Hmmm, OK. I understand your points Laag. I'll go into this a little further then. We, as a family, spend most of our time either in the sun room at the rear of the house or on the wooden deck that is just off the sun room. Indicated on the plan by a rectangle with diagonal lines on it. That is the 'HUB' of the garden for us. The deck gets sun from 10am to about 4pm through the day. North of the deck between the cherry blossom and swing set, gets full sun all day long. To the North of the deck in the area of the cherry blossom is our family lawn area. We play there, enjoy the sun there (when it does peek out throught the clouds) and generally congregate there. So really from the north side of the house up to the north fence (including the kids play area) is where we spend most of our time when we are outside. The Swing set is clearly visible from the house and our kids spend a lot of time in there. When we have friends over, of course all the kids flock to the play house. Grown ups always nearby on the deck. So with that respects, the location for the playhouse was chosen in a prominent area, not hidden as you interpreted. The original plan for the house was that we would park the cars to the rear of the house, in front of the car garage on the gravel area, but it was not ergonomic and simply didn't work out. That area in front of the garage doors is always kept clear, almost as an open courtyard. Yes, the easy up paddle pool is always put up there, as is the kids blow-up bouncy castle/slide when the weather is fine. The 3ft wide concrete pavement that surrounds the house was on the insistence of my wife. Kids needing a cycle path to round the house. Note - the driveway into the property and at the back 'courtyard' area, is 3/4inch pea gravel. Great for drainage, crap for cycling on. Before I built the retaining wall and gravel area, the whole lot was simply a lawn. here are some old photo's... My wife and I hated it that way. It felt like we were living in the middle of a soccer pitch. Of course, for practical reasons we had to put a hard surface around to the garage doors which was part of the original design plan anyway. The retaining wall was an idea that we both liked having seen it while on vacation, so that had to be incorporated. And we wanted the closed in 'courtyard' feeling from tall trees with a passageway to the upper lawn almost as a passage to a "secret garden", drawing you from the deck, across the yard and in through the entrance, through the "small forest" and up to the..... And this is where the story ends so far... The tall birch trees are history, I'll change them for 10-15ft variety with lots of shrubs. That should give visual interest and varied structure to the border. BUT my concept works. I had a bbq a couple of weeks ago and just about everyone admired the entrance to the upper lawn and equally everyone suggested I needed more than just a lawn up there to REWARD whoever follows the path. EXACTLY what I wanted to hear!! So the story will continue, I just need some help. Quote - "These people either have a very different set of functions or are extremely incapable of designing. I have no idea which." You could be right Laag. Maybe I am incapable of designing.... i wouldnt be here looking for advice if I was able to whip up the right design off the bat!

I live in Northern California where the vineyards are full of spider mites, they come to us on the wind. I fought them for many years until i discovered the spray (can't remember the name and it is to dark to go to the green house now) It is an orange oil base, and is harmless to humans and animals. I find that usually one spraying with this gets them all, eggs included. Some times you will need a second spray. If you continue to get them look for a source other than your Brugs where they might be coming from. I am sure you can find this at any big box store. If you have them in the open air where they can get a little breeze that helps too.

Water uptake and therefore nutrient uptake is energy driven, i.e. it takes energy to absorb water and nutrients, and the roots need oxygen to turn the carbs the plant makes (its food) into energy - just like you do. When your plants wilt while the soil is still damp and the problem persists more than a day or 2, you can be almost 100% certain it's a root problem - probably related to excess water retention and the dearth of oxygen that comes along with it. Roots are opportunists - they don't/can't "go looking" for water, air, and nutrients, they simply grow where conditions are favorable ...... and don't grow where they aren't. In your case, the roots are probably growing deeper into the pot when the water supply is at its lowest, then dying back again when you water. The cycle of death and regeneration of roots not only impairs root function, it's very expensive in terms of energy outlay as well. What it takes to regenerate roots killed by a lack of air might have been spent on things more productive - like an increase in plant mass, blooms, fruit ...... Your soil choice has a very significant impact on how easy/difficult success is going to be, and on how wide the margin for grower error is. My take on what constitutes a good soil, at a minimum, is one you can water to beyond the point of saturation, i.e. until at least 15-20% of the total volume of water applied exits the drain, carrying accumulating salts with it, this, without the grower having to worry about root rot or impaired root function. In most cases, the inability to water correctly also prevents you from being able to institute a nutritional supplementation plan that works well because nutrient ratios quickly become skewed if you can't hit the 'reset button' by flushing the soil regularly. Dennis is right about tight little root balls, too. If I get sets that have congested roots, I rip the bottom half of the roots off the plant and use as nylon pick to tease the remaining roots apart before the set gets planted. I also remove the lower leaves of the sets and plant very deep if in a pot, and deep and at about a 30* angle if they get planted in the ground. Often, roots allowed to remain in a tight little wad end up staying in a tight little wad with the plant suffering for it, and that's something you want to avoid. Roughing up the roots actually sends chemical messengers to the rest of the plant, telling it it needs to direct energy to the root mass. Plus, the closer roots are trimmed to the stem, the more juvenile and vigorous they are (look up 'ontogenetic age'), so make sure the roots are going to be able to easily colonize your soil mass by correcting congestion before planting and using an appropriate soil. Al

It can be very frustrating to pick out paint colors without having something to go off of-an overall color scheme or inspiration piece -an area rug, fabric or art piece. So when we are faced with doing it for a whole house when we may or may not be using our old things it can be very tough. I commend you for getting so far with your choices and being happy with them! Sometimes the 'problem' with and individual choice is not just a legititmate 'will it work?' but the fear of commitment as well. In concept our choices are great but in reality we are committed once we actually start painting. Without actually seeing all of the colors, knowing the lighting and the flow of the floorplan I can't comment on the actual colors, so... What I would encourage you to do is stick with all the colors you really feel work, paint those areas first and then tackle the guest bath. Paint is one of the easiest things to fix, especially in a relatively small space like a bathroom. Then you can experiment with the colors you would like in in the guest bath. Often a color that is not a 'dead on' match will be more interesting than one that matches exactly with your fabric. Once the colors you like are up you will have a more realistic feel for the intensity and hue you need in the guest bath. Your toile is lovely and it would be a shame not to make use of it! Good Luck!