I'm glad to see there are more of us who find alternatives to chemicals for producing food. Lasagna method entered my mind, as did raised beds, which I believe Marda uses. I do intensive cropping and believe me, when you dedicate so much of your square footage to vegetable plants and foliage, as opposed to a 'magic' number of feet for empty rows, the weed problems are drastically diminished. I also use mulches in my vegetable garden. Not only do they make weeding easier, since the weeds who do survive the darkness are stringy and weak and easily pulled, it conserves precious soil moisture and moderates soil temperature. Weeds and grasses in your vegetable plot become so much easier to deal with as your garden matures. If you think of it, when you pull out weeds before they get a chance to develop seed heads, then the gardens are not being 'seeded' with weeds and there is a break in the link of reproduction. I have no clue actually to how large my garden plot is now. Last year I double the size of it. I do not routinely use any power equipment in it after it is planted. I do it with a human powered cultivator and a hoe. No, I don't spend unGodly amounts of time working it, I have a business to run and a household to maintain. But, it still gives me enough vegetables to supply us, give to my family stuff they don't grow and can enough to see us through the winter. Ploughs, harrows and tillers to bring the roots to the surface will work, if you don't mind gathering them up to compost. As you work with the soil and add organic components, the soil becomes a delight. Two years ago, I could put in a plant by digging the soil out with my hands. That's how nice it was. Last year was a different story as the man who ripped it for the season did it when it was too wet, and messed up the tilth. I am not an organic fanatic. I have a pesticide applicator's permit, and will let my husband use herbicides with discretion in my ornamental beds if needed. But we drink our groundwater since it ends up in our spring and wells, no? I do not apply pesticides outside unless it's absolutely necessary and that's been twice in twenty years and it's been horticultural oils and they are ecologically soft and very effective.

Oh, I didn't know that. I do have some kind of shrub that is continually trying to pop up in flower beds, but always attributed it to my japanese honeysuckle. And NO, I didn't plant any of them - they came with the house. :-) I will prune some now and wait for fall for the rest, but how about the question on how much I can cut it back? They are supposed to be foundation plantings and I'd love to have them be nice, compact little bushes, instead of big out of control monsters.

Hostas are very hardy, and I wouldn't hesitate to move or divide them just about any time, except for dry and hot conditions. As for the Burning Bush - no need to worry about killing them - I doubt you could. They are extremely hardy. Because they are so rugged, growers and nurseries have promoted these things like crazy and they are WAY over-planted, especially in commercial properties. Frankly, the only redeeming quality I see about Burning bush is the fall color - their flowers are inconspicuous and they are boring and ugly shrubs (IMO). They are prohibited because they are invasive. Birds spread the seeds and they have naturalized in wild areas, crowding out native plants. Even after nurseries stop selling them, there are only about a million of them growing in the woods and wild areas everywhere.

So i have researched the chinese pistache tree and it is incredibly beautiful with its fall/ winter colors...So now my next question is where do you buy one?!?!?! I have been all over town to different nurseries and they all tell me that they either don't know about the tree, where to find it, or even what it is. I looked at moon valley nursery, and even though they are a little pricey, they dont have it and they said that the best they could offer is the Sweetgum tree...So (1) Does ANYONE who has a Chinese Pistache know where to buy one and (2)Does anyone know about the sweetgum tree? Thanks for all of your help! -AZnursingstudent.