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[SG] Hello from a new member

Dear All,

I just found this list and wanted to take a moment to introduce myself.

I live in Millburn, NJ (zone 6) and have a nice back yard garden with more
shade than sun, though sun as well.  Unfortunately I also have major deer
and, worse yet, groundhog problems, so all the mail about hostas was
interesting but irrelevant to me because both these animals eat hostas by
choice.  I actually do have hostas, but all were here when I moved here and
I haven't bought any and don't plan to.  SIGH.  They are lovely, though
less so after being clipped to the ground.  If anyone has any ideas for
getting rid of the ground hogs, please let me know.

I am an amateur gardener.  I have lots of books and brouse (sp?) in
nurseries a lot.  After much behind the conscientious mind contemplating, I
buy stuff and plant it.  I have one small area that is in shade most of the
day, a hillside that is both shady and sunny (I just removed four sassafras
trees so it is more sunny now) and mostly shady borders.  I like doing this
myself and since nothing has been done with the yard in years, I have lots
of weeds and rocks to dig out before planting so I expect it'll be years
before I am done.

I do have a couple of questions for you all:

1.  My pieries japonica looks pretty sad.  I planted it two years ago on
the north side of the house in this area that is in deep shade most of the
day.  Last year it grew lots of new foliage that was a beautiful red.  This
year there is no new foliage, and all the leaves are kind of droopy and
spotted.  There are some new falls of white flowers, however, so it is not
completely dead.  Also, there were a number of dead or almost dead
branches.  Any ideas of what caused this and what I can do?

2.  I planted some pachysandra under a tree which got a major pruning last
year so doesn't provide as much shade as it used to.  Also, last year was a
drought year here in NJ and I probably didn't water as much as I should
have.  Many of the leaves look burned to me.  Is it a lack of water, or
should I be worried about something else?  Parts of the bed are very lush
and the pachysandra is really growning well, other parts are much sparser.
Can I compensate by planting more pachysandra (transplanting from the
massive beds I have in other parts of the yard, not buying) and watering
more?

Thanks for your thoughts on this.

Lucinda Mercer
Zone 6, NJ
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