Fritz Well, had to get the cutting done today since my onion transplants arrived yesterday and I'll go get the ProMix tomorrow morning to plant them. I just marked the cut-line and used a boxcutter with a sharp blade. Very easy. The plastic in the middle portion isn't as thick as on the edges. But EASIEST was making the drainage holes with a solder gun. The holes are smooth, no little bits and pieces sticking out like you end up with drilled or cut holes. Three seconds for each hole did it! Can't believe it but we've had snow for the last 2-3 hours! Fat flakes that aren't sticking, but unusual for the first of March here.

Jey - I'm local too and since I do landscaping professionally, disposing of debris (and a LOT of it sometimes) is a pretty routine occurrence. Here's what I'd suggest: grab a copy of the Little Nickle (at any 7-11) and call a few hauling services listed there for estimates. Be able to supply them with an approximate size of the pile you need to dispose of, although they should come by personally to give you an estimate. And that will include dump fees. They will take it to a yard waste recycling station or to Pacific Topsoils, as that is the cheapest way to dispose of it for them also. At least you'll be assured the stuff is being recycled. 1-800-Got-Junk works too but they may be more expensive. An alternative is to contact Pacific Topsoils. They also recycle yard waste. And they rent containers by the day with a delivery and pick-up fee that is a lot less than the county. And they have yards all over the county, so should be convenient to you. And yes, all of King County's yard and kitchen waste is recycled into compost - Cedar Grove Composting. But they don't give it away for free :-) I've broached this subject here a couple of times, but the recycling process and Cedar Grove in particular is cutting edge and a very large and high standard commercial composting operation. Certified organic Cedar Grove Compost is sold all over the county at nurseries, garden centers, groceries and box stores. Unfortunately, unless you have the means yourself via a chipper or truck, disposing of a large pile of garden debris is going to cost in this area. btw, King County transfer stations charge by the weight not the truck load, so other than a bit extra for gas, multiple trips to the recycling transfer center will not cost any more than one, single, massive load. Yard waste is $82.50 per ton. (good to know so the hauling guys don't gouge you, although they should be paying a lower, commercial rate). Here is a link that might be useful: Pacific Topsoils recycling

Your probably going to have a wait few years to use your trimmer or herbicide around your trees. That's what I was planning on doing right after I planted my trees. After the spring growth, when the time finally came to take care of the weeds, I saw I was wrong. There just not room to do either with out doing some kind of damage. Your seedlings are in such a weak state right now and that will last the first year. Don't expect to see much growth the first year, but hang on, because the second year the trees will grow fast. Just do what I did and mark their location somehow so you can keep your eye on them the first year or two. Good luck and keep us informed on their growth. I am having about 200 more trees (loblolly pine) planted this winter. 100 professionally and 100 or so myself. We had some problems with the timber company next to our property this past summer. They destroyed our fence in two places. They drove a dozer through the gaps and did something. And the heat from their fires scorched a bunch of our large oaks. (we had already lost about 50 large oaks do the drought of 2010). The worse part about it (my opinion) is that they didn't even tell us, I had to find out about it by walking the edges our property. About 10 calls later to different agencies (county, state and the feds) this was the deal we came up with. treenutt

A longer spout on the faucet might help. Not a cure. Look on the faucet to find the manufacturer and then search for a longer spout. Should be quite easy to change the spout. Or find a vintage high back sink that is designed for wall mount faucets. However, trying to fit a pre-fab laminate counter to the sink would be a challenge and still not a good solution because of the particle board substrate used for the counters. Given that you've lived there 10 years and don't have plans to move but still don't want to make a big investment. what I would do is get a new laminate counter, a new top mount stainless steel sink with an integrated faucet deck and a new deck mount faucet. (Will need to alter the plumbing but isn't a difficult job given the right tools and minimal DIY skill set.). The Delta 'Classic' is a decent plain Jane faucet @ around $100. DIY is going to push this approach past $500. More if you have to get a plumber. So consider shopping around for a used sink and used (Delta) faucet. I like Delta because they're reliable, easily repaired and parts are readily available. I put a Delta Classic in my kitchen about 10 years ago (temporarily!) when a not very old American Standard faucet broke (the ceramic disc inside) and would have had to wait for parts. Still have the Delta (predictable) and haven't had to repair it.