I would call and ask your local store directly. Different places have different schedules especially since planting times vary from state to state. For example, Georgia stores probably won't discount until later in the year because you can continue to plant in Georgia right through November. A store in Ohio would probably discount earlier in the season.

I used to "sell" Canadel in our store. I say "sell", because it couldn't hold a candle to our other line, Saloom. In two years we didn't take a single Canadel order, while we were selling a lot of Saloom. We finally sold one Canadel set for cost, and couldn't even sell the other. My wife and I then bought a new house and wanted a set fast, so we took home the remaining set. The chairs are so top heavy that if you throw a coat over the top it could tip over. Last year when my son was three he'd push against the table, tilting the chair backwards. We kept telling him to stop but several times he'd send it flying back. It didn't take much. And yes, he hit the floor. Thankfully he has a hard head and the floor is several layers of vinyl:-). He has since learned not to do that. ....... When you have a Canadel next to a Saloom, like we did, there is just no comparison. The Canadel just looks cheap by comparison. Canadel is birch, Saloom is maple. To me its like something being stainless vs. sterling. Canadel chairs slap a piece of foam over a board. Saloom seats use laminated foam and have cut out bottoms. One sit and you'll immediately tell the difference. We brought in Canadel because at the time it was about 25% less expensive. But nobody wanted to buy something not even close for just 25% less. Its all moot now anyways, Canadel is about the same price as Saloom. Check them out at www.Saloom.com.

ci_lantro, I see your point. The siding was started one month before the kitchen addition, which is in the center of the back wall of the home and not visible at all from the street. Our existing siding was aluminum and actually still looked fine. We decided to have it replaced since we knew that they wouldn't be able to match the addition. They told us that they could do the front and sides, and then come back to side the addition. The first thing they did was take down all of the shutters and decorative trim. For about half of the time, there were large areas where the bright pink fanfold foam was visible where siding was taken down and left off for several days, both the original and the first round of vinyl. Last week was the first time since they started that you could look at the front and sides and not immediately get the message that it was being re-sided. Did I mention that the roofer/siding guy had completed hanging the front and two sides, and was starting the old part of the back, and commented to MrsPandy, "I think I'm getting the hang of this now!" That's when the owner finally confessed that this was a roofer and we really pushed the issue of substandard work being done. I suppose that I should just suck it up and take it since I'm ending up with a nicely sided house. This is one of the best known local companies since they have multiple divisions (plumbing/heating, remodeling, roofing, electrical service), so you can't go a day without seeing one of their trucks. I will politely ask the owner at settlement time if he thinks an adjustment is in order. If he says no, I still think I will tell anyone who asks us who did the work how long it took and that they assigned someone who had absolutely no experience to do the siding.

Thanks for the picture of your tree. Before seeing the picture, I was thinking that the tree you bought at a nursery might be as large as 4 or 5 feet tall and so my answer as to how much to cut off would be different. The size shown in the picture is a manageable size. First of all, I agree with everything in the response by moochinka (above). If it was my tree, I would spend quite a bit of time evaluating the current branch structure and decide what your styling vision you have for what you want the Bonsai to look like (including the size). Then, remove all of the branches that are not in your styling vision. Next, after that, I would begin to wire the tree to verify that it is going in the direction of your vision. If you are going to keep the Bonsai at about its current size, then I would cut back the minor branches (which may include some of the wire you just put on) to no more than 2 nodes per minor branch. If you want the tree to be smaller, then I would cut back the minor branches to just 1 node. It will definitely grow out and become more full (with ramification). More than likely (if you are like me) as the tree continues to grow over the next couple of years you may change your vision of the tree. That is why spending some quality time at the beginning may save you extra work later and may also prevent you from removing a key portion of the tree.