Neither the rose nor the clematis is particularly concerned about soil pH, so that is not an issue I'd worry about unless your soil is skewed heavily either way. The deep planting hole sounds just about right. Unlike just about any other plants, it is recommended that the planting hole for clematis should be big, deep and well amended. Typically you will see instructions for a hole about 18"x18" enriched with whatever organic matter/compost you might have on hand. You will need to mound the soil up a bit in the center of the hole before planting, but clems like it deep. The other, important instruction is that the vine be planted 4-6" deeper than it was in the nursery container. This causes the vine to develop a sturdy root system faster as well as to push additional stems from the root crown - when young, these stems on clematis are extremely brittle and vulnerable to damage so the more you have, the less the vine is likely to experience incidental damage. Plus it is always more desirable to have multiple stems rather than just one. Both of these plants are considered heavy 'feeders' and should be fertilized on a pretty routine basis to develop the profusion of flowers they are known for. If you research the Clematis forum you will most often see references to either a fert forumlated for roses or tomatoes and other vegetables - either will work as they concentrate on the nutrients that produce flowers or fruit. Typically the first application coincides with pruning in late winter/early spring (when the forsythia is blooming) and then every 6-8 weeks after that throughout the bloom season. I prefer to use organic fertilizers whenever possible and they tend to be slower acting so application may only be 2-3 times a year. In my old garden, I didn't use any prepared fertilizer at all but mulched everything with compost. I also had bunnies as pets and bunny poop is an excellent fertilizer for both roses and clematis and I applied liberally - I grew a LOT of clematis. Bunny poop is typically only partially digested alfalfa and alfalfa or alfalfa meal is highly recommended by rosarians and clematis growers as well :-)

I have a pond about 40 feet in diamiter over the past 25 plus years, I have tried about everything to keep out the Herons, Kingfishers, snakes, mustrats, and of course dont forget the snapping turtles! An electric fence around the pond works for Herons once, then they just fly into the pond and not walk in. the motion sensor water scarers work during warm months. But the best over all, is the net with small holes or they will put there head through the net and get the small Koi.

Ive pondered this a couple days and Im with slow. I also think painting the plastic might make it look tacky. Does it have to be oval? Consider using mdf as a base and using molding and trim strips to form the frame around the mosaic. Also-does that masonite have any flex to it? if it does its not suitable for your mosaic.

A little history. The noodle board vs stove board:. The noodle board is used in homes where pasta is traditional. The stove board is used in homes where summer kitchens are common (summer kitchen is a kitchen outside of the house, so you don't heat up the hs. in the summer). For those of us where neither pasta or summer kitchens are part of the culture we call this the pastry board. It moves around to many surfaces, stove, table, dry sink etc. And we always had a marble piece to fit it so we could do butter pastry. Once we had electricity (1959) we kept it permanently on the old wood cooking stove, since the new electric stove was hidden in a tiny pantry (we weren't really ready). So, don't feel bad if you don't know what a noodle board is, your ancestors probably didn't eat pasta much. I use a noodle rack myself because it's takes up less space. My pastry board is well over 100 yrs old, is 30 inches wide, all one slab of wood! It hangs from a square nail attached to my possum belly kitchen queen (now coffee station). I use it as my grand mother did, and love that it softens my cooktop.