Why I Oughta...

This is the second Winter that we've had the young(ish) Triumph Elm Tree in our front yard and that means this is the second season that I've used a paper tree wrap around the bottom few feet of the trunk - all the way down to the rootflare - to protect the trunk and bark from Wintertime sun scald.  Here's a link to a post from last November (2022) where I talk through scald and why I was choosing to wrap the tree. Below is a photo showing the wrap in-place this year:

Earlier this Summer, I bought a small, grafted Emperor 1 Japanese Maple from the orange big box store (for $35) and planted it in the border of the kitchen curved bed in our backyard.  I had a previous Emperor 1 and figured that the price was right on this one, so I added it.  That lead to a (pardon the pun) Waterfall of Japanese Maples being planted this season.  The most recent was the high-grafted Inaba Shadire; the sixth JM of the season .   The small Emperor 1 appears to be doing just fine in the spot where it gets a mix of shade and some early-day sun.  It is out of the sun during the heat of the afternoon, but gets a little bit of early and late morning sun.   Here, below is what it looks like currently - it has a split set of leaders that I'm leaving as they are (for now): The reason for this post is not to document the current form (as...it is *mostly* the exact same shape/form/height) that it was when I put it in), but rather tho share a peek at some new growth.  Below,

Over the years, I've dug-up, transplanted and even divided a series of hostas of various varieties along the foundation and around the corner of our kitchen windows from the back of the fence to the Karl Foerster Grasses that are planted right below the windows .  This post from June 2020 shows how a series of hostas that were from teardowns had grown and thrived in this spot.  I ended up digging a bunch of these up, moving some and dividing others.  Leaving us with a row of three Lancifolia Hostas from the fence gate to the corner of the house.   They seemed fine.  Until this year.  Have a look at the photo below.  These are, I'm pretty sure... sun burned hostas .  Or...as some people call it:  hosta scorch .   Could I be giving these hostas more water?  Sure.  But, I'm not sure that's really the problem.  This seems like a situation where these aren't a fit.  They'll need to be moved and replaced with something that can handle more sun.   This situation has