What great ideas. That croton is fantastic, tsugajunkie, Such fullness and health in the center. Most houseplants seems to lose leaves in the center. That one clearly loves whatever you're doing with it! I think I'll get two or three bougainvilleas and try them out in different spots both in and out to see what they like. I would love to get some kind of bloom on them beyond their first greenhouse blooms. If it can happen in Alaska (VERY impressive, Lindain) then surely it can happen here...eventually! Your tree planter idea is super. I have PLENTY of trees where that would work. It will be a great solution for keeping plants from cluttering the deck or draping themselves along the ground. Perfect idea! My house coolness varies, so I would do well with plants that like variation in temps. I thought cyclamen liked cooler nights, and I think I have some ideal spots for them. If the sun's out then it gets in the upper 60's in the house because of the normal and reflected light coming in the windows. Then nighttime cools down. We've had rain rain rain all week so it's been whatever the thermostat is, and I generally like it at 60-ish in winter. So, this home temp will have a good deal of variation depending on how much the sun's out. Plants that like it cooler I'm trying to keep in more westerly windows. One thing I'm more worried about is air flow. Houses are very tightly insulated up here. Winter will be a time of still air unless I introduce some artificial wind on the leaves. Don't know how much that matters, but it's something I think about. Even though I couldn't do my own gardening in the south, I do remember learning the hard way that houseplants need infrequent watering because of the humidity. Root rot found a home with me. When I moved to NH a few years ago my plants dried up and died. What a difference the dry winter air made! Now I'm used to plants needing more frequent water up here. In addition, almost all of the heating up here is oil-fueled furnace with radiant baseboard. This house has blown dry air (propane gas), which makes it even drier than most other houses here. These past rainy days have kept all the soils inside very wet, which I don't like. Our normal weather should return soon, along with some good dry days. during normal times of dry air I am misting them, especially the ivy. Well, I have some fantastic things to shoot for. Now it seems that I need to make my next priority finding more pots! Hello, HomeGoods and TJ Maxx...in May. I suppose I can wait.

Hi Tina! Your post could have been mine two summers ago when we lost a big Maple in front of our pale yellow bungalow in a historic district of Memphis. The loss of our tree was a mixed blessing. On the down side, we lost the shade to the front of our west-facing house. On the up side, where before little would grow under the tree, now the new bed is full of color from spring through frost. My problem with the new bed was tree roots close to the surface. They will eventually decompose, but the first year they were a problem, so I piled on compost, manure, topsoil, soil conditioner, etc. making a slightly raised bed and improving drainage. I had existing pink Crepe Myrtles beside our drive, and a bed in front of our picket fence on our property line filled with pink shrub and climbing roses, Lycoris squamigera (Naked Ladies) which flower in mid summer, white phlox 'David', yellow daylilies, Shasta 'Becky', Geranium 'Rozanne', Iris (both Siberian and Bearded), Stokesia, and a purple Butterfly Bush. In the new bed I planted yellow and pink Daylilies, Iris, yellow Blanket Flower, Thread-leaf Coreopsis, Chrysanthemum 'Sheffield Pink' and 'Clara Curtis', and Verbena 'Homestead Purple'. The verbena grew quickly and completely filled in the bed. The combination was so pretty, we got "Yard of the Month" last August. Both beds have daffodils that flower in the spring, and last fall I planted about a hundred pink tulips under the Crepe Myrtles, the new center bed, the side bed, and by our front door. I also interplanted annuals - pink, white, and lavender poppies, 'Star white' Zinnia, pale pink Gomphrena, and yellow Melampodium, and along the drive in the new bed - some lavender Heliotrope I grew from seed collected from an "Athens Select" plant last year. Those have flowered since July and make a lovely annual ground cover. I'm growing three ground covers successfully - Veronica 'Athens Blue', Laurentia "Blue Star Creeper", and purple Mazus reptans between stepping stones and under foundation plantings. These plantings are really low maintenance. The only things I've needed to do have been to collect seeds from the poppies and other plants and deadhead the blanket flowers and daylilies. Good luck with your new sun garden. As much as a shock I know losing your tree has been, you'll be happy come next summer.

