Sorry about the lapse in posts. Things here have been hectic and I haven't spent much time near a computer. I hope to make up for it with a few posts covering a diversity of experiences.
Firstly, I gained a valuable lesson in patience while installing trees in people's homes. One home was a breeze: they placed the hole in a logical location with easy access. The husband helped and the wife brought us water (it was 30C that day). The pics on the left are their home.



Above portrays the nightmare of installing a root ball that weighs hundreds of pounds into a narrow row with only inches on either side on which to lay all the maddening muck we ha
d to haul out. It sure helped that my supervisor has a masters in physics!!

And to the right one can see the soupy mess that the landscapers left behind. Having never been told to leave the tree high in the hole because the project called for a garden around the tree, we placed it at the height we normally would. My supervisor displayed the patience of a Zen master as the landscaper harangued him for the mistake, even though they only decided that it was too high after they cut open the burlap and drenched the root ball. As a result, the roots were exposed, as was the tree below the crown, as seen in the pic. This tree might not make it.