there's been a disappointing turn of events....

Sorry to hear that . It was very unthoughtful of your manager not letting you know in the first place about the sewer line. Container gardening can be very rewarding but needs a little bit more attention. It is still lots of time to establish a beautiful garden (without trees) There are many beautiful plants with shallow roots. Hope your lack of interest is just temporary.

How awful for you x

to try to help and give you some ideas go to the bottom of this page and in the alphabet choose C then container gardening, you will see photos and ideas from Goy members.....hope it helps x

That's awful, it would have been so much better if you'd been told earlier. I hope you can start to enjoy the new challenge, container gardening can be a lot of fun and you can plant acers in containers if you want some trees. I grow them quite successfully (so far!)

Oh Pat thats a shame and so very naughty of your manager to wait until now to inform you about the trees and the sewerpipes, I know its a disappointment for you and you must have felt like whacking said manager with the tree, ( I know I would ) but don't let that put you off and spoil your enjoyment in your garden, there's lots of plants you can grow that won't affect any pipework whatsoever, in other words don't be disheartened and certainly don't let the beggars win...
Please don't stop posting your blogs, its still nice to hear from you and see what you are up to, take care, xx

Oh Pat I am so sorry to hear this, how dreadful for you to have to dig up your tree and shrubs, how unthinking of the Manager not to let you know that there are rules regarding planting. Dont give up you willl enjoy container gardening and like other members have said there are lots of ideas on the web site, so do please keep in touch we all want to hear from you, love xx

Don't be disillusioned , just forgive silly people .
Go for quick growing annuals .
You could put shrubs into containers , as well as flowers , and vegetables in grow bags !
You can do it .

thanks, everyone...Klahanie, i hadn't thought of shallow rooted plants..in fact, in my old garden i just had to think about sun, shade, and water...little did i know i was living in a fool's paradise... Pamg, thanks for your understanding, it takes another gardener to appreciate the amount of time, energy and money that goes into a new garden...i have looked at the container gardens as you suggested, and they are beautiful...however, all containers have to be emptied or stored in a heated place here, because of the winters...i'm still puzzling over what to do.... Louisa15, i've seen those acers, and almost fell out of my chair with shock! they would never survive the winters here, but perhaps next year i could risk getting a 2ft high wooden raised bed built...not this year, tho'...thanks for taking the time to post... Lincslass, i mostly feel as if the wind has been knocked out of my sails, but i know i have to keep up the maintenance of the beds that i am allowed, and hopefully the plants that are left will lift my spirits..i am a fighter, even if it doesn't sound like it at the moment..thanks for your encouragement about blogging, i wasn't sure about that, not having any nice photos at the moment, and sounding so self-pitying and all....... Panyspotter, it was awful seeing my beautiful plants go..they were so lovely and green..thank goodness i could give them all to Patrick...he has lots of room, lots of plans, and will be retiring in 3 years..it would have been harder to give them to a stranger, and i don't know any other gardeners in the area..thanks for the encouragement to continue blogging...i needed that.. Driad, Patrick [son] and i discussed what i could do..one of the hardest parts of this for me is that there is no way to block the views...old metal sheds, telephone poles, tv arials, heavy traffic [large trucks!] the tree and shrubs were all planned to eliminate that from the garden..we came to the conclusion that the "floor" of the garden has to be the focus of attention...he suggested a waterfall against the shed wall..it's the only place that offers privacy from the street,although it's overlooked by my immediate neighbour, with maybe a little stream....people here buy containers already planted, hang them up on poles, then throw them out at the end of the season...they are very pretty, just don't interest me...i was interested in the way GOY members place their containers on the ground, am thinking about that..i'm also considering a checkerboard design..someone has that on GOY, and it certainly does direct your attention downwards..thanks for your suggestions, and encouragement...it helps a lot ....