Hi, Barb. You were very kind in what you said. Thank you. Let me put your mind at ease right off the bat - You won't need to water and fertilize containers that large every day unless they're really mature & jammed full of roots, in which case you should get after the roots so you don't need to water every day. ;o) I often need to water my bonsai and some of my smaller packed-tight display containers daily, but a lot of my containers go 2 days or more between watering. Fertilizing duties every weekend or every other weekend are going to keep your plantings very happy, too. Feel better? ;o)

Tell me about the light you have and what kind of texture or branching habit you want for your evergreen & I can probably offer suggestions. I do have a few in containers (like 100+) ;o)

Al

Yes, Al, that does make me feel a lot better. I can do this! Today, I'll go questing for the elusive gran-i-grit:)

Thank you for your prompt response; are you really only one person?

My site is against a west-facing wall, entirely under the house eve. It is in full shade till about 1 or 2 in the afternoon (earlier in mid summer) and then full sun till sunset. It's protected from wind. I want a tall, narrow profile for the plant, like a small christmas tree. I'm limited by the one story eave for height; I'd like to be able to prune it to stay at 6' and about 24" diameter at the base.

I have a couple more questions about your 1-1-1 mix. I'll add them to this thread; let me know if I'm supposed to put them in a new thread and I'll do that.

One, a theoretical question: I've read you to say that the alkalinity/acidity of the soil mix is not important, just that of the water. In that case, why add lime to the mix at all, even for non-acid tolerant plants?

Two, a practical question: what exactly does in mean to "screen" bark fines? Force it thru a mesh, I'm guessing, but what size mesh and where can it be obtained?

Thanks for helping out a novice!

Barbara