Posted by Jackie Fox: I have a townhouse with a back yard that is shaded by taller homes and a large oak tree. During the summer months the small yard receives very little direct sun. I live in northern New Jersey. Kirk Johnson: Aren't Summers in your area hot? A splashing fountain would make it even more inviting. Ferns and foliage plants would make it seem cool and peaceful. Lisa Kuhlen: Sounds like my garden. Be prepared for very little in the way of blooming things. I have lots of lovely greens, but few blossoms. Here's our plant list: In the sunniest areas, echinacea, valerian, some herbs (like chives), self-heal (nice plant, but DON'T let it go to seed). Astilbe, great lobelia, variegated hostas. In the deeper shade, bleeding heart, golden wood poppy, green hostas, sweet woodruff, sweet violets, english ivy, ferns (cinnamon, shaggy shield, christmas, leatherwood). kathie hayden: I have full shade and I keep trying everything but what always works best is the hostas,coleus, begonias, IMPATIENS (its nice that something with bright colors works!) Astilbe works too. barbara: There's a nice book put out by Brooklyn Botanic Garden Record, "Gardening in the Shade". It contains lists of shrubs, vines, annuals, perennials, bulbs, moss, ground covers, etc. d. scott: I recommend "The Natural Shade Garden" by Ken Druse. He includes several landscaping designs for shade gardens including the one behind his N.Y.C.townhome. ruth anne: Check out 'Fine Gardening Magazine's' book called "Garden Rooms". also "Garden Design Ideas" and "Great Gardens". They have designs such as you describe that are to die for!! I think a spot such as yours would have so much potential as the oft desired "secret garden"!! Shade Garden under High Deck Posted by Mary Ellen Mulhern - 6: I live in Southeastern Pennsylvania and have a high deck off the first floor. Weeds grow under the deck so I assume plants would grow as well. It is definitely a shady area and the soil seems dry. In the fall I planted hosta around the outside perimeter. What types of plants can I grow under this deck, which is fairly large? What about ferns? Bill Hoppe (DC area Z7): If the bottom of the "header" and the joists that hold up the decking planks is at least 8 feet above the elevation of the space under the deck, and if that space is directly accessible from the basement via a regular door or a sliding glass door assembly, why not use the space for more practical purposes? I would hate to see it go to waste. You could pave part of it, surround that with plantings that tie in with the rest of your garden, and leave a 4' wide opening for a walk/path that leads out to the garden and, voila, you have a nice seating area! Dressing up the posts that hold up the deck with some lattice work against which you can grow all kinds of vines (like clematis), would add a nice touch. Sue Vanderhoff - 5: I also have a high deck. I have used lattice on the 3 sides. One piece is hinged so I can get to it. I have black plastic sheeting under it and I use it for storage,(wheelbarrow, leftover straw mulch etc.) In the summer morning glories grow on the 3 sides. Mine faces west with sides north south. I have a lilac bush on the south side, flowers on the west side and the stairway north. Gail Trimble Z7/Ga: We have a high deck also, but our plans are to put a jacuzzi underneath. Currently it has pinestraw on the ground and stores the oversize patio chairs that don't fit ON the deck!

Question 1 - I was really blown away by how deep and big the taproot is growing on these trees. It's like most of the energy is going to create this big root. It's thicker than the trunks in every case, and the roots are easily twice to sometimes 3x as long as the seedling itself. So on on of them, I cut back the taproot a little bit... I took about a half an inch. I had read Al mentioning that slowly cutting back a taproot over time can help spur the tree to grow more roots higher up. I hope I didn't take it out of context. The first day the lowest leaf of that seedling, which has started to go brown on the rim, became pale and collapsed on one side of the leaf. Then yesterday it went dry. Today there has been no further progress of the leaf's collapse and no further signs of stress. The seedling seems strong... Was I wrong to try and trim it back just a little bit? Or did I do alright? Is this seedling out of the woods for now do you think? Young plants are nearly all dynamic mass, and as such, have a very strong "will to live". If your plant is currently doing well, there is no reason it will take a turn unless something cultural forces a change in course. Bonsai practitioners have learned that lifting seedlings as soon as the first set of true leaves emerge and removing the seed radicle immediately below the root to shoot transition zone and treating the top as a cutting eliminated taproot issues entirely in most plants. In stubborn plants with a hard tendency toward vertical roots, you'll need to regularly remove all first order roots (attached to main stem) growing downward from the root to shoot transition zone as well as all second order roots growing up or down off the first order roots. Question 2 - related to question 1, regarding the other seedling I root pruned a little. This one I took a little more off of because of root rot. I know I had to take it off, and I also took off a bit of taproot for this one too. The seedling itself seems fine. The uppermost leaf - which is fairly new and thin yet - went limp the first day, but has become stronger and greener these last two days. I know I had to take off the bad roots, but I was worried I went too far. I'm hoping I'm seeing indications that I didn't? Only way to tell is by putting a