You can try vinegar as a natural herbicide. Garden stores, nurseries and feed stores sell "Horticultural Vinegar" which is 20% acetic acid whereas the regular stuff you get at the grocery store is only 5%. I understand you can also purchase 9% stuff at grocery stores that is sold as "pickling" vinegar. On the other hand, I've used the cheap 5% stuff with good results. And the 5% stuff will be easier on your concrete with repeated use. The vinegar/acid burns the top foliage and eventually chokes off the weed. Some established weeds may continue to come back however. I had a previous thread here where I used the regular 5% vinegar on several different types of weeds. That link is located below: Regular Vinegar as Weed Killer (With Pics) Link You also might want to check these articles below out regarding vinegar as a herbicide: Organic Weed Controls ~ Vinegar as an Herbicide Natural Alternative to Round-Up? I hope this gives you some other ideas. -Todd

I've just bought a ground level condo that has a great patio outside and ~5x10 sunroom (2 side brick walls, 3rd wall is a glass slider into the living room, and a 4th wall that is a glass slider facing outside, 8 ft. ceiling, no ventilation in sunroom unless I leave one of the doors open). Over the summer I've accumulated two 3-4 ft avacado trees, two 1 ft avacado trees, a tomato plant, a flowering shrub type plant, and a 5-6 ft. peach tree. These have been happy out on the patio getting plenty of sun. With fall coming up, I want to bring all of these plants inside, but am worried that they won't get enough light in the sunroom, and am thinking about purchasing a grow light. From the research I've done, it seems like I definitely want to use High Pressure Sodium 1000 watt bulbs. The HPS seems like it will help the plants continue to flower and eventually hopefully grow fruit. The 1000 watt seems necessary due to the large height variety I have in my plants resulting in me not being able to get the lamp too close to the shorter ones. There seem to be quite a few different size and reflector hood types. Which is best for the plant mix I have above and area described? Next year, I would likely be adding some shorter blueberry plants as well. I would like to purchase the right light/hood combo to cover the whole area so I can fill up the whole 5x10 area in future years. Finally, it seems like some reflector hoods are air-cooled. This may be a stupid question, but since I'm only going to be using the lights during the winter months (and could crack the outside door if needed), and the sunroom should be kept naturally cool from the weather outside/losing heat through the windows, do I need to worry about getting an air-cooled reflector hood? It seems like any excess heat could also just heat the condo! Additional information is that I plan on turning the light on in the morning when I leave for work, and off when I come home in the evenings. The light would likely be on for 9 straight hours. Thanks for any advice in advance!

Most likely a red maple. (Ken dislikes all maples due to their shallow, needy roots). You could try pachysandra as it will grow in fairly adverse conditions, but IME one of the best is Vinca major which sends out long vines that set down roots at each node that touches the ground. I'd kill anything that is currently growing there and then add a layer of mulch about 1 1/2" thick. Too thin and you will have weeds; too thick and the tree will suffer. Keep it all well-watered this season so that there is enough water for both the vinca and the maple. You want to choose a shrub that will stay below the windows and as Ken said, give enough room for both the shrub at full width and a couple of feet between the bush and the building for space for the siding to dry and you to fit in to do maintenance. One of my favorites is Hydrangea paniculata, which blooms starting in July for most varieties and continues until frost here. They all start greenish to white and over the course of the season change to some shade of pink. My favorite is Quickfire, 6', with rounded, lacy white flower heads which starts here before July 4 and continues with a full shrub of flowers that end up with a cherry pink color that continues until we get a hard frost some time in October to early November. There aren't many shrubs that flower for 4 months here in the cold end of zone 5! I leave the flowers on after the leaves drop (fall foliage is a pale gold) since I like the dried blossoms in winter, and then clip them off some time in early spring before the new leaves emerge. There are some cultivars such as White Diamond that hold the white longer before transitioning to pink. There are some smaller types of ninebark (Physocarpus) with deep red-purple foliage that I think would look really nice against the gray siding. Look to see if you like the foliage color or if it's too red on Tiny Wine or Little Devil. Sorry that neither of those fits your color scheme 100% but I am assuming that your soil is not acidic, and I know both of these will do fine in your soil but are plants with good long-season interest in my garden. As I mentioned on the tree thread you posted, check out suggestions on the MOBOT plant finder. If you are within a couple of hours' drive of the St. Louis area, you might want to consider a visit to see plants in person. For perennials, check out Amsonia cultivars (I love the texture of A. hubrichtii, Arkansas bluestar) or any cultivar of Baptisia that fits your color likes. Both are spring bloomers, but the foliage looks great all season and is a bit unusual on both.

Roya, plant it now. There's no reason to wait until spring - you'd just be wasting good growing time. The ground will be warm enough for the plant to put on root growth for another 2 months at least. In fact you can plant shrubs, trees and climbers throughout the winter here. Honeysuckles are one of the earliest plants to leaf out and can be well nigh evergreen. Look also at Clematis armandii when you go to the garden centre.