I was thinking more about Isabellas comment that the garden looked plain on the drawing and it dawned on me that she probably meant that there didnt appear to be anything on the drawing other than perhaps perennials in the beds. There are two reasons for that. The simple answer is that if I attempted to draw all the pretty symbols for trees and shrubs a la Booth and Hiss, all Im likely to produce is a confused mess! But the more important answer, from my perspective, is that when I look at my (and others) garden, I mentally edit out all but the patterns on the ground to decide whether the garden appeals to me or not. By patterns on the ground I mean the shape of the beds, the lawn, the paths, patios etc. If the shape doesnt feel right to me then the plantings, no matter how nice they are, wont totally take away the feeling that the garden needs to be changed somehow. What Ive shown in the drawing of my woodland area is the patterns on the ground as they are now with the proposed/possible changes. The tree and shrub layers have been edited out, other than an indication of where some of the tree trunks are. Im largely satisfied with the plantings I have in the woodland (although changes and additions are made on an on-going basis) but Im not satisfied with the overall pattern. That is what Im wrestling with changing come spring. The Booth and Hiss book is interesting but I find Im doing the same thing when I look at the drawings in it particularly with the masterplan drawings. I find them very busy and have to mentally edit out all the plant symbols and just look at the patterns on the ground before I can conclude whether I like the plan or not. I suspect that, since I have previously stated my strong liking for flowers and colors, I am perhaps viewed as having little interest in real design issues. Certainly I feel that painting the patterns with plants (particularly flowering ones!) is very important to add color, vibrancy and emotion to bring the garden to life. Plus its lots of fun to play with color and plant combinations! But a very important part of what I have been doing over the past 8 years as weve been developing the garden is trying to get the patterns on the ground to look and feel right. Getting the woodland patterns fixed is top of my to do list for 2008 And just to show that there are trees in the woodland :-) here are two of my favorites: The oak tree as viewed from the living room window in mid-November: (The sun was so bright that day that I had to adjust the color a bit or the LR would just appear black the shed is gray, not blue) The white redbud in late May (its bigger now this picture is 2006 as I didnt take a picture in 2007 You can see a bit of the old shed in this picture - it did blend more inconspicuously with the trees but was otherwise decrepit, ugly and impractical and had to go!) I just realized in my previous post with the sightlines on it... I usually look at the drawing the opposite way around - so I really meant that it looks like the shed should be shifted a few feet to the north - left - in that view, not right....

Katrina: You can find my posts about the fungicide by typing in the search box "liquid copper fungicide." But sometimes this can be difficult because only the overall topic that the posts are in comes up and you have to scroll through to find the posts about the topic you are searching. My posts are easier than some to find because I always end with "--Spruce." Anyway, I am more than happy to post again--this liquid copper fungicide treatment I recommend meets with a lot of skepticism, which in unfortunate, because I have been using it for more than 20 years now and it really, really works. I hate to see rot enter trees through wounds and large pruning cuts when it can easily be prevented. Anyway, enough of the sermon (for now!). Without a picture I am relying on your description of the cut at the top of this tree where you hope the new leader will take over. There should not be any stub that is more than an inch or so above where the new leader starts out. If there is, it should be cut back some. But an inch or so should be left above where the new leader starts to "stabilize" it--you don't want the new leader to be growing right at the rim of the main cut. If that happens it will be weak and liable to break. Also, the cut should be sloping away from the new leader somewhat. Maybe a 25 or 30 degree slope is enough--just what is best depends on the form of the new leader and the trunk where the cut has been made. If the slope is too much you create a larger wound unnecessarily. This slope of the cut serves two purposes--first it helps the water drain off, but perhaps more important it will allow the callus growth joining the new leader with the old main trunk to be stronger. OK, now you are ready for the fungicide. There were two brands I used over the years--the first, and the one I used the most, by Dragon, may no longer be available. The other I used was by Bonide. These were very similar with the exception that the Bonide brand had some kind of resin-like component that made the fungicide harder to use in a sprayer--the nozzle could become gummed up. But that is a minor problem and only a problem if you used a lot of it, which I did--at one time treating about 60 trees per year. And I did not always clean the sprayer after each days use. But now I use a paint brush except in rare cases when I canÂt reach the spot I need to treat. I use the brush now because it is easier to control the amount applied. These liquid copper fungicides may be a little hard to find in a garden center unless at really good ones with a broad range of products. You can also buy it on-line. I am not sure that any one brand is better than any other, but be sure it is "liquid copper fungicide." That will be the product name. You may find other fungicidal products that have copper in them, such as Bordeaux mixture, but these will probably not work. The key is the copper element has to be in a water soluble form. OK, now how should you apply it? First, you should wait about 4 to 6 months for the wood where the cut is has dried so it can absorb the fungicide. Then after a few dry days--no rain--mix the fungicide one part to maybe three parts water and then paint it on the cut. For the first application, give it a good coating like you would with paint. But give it just one coat--donÂt keep applying it as long as it soaks into the cracks in the wood--this is where there is a slight danger of doing some harm. And it is a slight danger, but if too much keeps soaking down into the trunk of the tree it can cause the inner part of the sapwood to die a little sooner than it normally would. At first I experimented with really large applications--I never killed anything with it, but I did notice some thinning of the sapwood as a result. A short time after you apply this, the blue/green color will fade and the wood will look normal. To be one the safe side, I would apply this again the next year, but this time and hereafter, apply lightly just so the surface is covered, and then a re-application maybe every other year will be enough. I have one red oak tree that I made a huge 13 inch cut on to remove a deformed semi-branch semi-second trunk, and after about 15 years now the wood on that cut is as fresh as the day I cut it. In a few more years it will be covered over with new wood and bark and I doubt any rot will be in this tree! And the tree will have a really nice shape. --Spruce