waiting period behind you during which the plant retains its turgidity throughout the daylight hours. Stomata close at night and slow water loss, so unhealthy plants have opportunity to recover from low internal water pressure and wilting. No wilt during the day is a good indication to bet on full recovery. Question 3 - When I was done, I investigated the 5 'dead' seedlings. Two of them looked like some of Al's bare-root pictures. The main part of the taproot was healthy, seemed alive, and had small alive roots still growing from it. but the end of the root was truncated in mush, much of which fell off into the soil. I washed them as clean as I could in a mist spray and cut off the mushy end to clean root. Then I potted those in 5:1:1 too. I'm hoping against hope that I might be able to save them. The top id dead back to the twiggy stump... Any thoughts if they might come back? Anything special I might do for them to give them the best shot - for instance a special fertilizer or watering strategy? Withhold fertilizer until the plant recovers. DAMP or MOIST are the operative words. If the fungal infection has gummed up the plumbing such that a vascular connection between roots and shoots isn't in the offing, it's a goner. If the infection isn't systemic, the possibility of retaining viability is still on the table. What kills cuttings is the inability to make that plumbing connection due to rot, or the cutting having an inadequate energy reserve. If the plant/cutting/seedling runs out of reserve energy while it still a net user of energy instead of a net producer of energy, it's over. 4: I have 5 I have not yet repotted. They seem to be okay... though 3 aren't doing much of anything, they're just existing and may have some first sign of browning on lowest leaves, but I might be looking too hard too... One is finishing it's fall flush of leaves, and one is start starting it's fall flush... I'm not sure if I should repot them so close to winter or if I should let them be until spring, since they seem okay right now. I especially am not sure I should mess with the one putting out new leaves. But on the other hand, what if I really am seeing some warning signs and some suddenly start taking a down turn in the next week or month? Wouldn't it be better to do it early, now, rather than later? The only reason I re-potted the ones I did was because I was sure they wouldn't make it through winter... I am not sure on these ones. If they were your plants, what would you do? A dearth of mobile nutrients, over-watering, root congestion, soil compaction, can all lead to loss of lower leaves. I'll ask you to spare me from having to do the research by telling me if these plants would normally enter a predictive dormancy during the fall to winter transition? If yes, then waiot until spring but guard against over-watering. If no, repot only if you suspect strongly that the plants will no longer be viable come late spring (June). 5: Fungus gnats. =( I manage to get rid of them for a while, but they always come back. Of course, I was always using compost mixes, particularly organic ones, and they're usually lousy with them no matter how much a brand claims they pasteurize/sterilize for pests. Do non-mineral soil media mixes have the same ability to attract and support these and other soil-borne pests? If yes, which ones to watch for? If you don't already have a good understanding of what constitutes the comparative degrees of container media (as in unusable, practically unusable, just plain poor, ok, better, and the variations of better from 'sort of better' to 'really a whole lot better'), making that a priority will almost certainly propel your advancement farther/faster than anything else you might apply yourself to in the near term. If you need the info that can tie soils up into a neat little conceptualization, I'll be really glad to help, but I think trying to do it in a thread that covers so many topics isn't the best format. Are you familiar with and understand the concept discussed here? Which brings my follow-up: If it can support pests that spent part or all of their life cycle in soil, then it should be able to support their predators too, right? I prefer to combat pests with their predators, like nematodes, predatory mites, aphid lions, etc. Would this be doable if needed? How about we work toward providing a home for roots that doesn't provide creature comforts? In the immediate, mosquito dunks and a restrained hand on the watering can are potential remedies. 6: For the future of these little babies of mine, what would a good strategy be for keeping them happy growing in a container? You'll find an outline here that will provide a plan for maintaining woody material in containers and in good health indefinitely. I know I need to keep them smaller than if they were in the landscape, and that means eventually removing the taproot. I also understand that taproot removal usually starts after a year. But these trees don't actually seem to have much besides taproot... smaller roots branch off of it, and a few have some smaller roots that come from the trunk matrix but not most from what I've seen. Would the best bet be to gradually prune the tap root back over a few years in an attempt to get the trees to put out more roots higher up? Or should I go for broke and just cut it way back and defoliate? Or is it possible that the poor media I have been growing in so far as not encouraged growth at the higher and mid root range and drove the roots downwards looking for air? I'm sorry I haven't taken any pictures to share to give you a better idea. If I end up re-potting any of the others, I will take some. I think I covered these questions above, but if not, ask again. Al