Thank you, all, for your “real world” explanations—this really helps! Whichever it is, my rose is a super-tough plant; about a month ago, my DH & I were cleaning up the garden and I told him we were trimming the rose, and taking out the hydrangea. Well he reversed it, and, yes he did, remove my real or fake MS two-years-in-the-ground rose. !! I came around the corner, and it was lying on the mulch, rootball completely hacked and naked. After much marital debate, I decided to be an optimist and take advantage of this event to move her to a spot where she could stretch out more. (These first few roses I put in a little too tight.) Only 4 weeks later, and she’s back to blooming again! I’ll pay attention to this next bloom and do some comparison. (I’m thinking I should nip the rest of them, so she can work on rebuilding her root mass?) During the transplanting I was painfully aware of her wickedly hooked thorns. She’s still young, but her canes are very flexible. She’s now on a 10’ stretch of chain link fence, which I’m hoping she’ll camouflage. Jackie, yours is so gorgeous, it makes me really glad she survived and really glad I moved her. :-)

We have a space in our deck where there used to be a hot tub that we would like to convert into a sunken gas fire pit, very similar to the one pictured here. I'm looking for advice on material and process for building the "benches" (aka the edges / rim surround). Currently the square "pit" is surrounded by existing wood deck (essentially as pictured). My notion is to build the seating and bench backs "on top of" the deck platform. We like the idea of a wood look rather than concrete or stone, but we want to avoid fire hazards, rot, and mildew around the seating area. So I'm investigating faux-wood composite planks, or even tile. But should we not install that "on top of" existing wood deck? What material and/or underlayment would help us build in long-lasting seats while avoiding rot and mildew? The rest of the deck is quite large, so rebuilding the whole thing out of composite is something we're hoping to avoid.

"Joseph, the majority of people put faux topiaries next to the front door." That's a pretty broad statement and one that I'd have to say has little to support it!! I don't know of anyone that puts faux topiaries by their front door! And if they did, there are natural, living ones that could work well, even in almost complete shade. It is going to come down to a personal choice.....you can either tolerate fake plants or you can't. If you care nothing about nature and gardening and do not want to be bothered tending to living plants and just want them to provide a decoration, go for it. But not my cup of tea and also not the cup of tea for many others. In all honesty, I'd have to say I don't care for topiaries even if alive. An unnatural and torturous way to treat plants.

Rachel..so glad I could help it really is a lovely entry! If shopping online google Long bowl or vessel for decor…you also google succulent Long centerpiece…also if you have a nice local floral shop or nursery they could design one for you..real succulents don’t need much easy to take care if but the faux succulents are very nice too!