I bought the cheapest lumber I could buy and built them myself. They have held up well and people seem to like the entire-display-made-out-of-wood look... BUT, I am now thinking of changing to plastic bulb crates. My wooden boxes are about the same size and only a little heavier but they will need to be repainted every so often and eventually the wood will rot. So plastic bulb crates will give me the same carrying size but last longer, and I can stack them much higher in the truck so I can carry more plants to the market. They also cost the same. One problem I've found is that the chalk board paint idea works fine but it is hard to keep up with when I am constantly shifting plants around to make my display look full or to cluster certain plants together to make them more appealing. What people really seem to read is the small sandwich boards I made as simple stand up signs painted black. I list off all the plants and prices and prop it up on the end of the display or on top at the corner. When I shift over to plastic bulb crates I will probably figure out a way to include a wooden plank painted black to keep up the chalkboard idea. If you want to build them my suggestion would be to first measure your display tables or your transport vehicle so that you can plan out a way to fit the most boxes. I'm such a math nerd that I calculated everything including how many plants I can fit into each AND how many cuts I would have to make in an 8 foot board.

Hey Cliff: While we seem to agree that unless made sterile, the investor would never recover and see a profit due to nurseries breeding their own specimens. Where I respectfully disagree with you is the demand and ROI. Going by internet searches is not a true indication of demand-especially when it comes to something unheard of like palms living in the Northern regions. Most folks just write it off as it cannot happen so why search? Take my immediate area (Long Island, NYC, NJ & Costal CT)...we've experienced a "storm of the Century" the past 2 years in a row. Most of the damage (not counting tidal surge) was caused by down trees. As a matter of fact, we lost power for well over 3 weeks due to all the down trees. I had a crew from New Orleans in my backyard working on wires and I got to talk to them. They said the damage on Long Island was worse than Katrina-from their perspective, due to all the down trees. They busted poles, took down wires, blocked roads and damaged houses. Trust me, because of the business I'm launching, I got to talk to some politicians in Nassau County and they said that they would welcome palm trees...not just because they are beautiful to look at but because they wont cause nearly as much damage from a hurricane that our native trees cause. Also take into account the commercial value as to attract consumers...malls, car dealerships, shoping strips. Catering Halls, golf courses, beaches & Beach Clubs, Country Clubs and parks...just to name a few. The demand will be there, most people don't consider it a reality so why bother searching. Regardless, I'm launching my company in two weeks so that will be putting my money where my mouth is. :) This post was edited by Kokomo-JB on Thu, Feb 21, 13 at 13:21