This does make for some interesting reading and I wonder how far away we are from realizing tree planting is just one arrow in the quiver of going green and might not be the one with the most lasting benefit. I sense shade and shadow issues would come into play more in new housing or commercial development where alternate energy systems are installed from the get go as opposed to random conversions. Homeowners who want to landscape and landscapers who want to design will have to take this into serious consideration sometime - but it won't happen until our collective energy consumptive backs are against a wall. You may have a private nuisance action against your neighbor if a tree or offending shade producing structure constitutes a substantial and unreasonable interference. Regarding the Preservation of Solar Access - in Connecticut, it appears that the homeowner could enter into agreements with his or her neighbors to obtain an easement to preserve solar access for the system. If the neighbor violated the easement, for example by enlarging the size of his building or allowing vegetation to grow to block sunlight from reaching the system, the homeowner could seek relief from the courts. In addition, the homeowner may have some protection under zoning law. Standard provisions of municipal zoning ordinances, such as limits on the height of buildings, can limit the ability of the owner of an adjoining property from modifying his property in a way that blocks sunlight from reaching the solar system. In Common Law, under the English doctrine of "ancient lights" if a landowner and his ancestors had received sunlight across an adjoining property for a specified period of time, the landowner was entitled to continue to receive this benefit. He could prevent his neighbor from obstructing his access to light. Under these circumstances, the landowner was said to have an easement by prescription to "light and air" over his neighbor's property.

OK, I stand corrected. I didn't think oak root rot was a big issue anywhere in the northeast and it is, at least in north Mich. In my area it is apparently not a big problem as when I went Cornell's on-line info source the only thing they offered was about CA peach growing put together by UC Davis. I believe Cornell would have had their own sheet on the disease if it was a big deal here. Of course I Could be wrong. The fact that I've planted a lot of healthy orchards in recently cleared forest in NY in the last 20 years doesn't prove anything, except of course, to me. I'll worry about this disease when it affects me personally. On this forum, it has been only west coast growers who've complained about this disease since I've been participating- for whatever that's worth. On the bright side, this mild controversty fueled partially by my ignorant assertion has helped inspire some useful research. However, if I was going to plant an orchard on a site I was concerned about, I'd go straight to my local cooperative agent or contact the major agricultural U. in the state. The info you've gotten so far is only useful by suggesting further research might be a good idea. Me, I'd plant the trees anyway, even if it was risky, and see what happens. Here's part of the page I found. As I said, it was posted by UC Davis in CA as a service to CA growers. Most of the info I saw in my quick search was about growing fruit in warmer areas, which is what you are hoping to do. COMMENTS ON THE DISEASE The fungus survives on dead roots. MANAGEMENT Avoid planting peach orchards where forest or oak woodland has recently been cleared or where there is a history of Armillaria root rot. All rootstocks can be attacked by Armillaria mellea but some are less affected than others. Maintain the vigor of the trees to help resist Armillaria attack. Infested sites can be fumigated, but often this procedure will not prevent recurrence of the disease. Physical barriers to contain infection centers have been used successfully in orchards. Four-foot trenches are dug around the infection center and plastic tarp is laid inside the trench wall from bottom to top before the soil is replaced. The tarp prevents healthy roots from coming in contact with diseased ones, thus preventing spread of the disease.

Marty, On a subject, I had no chance to grow neither one of them....always want...never did. However, if I'd be debating between these two, my explorer's side would chose GS, pragmatic's side would definitely think A... and my collector's side would say BOTH :-)) Re: size of LG magnolia. If you'd keep it as a multistemed shrub, after 10 years you should expect it to be in a range of 12-15' or 15-20' if you want to grow it as a 1-2 trunked tree. Deers excluded:) Re: "George may have moved and sold his place so I'll have to count on my own for any babies..." Not so fast, not so fast:)) House is on a market....some plants already found new home at my son's property in Trumbull....some plants are not transplantable, but if you or anyone is interested to take cuttings from my hydrangea collection you are welcome. Now is the time! If you need anything in particular from my garden, don't hesitate to let me know and I'll see what could be done.

The previous photo showed a plant with leaves becoming dry but green. Here's photo of another plant in another box, where leaves become yellow first, than dry. In Earth Box container I used a mix which came with it. On Grow Box I actually used Garden Soil... and yes, it's bad and very dense. It was a mistake. BTW, is it OK to use Garden Soil when raising tomatoes in open ground (raised bad) rather than in containers? A plant with leaves which become dry while still green is sitting in a good container mix which came with Earth Box. A plant with yellow leaves is sitting in a Grow Box with a bad Garden Soil. After this initial post I found a superb link http://therustedgarden.blogspot.com/, and there is corresponding YouTube and Google+ Community. http://www.youtube.com/user/pilarchik?feature=watch https://plus.google.com/102039697130227303805/posts https://plus.google.com/communities/114956817444053979636 From reading this I already understood I failed to do proper pruning / removing "suckers". Here is a link that might be useful: Great YouTube resource