No problem CD! I actually work for TVI, but at a different campus than the Main, so I am not at that Main Campus all too often. However, I was there yesterday for a meeting, and when I walked out of the building into the courtyard area, I was pleasantly surprised to see such liberal utilization of palms for a small piece of landscaping! To find the building, here are some admittedly very rough, rough general directions. If you are heading east on Coal, youd have the Jeannette Stromberg building on your right south side. JS has an elevated walkway that takes folks from the JS building, over coal, to the other side of Coal the north side of Coal where there are several other TVI buildings. Such buildings over there are the A building, the M building, the N building, etc. The building you want is the N Building (North Building), and the eight mid-sized palms are planted in a long row on a long outside wall of the N Building. It is a wall that is somewhat to a corner on one side of it a connecting corner between the N and the M Buildings. You find that N Building, and it will be very easy to find. I think youve got the right plan with leaving your palms outdoors now. Great to hear they are doing well! As for how mine are doing, I have got a total of four who are approximately 2 or 3 years old, have been in the ground at my house for a little over a year each a very small T. Fortunei (north-west facing exposure, no wall protection in front yard), one mid-sized T. Fortunei (north-west facing exposure, no wall protection in front yard), another mid-sized T. Fortunei (west-facing exposure, wood fence on east side for some protection in back yard) and one mid-sized Washingtonia Robusta (west-facing exposure, wood fence on east side for some protection in back yard). They are all doing great! The one doing the best (somewhat surprising to me) for early spring is one of my mid-sized T.Fortuneis (the one with north-west exposure and no wall), which already has sprouted two new large, mature bright green fronds, with 2 more coming up and is getting taller. Really, the next-best right now is (again, possibly even more surprising this early in the year) is my Washington Robusta, whose trunk is slowly thickening, getting taller, and has shot up already a large, mature bright green frond Robustas, while far quicker to burn off fronds in late autumn and much more sensitive to cold - once they get growing in the spring, they sure are quick growers! The two lagging a bit behind are the other two T. Fortuneis. One, still be very, very small, I believe it doing well, but I think due to its small size, will take it later into March, early April, before it really starts hammering out new fronds. The other T. Fortunei (my mid-sized one that is more protected) is growing new fronds, but much more slowly. I almost thing it has too many dead fronds on it, (it really produced tons last year because it grew so well) and that is slowing the reproduction of the new ones now. I think I will thus cut off a number of the dead ones soon, however, I have read that keeping the dead ones on until the last freeze is a good idea for additional protection for the new production. Sorry for the bookas you can tell, I am rather a geek for these trees, especially at this time of year! But all four trees are growing and doing quite well, and I have three more Washingtonia Filiferas to plant (that you kindly directed me to) once we get to the end of March that are still in their pots. Sorry for the length of thisI tend to ramble on with talk of my palms, and it is really exciting at this time of the year when you see a tree like a Mexican Fan shooting up new green fronds. I also have a mid-sized large peach tree that got into full blossom/bloom, and I think I successfully protected it through the unusually cold weekend to where most of the blooms didnt freeze offlooking for many peaches in summer! Let me know how you liked the TVI palms!

Sorry, I got long winded. One can buy bags of gravel at Wal-Mart, Lowe' etc. I think they call it decorative gravel. But don't you dare put any in a flower bed. You will regret it for ever. There is so much here that I suspect they parked a boat or RV in the back side yard. Until a couple days ago I thought it was just around the house and deck. I hired a young man to dig a hole to plant a mtn laurel and the gravel is 2 to 3 inches deep and 3 ft from the fence.

Yes, I understand that the immediate intention for the play area is not to install a play set. But it's coming eventually and do you want the planting scheme to do dual duty by working now and also be ready for the future without any major alterations? Or do you want to subject yourself to the possibility of making a lot of changes when a play set is installed? A year is NOT a long time. As the play area develops, it is divided from the planting area with a bed line. The bed line is something to be figured out now, on the plan (as information about the play set/area becomes known.) The bed line divides places where people could possibly walk ("floors": lawn, low groundcover, mulch-only) from places where they couldn't ("walls" & "furniture": shrubs, perennials and tall groundcovers.) Trees ("ceilings") could be located in either areas Another possibility with the pitts is to cut them down and do a total rejuvenation -- where you control/shape their re-growth (which will happen very quickly since they already have developed root systems) -- and trim them so as NOT to reach way out into the yard. Let them grow as a much narrower hedge which is later trimmed into tree forms and reaches and screens above the fence. Based on some of the prior discussion, I'm going to speculate that one potential problem that could come up is not devoting enough depth to the planting beds (that are likely to surround most of the yard.) In general terms, this bed(s) ought to be allowed 6' depth as an average minimum. There are usually instances where it can easily be deeper, and possibly some instances where it can be shrunk to 4' when sacrifices must be made. Plants require space and trying to maintain a bed that is too skinny/shallow is not only difficult & more demanding of maintenance, but it doesn't look very good either. That's something to be mindful of.

Sheesh!! Read the damn guarantee details: Stark Brothers: "If for any reason you are not completely satisfied with your purchase, let us know within a year of delivery and we will send you a free one-time replacement or refund your full purchase price." And even more limiting, Fedco: "Occasionally, plants incur damage during shipping. If limbs or tops are broken, prune to the next good bud. The plant will do fine. We guarantee to ship you a plant that is healthy, will leaf out, and is true to name. We expect that you will care for the plant from the moment it arrives, plant it in a timely fashion, water it (about 1" per week after bud swell) and protect it. Because we have no control over growing conditions such as weather, SOIL, cultural practices, pests, wildlife, or weed whackers, we cannot guarantee a plant’s survival past leaf break. If you see no sign of life, scratch the outer bark with your fingernail. If the inner bark is green, the tree is still alive. Some plants take longer than others to break dormancy, so you may need to be patient. If you have thoroughly cared for the plant and it dies, we will refund the cost of the plant. In some cases, we may choose to issue a partial refund. We cannot offer replacements. Inevitably, some plants die through no fault of yours or ours. If a plant dies during the first growing season, don’t hesitate to contact us. We will work with you to determine what went wrong. We are partners in the endeavor of filling the planet with plants and we want you to succeed. Claims must be made no later than July 31st of the year the plant was received." None of these have a guarantee policy that extends beyond the first year. And issues with amended planting holes do not necessarily - in fact, seldom - show up in the first growing season. It takes time - several years - for a tree to establish and develop a proper root system and any encumbrances to this development - like a heavily amended planting hole - will also not become apparent immediately. Except perhaps with root rots from an amended clay planting hole. Those can be quite rapid to manifest. But not at all the vendor or nursery's responsibility.