Thank you for the reply, Ken. I will try to answer your questions succinctly below. * The power wire goes from the house to a receptacle that is visible at the base of the tree. It was there when I moved in three years ago. *There is no landscape fabric, that is a small piece of screen that was around only the trunk of the tree when I moved in. I figured it served purpose so I left it. *By 'inherited' I mean the tree was on the property, I did not plant it. I have not moved the tree, it's roots extend very far to the base of the hill. * I have a lawn service that has been treating the lawn for three years, but I am not aware of their chemical use/makeup etc. *I placed the rocks around the base of the tree to protect it from my string trimmer. There is no fabric. *I did place the mulch, in June this year, which measures 2 inches deep and about 20 inches across, to try to keep moisture around the tree. I realize this may have been a mistake so I removed the mulch today and found the soil below the mulch to be slightly damp. I looked up 'mulch volcano' and while I do not feel I am approaching that degree, I certainly concede that I may have improperly mulched the tree. I am an amateur as I mentioned in my OP. Thanks for the reply. *Edited for type-o and clarity. This post was edited by RedwoodJustin on Wed, Aug 20, 14 at 13:13

Donna....I know you don't like to kill anything, but I can't get this image out of my head. I got stung by a yellow jacket once and it hurt for days, like a red-hot poker!! I went on line, and it looks like these predators attack and kill honey bees... "Yellow Jackets are one of the most common pests, they feed on bees, larva, brood, honey bee bread and pretty much anything they can take advantage of in the hive." I have to be careful that they don't set up housekeeping in my compost bin....but they aren't welcome anywhere in my yard!! I found a kind of humorous, yet serious blog about the battle between bee keepers and yellow jackets! Here's the description of each: Bees are softly furred, industrious, communal workers who look after one another and build colonies that last years upon years. Bees collect nectar and pollen from flowers and store it away to eat and to feed to their young during the long winter months. Bees will sting in self-defense, but, because they leave their stinger behind, they die when they sting and are thus careful about their use of their terrible weapon. Yellowjackets are nasty, mean-spirited wasps who build their nests from wood-pulp, not wax. Each colony starts the year anew from a single queen, with no sense of contact or history of their previous generations. They eat bugs and other meat that they can lay their greedy little mandibles on, hovering around garbage cans and other foul refuse. They can sting again and again, and do so with malice and relish. The site is different from the link. The blog is: http://www.hive-mind.com/2005/09/yellowjacket-vs-bee-super-smackdown.html K Here is a link that might be useful: Bee informed

The flushing may convince the ants to relocate as they don't like a wet environment. Boraxo (Boric Acid) will kill ants but it must be missed with something with sugar in it to get them to eat it. Ant tend to avoid just Borax(o). Things like soda, apple juice, etc are easy ways unless you want a powder or paste, just make sure it has sugar. To avoid contaminating the soil the "ant bait" should be put in a small container that only ants can enter. Things like empty pill bottles with 2-3 small holes drilled in it works great for this. Be sure to label it "Ant Bait". Just be sure when you make the bait it doesn't contain so much borax that it kills the ants before they get back to the nest. I have used 5TSP Borax in 1L of soda with good success. Adjust to suit your needs.

Thanks, Toronado. I may or may not. I haven't decided. I really wanted a Crape Myrtle tree but that's apparently not going to happen. I've already prepared the areas around the house for the plants and Shrubs I've ordered. There really isn't anywhere I could put a Crape Myrtle shrub. I do have one spot appx. twelve feet long by six feet wide that is currently occupied by what looks to me to be a Weeping White Mulberry tree. Some idiot planted this weeping tree three feet from the garage foundation and two feet away from a sidewalk. The tree roots cracked and heaved the sidewalk last year but haven't yet affected the garage foundation. The top of the tree is brushing against the roof, which is nine feet above ground level. I'm going to remove the sidewalk, the small concrete patio and the weeping tree next year. I'm going to have a friend bring his trackhoe onto the property and dig down deep enough with the bucket to remove the weeping tree with the hopes of saving it and replanting it elsewhere. I'm fairly certain that he can remove it in such a manner that the majority of the root structure will remain intact. You can see the weeping tree in the photo included with this post. This is the south side of the house. All the other shrubs and trees you see in the photo were removed last year and the beds are bare. This photo was taken in the late afternoon and as you can see that particular area, the east side of the garage, does not get afternoon sun. It gets about four hours of morning sun. For this reason I don't think Crape Myrtles would do very well there as they wouldn't get enough sun. It's my understanding that Crape Myrtle shrubbery also needs to be planted farther away from structures. I suppose for this area I'll have to plant some shade loving shrubbery. I would want shrubbery that either flowers, has berries or has colorful leaves, leaves that either do or do not change with the seasons. Although I know that it would probably make a landscape architect cringe, I don't particularly care for needle leaf shrubbery, for contrast reasons or otherwise, although I have some on the north side of the house that will remain. The area you see that is still getting afternoon sun is where the Azaleas will be planted. This bed for the Azaleas doesn't get full sun all day, as you may think by looking at the photo. As the sun tracks over the house this area gets about six hours of morning/early afternoon sunlight and about four hours of sunlight that is broken up by some fairly large Oak trees on my property and the property of the neighbor to the east of me, trees that you can't see in this photo. I suppose this is called dappled sunlight. I would appreciate any suggestions for what would do well in this afternoon shaded area, the area from the weeping tree to the garage man door. I have no intention of building a deck in the future so that doesn't enter into the equation. As I mentioned, the small concrete patio will be removed.