doesn't show the naked body, just a cartoon version. Everyone can see it. Myself, not going through any X-rays. I am a cancer researcher, so know exactly what it does to you. Tony.

i dont think you can do it.. w/o harming the tree.. basically removing all of its root in the top 5 inches of soil.. that close to the trunk ... how about you go up 5 inches ... and retain the patio ... still not a perfect solution as far as the tree is concerned ... but better than undermining a huge plant ... which is presumably right next to the house ... what if its a negative.. where will that tree fall???? and in what decade thereafter ... i presume the deed is done ... ken ps: and i am not really worried about any root smaller than one inch or so .. i am pondering the monster roots.. the main support system upon which the tree relies for stability .. which odds are.. will be right in the middle of the patio area .. i wouldnt go cutting a lot of those ...

I'm not even trying to get rid of the poison ivy. That is very labor intensive, and it's my parent's place...I'm not down there enough. I'm trying to get close enough to the tree to remove the English Ivy. I realize it wil grow back, but I figure it will take a few years for it to really hurt a tree this size, so if I cut it down once a year I'll be good. This particular patch of poison ivy is a moat keeping me away from the tree. Ideally I'd also like to clear away the poison ivy within 50 feet of the house. I don't really want to cut the poison ivy, and I'm not touching it. No one commented on the idea of throwing a tarp on the poison ivy to kill this patch and create a bridge I could walk across to get to the tree. Ken, the mustard idea is a good one. I understand mustard gas is pretty poisonous, so I'm looking on Craigslist.

see link for a discussion about planting in clay .. to be very clear ... there is NOTHING WRONG WITH CLAY ... i am sure.. if you look around you ... you will see all kinds of plants and trees... that were self planted that have thrived for a very long time ... the most important thing with TRANSPLANTS .. is water management .... if you dig a hole.. in clay that does not drain fast enough ... you are digging a big pot.. that holds water ... roots need air.. as much as water .... to thrive ... and it should be apparent that if you rot the roots off.. you lose ... do understand ... that 99% of clay is VERY GOOD stuff to grow in ... its all about giving a NEW TRANSPLANT ... allowing it time to put its own roots into that clay ... one way to look at it is ... i am sure you have seen ball and burlap plants being offered ... they HAVE TO GROW SUCH IN CLAY ... else they could not dig the ball and burlap it .... so ... very simply ... by planting high ... you are allowing the TRANSPLANT to survive with both water and air to its roots... while it copes with.. and adjusts ITSELF ... to the clay .... i would NOT dig a huge hole ... as the above should explain why ..... and you might be surprised how little root.. comes on your new mail order trees .... ken Here is a link that might be useful: link