hi guys, sorry to bump this tread, but a couple follow-up questions... I am considering following the suggestion above, and applying a copper spray soon (autumn time) to hopefully prevent any ailments next spring.. as I mentioned before I am planning to transplant a couple citrus trees (a Meyer Lemon and a Bearss Lime) to the same general area as the peach tree.. Will spraying the peach tree with copper cause any problems for the nearby (young) citrus trees? I could always cover the citrus to protect the trees/foliage from the spray, but what about the copper being in the surrounding soil..? I also have an (adolescent-age?) loquat tree in very close proximity to the peach tree... any potential harm there, from the copper spraying? And finally, I was also planning to plant some garlic bulbs under the peach tree, but again.. is this a bad idea if I plant to spray with copper? hoping to get the citrus transplanted and the garlic planted in the next week or two... probably wont do copper spray until next month... does this seem like a poor idea? thanks for any advice.. :)

Kimberly, A BIG part of your problem is your plant choices. Gardening in the deep south, and that's where you are, is dramatically different than up north. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but live and learn. :) Here goes: petunias: These are strictly mid to late spring bloomers in our heat. Once your daytime temps begin to hit in the low nineties, they quickly go to seed and die. There is nothing I know of that will prevent this if your plants are in full sun, which they need. delphiniums: Delphiniums will probably never again look as good as the day you buy them in the south. They are persnickety up north. They are virtually impossible in the deep south (with, perhaps the exception of a fully dedicated expert type). It's one of my pet peeves that all the big box stores sell them. This is what gives people the idea they have a brown thumb. snapdragons: These are planted in the fall with pansies. Some types will bloom through the winter, but for the most part they make their big show in mid spring and then, when the heat comes in, you guessed it. They're done. Hosta: Some hostas will do well in the south IF you provide an area with very dappled shade ALL day long, where they don't have to compete with tree roots, and where they stay evenly moist all the time. (They like an annual top dressing of manure too.) The older tried and true varieties are the best for us. Zinnias: You have learned that these are one of our best summer blooming annuals. Depending on how big a variety you chose, I betcha the roots are bumping into that landscaping paper. Next year, when you start over, begin by pulling out that stuff. It will cause alot more problems than it solves and won't stop the worst of our weeds anyway. I have seen nut grass pop through it like it's paper. Blazing stars are prairie plants. I have tried, and killed them numerous times. I think they don't like our clay since it holds moisture too long. That's my guess. I have killed them the requisite 3 times. I am done with them. Iris: I assume you refer to bearded irises, though I have never seen them in flats...If you bought rhizomes in bags and planted them, you should have planted them so that the top half of that potato like root is above ground. It likes to bake in the hot sun. Irises like deep (at least a foot), loose, rich soil with not too much moisture. This means clay must be well amended. Never pile mulch on their roots. They can take two or three years to come into their full glory when they are started from a packaged rhizome. Again, get rid of that cloth. As they get larger, they will want the root space. Impatiens: I know these can be grown in the south, but they are not easy to grow in the south. They need similar conditions to hostas, which I described. It sounds to me like you did a pretty good job of preparing your soil. I, too, recommend that you get rid of the landscape cloth in the fall. One question: Did you lay the landscape cloth over your ground as it was, and then pile soil on top of that? If so, it would be a good idea to plunge your spade deeply into it (after the cloth is gone) and at least loosen it so that roots can gradually work down into it. Then put several inches of chopped leaves over the top of your beds (though not around the irses). Over the winter read a good book on gardening in the south. Every southern gardener needs a copy of the Southern Living Garden Book. If IT says you can grow something in your area, you can. And if it says you can't, you're wasting your time. Don't give up! You've made a great start! Just tweak your plan a bit and try again!

Strangly the owners have ALL the ceilings,doors AND baseboards painted the same color as the walls. I guess her mother-in-law who is a decorator advised her to do this saying that since the moldings and baseboards were not the wide modern type, painting it all the same color would not draw attention to it. I think we would paint the ceilings white to brighten up the place. The house does show well and the paint is not my choice but I could live with it. Went to see it again today and it is not a "double oven" but a single oven with a microwave on the top. We will seriously have NO money to do anything other then replace what is currently ther (fridge, cooktop, oven and micro) so there is no way I can move the footprint at all. We love the house so I will have to live with the rest of the kitchen for a while if we get it.

I was thinking about this thread as I was doing some reading in various places about humus. Even wikipedia puts it this way about stable humus: " this is organic matter that has been protected from decomposition by microbial or enzyme action because it is hidden (occluded) inside small aggregates of soil particles or tightly attached (sorbed or complexed) to clays. Most humus that is not protected in this way is decomposed within ten years and can be regarded as less stable or more labile." It also refers specifically to lignin being one of the main precursors to humus, and that black carbon (e.g. biochar) also seems to contribute a lot to stability. Interesting the way that OM gets attached to clays. I don't know if this is actionable information or what it tells us exactly about what to do in this case; but I'd be tempted to place an emphasis on woody/pulpy inputs (or composts from them) in adding organic material, or at least plant material (stems? corn cobs/stalks? etc) or paper/cardboards that have fair amounts of lignin and get some charcoal/biochar in there too. Just speculating somewhat, but hopefully logically. This will have implications for nitrogen and other nutrient availability - i.e. it might make growing some types of plants or getting good yields harder, at least in short term - but might have benefits in getting there to more stable soil in long term. FWIW.