Why/how are the repots of plants grown in gritty mix easier if it's likely you have to repot even more frequently than you would with a standard potting mix? Hi, M - The roots don't get intertwined with the peat fibers & the larger pieces of grit and bark fall easily off of the roots. You usually need to comb the soil out a little, or use a root pick, which is nothing more than a tool shaped like a pencil. Chopsticks work very well. I can repot most plants under 5 gallons in the gritty mix in 30-45 minutes. That includes cleaning the soil from the roots, selectively pruning the roots, preparing the pot/container, adding all new soil, securing the plant in the pot, and getting it soaking in a root stimulant. I usually use the saw (on left) to cut off the bottom 1/3-1/2 of the root mass; then use the root rake, which is next to the saw, to remove most of the soil. You can use a coarse comb or just the root pick, which is what I use to tease old soil particles out of any stubborn pockets formed by the roots. Would using an organic liquid fertilizer (versus soil amendments) eliminate the possible negative effect on 'high air porosity? It would help. You wouldn't be dealing with the soil amendments (like various meals and such) clogging up the soil's macro-pores (which was what I focused on when deciding on how to build the soil) but you still have the organic component of what you're applying for nutrients feeding and increasing populations of the soil organisms that break down the 1/3 organic component of the soil. This is not near as large a consideration, though, as it would be in a peat-based soil, or even the 5:1:1 mix. The reason is that there is still a 2/3 mineral component in the soil that remains unaffected by biotic activity and is enough to sustain porosity, even in the face of a collapsing organic component. The gritty mix is durable enough that it almost never 'wears out'. Plants generally become severely rootbound and in dire need of a full repot long before the gritty mix has seen the end of a useful life. I'm not attempting to change your ideology when I suggest you try the mix in a side-by-side comparison of non-food plantings, using a chemical soluble fertilizer like Foliage-Pro 9-3-6 on half of the plantings, with the other half supplemented with your program of choice. If your set against the idea - that's fine, but I think it would be enlightening.

This discussion of exposure is very helpful. Since I rarely get the placement right on any plant and end up moving them more than once. Maybe this will help me figure it out better this time around. I have to agree Wendy, that depending on trees and structures, locations can differ so much. The way the neighbor's trees and all our fences are situated, it has created a wind 'alley' effect down one of my borders, from West to East. I am still experimenting with what works. I could plant a taxus at one end that might cut down on wind there, but I grow perennials in that border and my veggie garden is near there and I thought the wind is probably an asset as far as keeping down the mildew diseases. I only have a few evergreens and I'm adding more, little by little. I did have someone come and prune for me in the spring and he remarked that he was surprised that my boxwood do so well. They rarely have any winter damage. I must have just got lucky because I didn't even know about winter damage when I planted them. [g] One is in the front facing East with the house behind, another is in the back against the house facing west and one is on the north side of my southern lot line, stockade fence. So maybe this would be good locations for the leucothoe? Sorry to hear about your leaf problems in zone 8, BBoy. I guess every zone has it's challenges. Ego....that sounds right to me too. Because I've read that the morning sun hitting the evergreens is what causes the problem, when they warm up and then get cold again, right? I find I have the most difficult time deciding to plant anything in my northern exposures though. It always seems so dark there, I'm afraid to put anything there. [g] And my West exposure does get sun in the afternoon. I haven't figured out yet, how much wind the plants are exposed to in those beds. They have the house behind them. I don't think I have a bed with a Northwest exposure. I'm happy to hear you aren't getting sunburn on the Pierises. I have just bought two of them in the last year and I enjoy them. One is facing East and I am planting the other facing south in the shade of a Maple. Interesting that you should mention the hydrangea bloom, ego. I read that you were supposed to plant them facing East and that is where most of them went. I have noticed that I don't get as much bloom as I thought I should. I moved one into a more Southeast location and it is blooming better and I plan on adding another one in the spring that would get a more southern exposure too.

Most iris need to be shallowly planted. German Bearded iris don't bloom well at all if you cover their roots. To plant them I just muddy the soil, lay on the roots and stamp them in. Tall water iris, either purple or yellow, need to have moist soil in the spring or they hardly bloom. Siberian Iris do fine in most any soil, but if you give them some flower fertilizer they will bloom well, you might have to divide the clump every three years to keep them blooming well.

All of our tomatoes have put on a LOT of new growth and many blooms; I harvested tomatoes yesterday from this new growth. The tomato trimmings I stuck in my flowerbeds are blooming, no tomatoes yet but have my fingers crossed. I have more trimmings in a 5 gal bucket rooting in water. That seems to work very well with less wilt when put in the soil. We may have to buy another freezer if all these tomato plants produce tomatoes and we have a late freeze! The neighbors will be happy...one neighbor said his wife wanted 8 lbs of tomatoes but our one little grocery store wanted $4/lb so he just bought 4 lbs! He was very tickled when we showed up with a bag of tomatoes for them. I have already swapped for over a dozen different varieties of tomatoes to try next year such as Big Zac, Cherokee Purple, etc. The volunteer pepper plant is a Poblano and it is covered with peppers, am currently letting a couple of them ripen so I can save seeds. These two are a brillant red, very pretty on the tall plant which is taller than me. Some are over 6 inches long and hope to make some chili rellenos while my hubby is off the next two days. Sweet Potato vines continue to snake through the beds and are blooming very pretty purple blooms. Gotta make trellis or arbors for vertical gardening next year! The Delicata Squash turned out to be Spaghetti Squash instead. Mildew has been a problem with it since I use shower nozzle on hose to water, hoping to add soaker hose or drip irrigation next year. Currently harvesting comfrey leaves for the compost pile and to make comfrey tea. Yesterday harvested 3 yellow icebox sized watermelons and should have cantaloupe any day now from a volunteer vine that came up from last year's compost pile. Am reading online to see how to harvest basil before a freeze gets it. Have two varieties this year and have swapped for seeds for 3 or 4 more for 2008 garden. We are creating an outdoor living room. Currently painting our outdoor furniture some lively colors to go with all the flowers. The area has 2 walls consisting of cannas, 3rd wall is a lantana bed; we look forward to relaxing in the shade with a cool beverage and watching the butterflies and hummingbirds nectaring and laying their eggs on host plants. Have two pots of mint by the glider, chocolate mint perfumes the air (I crave chocolate after brushing against it!) but the orange mint is disappointing. Hoping to add other varieties of mint in 2008. God Bless! Peggy