Spataro51- If your pool is anything like mine, you even get an added bonus of in-ground warmth for your tree. My garden area where the trachy is, at the SW corner of the pool, is at the deep end. We drain down less than 2 feet of water in the fall, just under the jets/skimmers so the plugs can go in. My deep end is 9 feet deep, and it does not freeze solid in winter. The dark green mesh cover pulls in heat too, and there is open water under a thin layer of ice. The tree is literally feet from the pool, the patio and it's close proximity to the pool keep the ground from freezing deep. The roots of the tree are literally less than 5 feet from unfrozen water at all times, and that distance is covered by thick concrete. It is definitely favorable for the roots... Check out that seller I mentioned in my post in response to Jay. I bet you would still get a sweet tree for her $165 ones, $230 delivered. She says they are 2.5+ feet of thick trunk, and over 5 feet tall. Mature enough to flower. I have $257.50 into my tree, delivered. Definitely research musa basjoos also, they will make a pool area look spectacular! Jay- I think we have established that Collector Palms's trachys are indeed "leggy and stretched". My 5+ footer from him has the same trunk as my 4-footer from another nursery. he must grow them in shade, so they are "stretching" for light, so he can claim high numbers in height when selling. I don't think I would buy another trachy from him, especially after reading some other posts here on Garden Web. It seems others have got the same issue. Luckily I paid a little under $100 delivered for that tree, which I suppose is about worth it. If I had paid for that as a 15-gal, and a higher price, I would be bummed. That needle he sent me more than makes up for it. I can't find one even close to the size, age, maturity, anywhere online for under $200 delivered even. That was indeed a lucky score. C-Palms does sell some sweet Yuccas though. Very spendy, but tempting...

One pro for doing it now will be testing the SWG and making certain it works properly before closing the pool. The only con I see is wasting some salt when you drain some of the water for winterizing. Salt is not that expensive so that's not a major issue.

Outdoor dreams??? Well, let's start with the 200,000 dollar + dream backyard/oasis. In ground pool, diving rock, grotto, lazy river, hot tub, etc with the beautifully landscaped yard surrounding it with raised gardens, accent lighting and the gardener/pool boy to maintain it all. More realistic (not NECESSARILY requiring a huge lottery win) would be replacing the chain link fence with a privacy fence for the backyard (8,000-10,0000) and finish having the driveway poured. Our current driveway is mostly gravel with only a small portion of it concrete. We sit on a corner lot and our property is higher than the roads. Our driveway curves from one road to the other, I.e. very long, and expensive to pour. Since our driveway is uphill from all directions, during the winter there are times we can't get up our driveway. Once we reach the concrete, we have the traction to reach the house. The issue is literally timing and gunning the engine at the entrance to the driveway at just the right moment in order to make it from the road to the concrete. I'm hoping that in the next year or two that we can at least finish the concrete to the road on the garage side entrance so we don't have to leave our vehicles in the snow drift on the road and hike to the house. Did I mention that my new stove and fridge are coming on Friday? I will post a picture when they arrive. I'm so excited to finally have new appliances (a first for me) AND they are what I wanted and picked out!!

lol...I vote for the kitty, if you can get it to cooperate. Seriously, if the temps do fall that low, I would definitely cover. It doesn't matter so much what you use, but whatever it is can NOT touch the rose at any point. It will freeze anywhere it touches the cover. And the larger an area you can cover with one cover will create a larger dead airspace, therefore more insulation. If you have single roses spaced far apart, cardboard boxes (with a some weight placed on top) work really well. If you have a LOT of far-spaced baby roses, then use blankets, sheets, whatever. Remember, don't let the cover touch the rose. I use short stakes, just taller than the rose, in a triangle or square, then place the cover over the stakes. If it's windy (like it usually is here when the temps change that drastically), you'll have to weight the corners of any fabric cover. You CAN use plastic, the important thing is dead air space. But it's even more important to not let the roses touch plastic. The year we got the Easter Freeze (low of 14F and under 25F for 48 hours!) I used blankets under plastic over a huge perennial bed. But WOW at the work involved. I wouldn't be able to do it now.