No , not I-75. Once in Crossville , take US 127 south (main st.) right thru town and over the HILL pass the Hospital. Stay on US 127 a few short miles and your in Homestead. A village made of stone and a huge Y shaped intersection. Bearing right , you continue on 127 so. and down off the plateau into the Sequatchie Valley of Pikeville,Dunlap,Signal Mt., Chattanooga area. BUT , going left at Homestead will take you over the mountain into spring city and sweetwater. Stop at the OLD GENERAL STORE in Homestead and ask them if they know about that place , very scenic and beautiful road to sweetwater and the lost sea....and so much faster than I-75. BTW , I think you can enter a subject title in the search box and find things ! good luck !

I hope you will take my comments as they are meant (to be helpful) and not as overly critical. I wish I could just say "way to go", but that wouldn't be truthful or helpful. So, anyway, here is what I see... There are two things that would worry me significantly about the planting method. First is that the type of soil you used isn't real soil (mostly, it's peat moss and composted bark) and won't hold up over the long run. After a few years (maybe 5???), the ingredients of the Miracle-Gro will be broken down and "eaten" by the native soil. This will leave your shrub depending only on the native soil and with part or most of it's root system above ground. It may still be able to survive, but certainly no better than it would have been able to if it had just been planted a little high in the native soil. The Miracle-Gro soil will also be poor in nutrients after a short time (probably just a few months). Maybe the shrub can grow enough roots down into the native soil to compensate, but this will be hurdle it will have to overcome. Another problem with using this type of medium is that there will be a sharp interface between the planting medium and the native soil, which (even with the surface preparation) will likely discourage some root development down into the native soil. The moisture-control part of the Miracle-Gro may contribute even more to discouragement of root development into the native soil. The second major problem is the size of the mound/berm. If I was using any type of soil other than the native soil, I'd provide a berm large enough to hold either a significant part of the expected size of the mature root system, or, large enough to hold at least a few years of root growth and tapered very gradually off so that roots have every opportunity to grow down into native soil. The example here would encourage a poorly formed root system (almost like pot-bound roots) and eventually girdling roots. It would be highly likely to lead to eventual mechanical failure in the case of a larger growing tree. A third possible problem (which would only worry me if I found it to be a problem) is poor drainage of the planting medium because of the combination of moisture-control, mulch covering, and poorly draining soil underlying the Miracle-Gro. Whether the berm would stay too wet depends on too many things for me to really accurately predict, but I would keep an eye out for this problem. I would recommend that you get some good quality topsoil and mix that with your native soil to form a shallow but broad berm to plant in. I think that would lead to much better root establishment, better drainage, and a long-lived plant.

Flossie, I've always liked Cleveland ... seems to be a really nice town with beautiful surroundings. Plus it's just outside of Chattanooga, so you'll have the benefits of a larger city close by (bigger hospitals, shopping, cultural events, fantastic aquarium!). Not sure what the taxes are there, as I live in the Knoxville area. Since Cleveland is between Knoxville and Chattanooga, you can check both the Knoxville Association of Realtors and Chattanooga Association of Realtors websites to do detailed searches for properties. You might already have this info, but here are the web addresses anyway: Knoxville MLS is: http://www.kaarmls.com Chattanooga MLS is: http://www.chattrealtors.com Happy house hunting, and welcome (in advance) to East Tennessee! ~S

Tina, thanks for the morning smile! Retirement may not come that quickly, but there's a slight possibility. We're both totally happy living in Louisiana until mid-summer hits. There's nothing worse than the constant heat and humidity. I know a lot of areas across the country get it for a few weeks every year, but months on end are so draining. So we start talking about leaving the area. We both come from northern states, but neither of us is willing to deal with long winters again. Looking for a compromise. Convenience is necessary. We're city people. Would like a city smaller than BR, but not too small. Out of curiosity I looked at a few "active adult" communities online. I found prices much higher in NC. Then I expanded the search to eastern Tennessee. Much more reasonable. Would love to get more feedback. Yours was a great start!