u/CasualtiesofConflict

Hi all,

I just received 5 cultivars: Susquehanna, Shenandoah, Tallahatchie, Wabash, and NC-1. All around 2ish feet tall.I want to plant them in my yard where they will get full sun. While I know I should protect them with shade cloth for now, Im curious if its ok to plant them in my heavy N GA clay yard (its just a grassy area now). Or, do I need to till the area and heavily amend / plant in a mound style with the loamy amended soil.

Thanks!

Hi all,
I experienced a minor labral tear in my left shoulder due to a fall back in 2022. Ortho said it was no big deal - just take it easy, do some PT and it will be all good. I did PT for many many months, but it felt like it never really healed well. I would have frequent sharp pains at random times. I delt with it for a while until I couldn't take it. Got a 6 day prednisone pack because I told the doctor that I was just feeling so much pain, especially in right hip (apparently I have a larger ball on my femur and hip doesn't have enough room so it get inflamed.) The prednisone made me feel like a whole new human. It was incredible. But a few months later I was back to feeling the shoulder tension and random sharp pains. I just delt with it for a while...would wake up with numb arms and just felt generally sore in the mornings. Fast forward to april 2025 and I started waking up with my neck almost locked in place. Extreme muscle tension and low mobility in the neck. Knots deep in shoulder/traps. I kept taking some mild meds like meloxicam with no positive results...The muscles were so tense all over my neck and shoulders that I felt as if I was being choked. I even felt tension in my pecs and armpits...I would do a lot of deep stretching and only got temporary relief. One ortho and a massage therapist just chalked it up to computer posture for work. Eventually got an MRI in September of 2025 (findings attached). Mild to moderate foraminal stenosis in some cervical vertebrae. Doctors said I would get a lot of relief from a cervical epidural. I did PT and 2 epidurals over the course of 4 months with very temporary relief between November 2025 and January 2026. I even had a round of facet injections this past March. All temporary relief. Facet injections maybe helped for a month and a half. Now the Spine doc wants me to go to a rheumatologist as well as someone who specializes in stem cell and PRP. I just don't know what the actual problem is. No one can tell me why I am constantly locked up with such broad/deep muscle tension. I'm stretching every day before bed and I use a cervical traction device twice a day. I get up from my PC much more often to do physical work in my garden or play with my dog. But I am in so much pain - its like my shoulders have knots in the traps and my neck muscles are pulling my head downward. Even my jaws are clenched daily. I have seen 3 Spine and Pain specialists without a clear indication of what is wrong. Is it possible that a the issue is nerve related, is this just guarding due to injury? I wake up every day feeling so sore - like I was beaten. No pillow is comfortable, no position is comfortable other than laying on my back on the floor with nothing under my head. I just need to figure out how to get some relief and get rested. I feel like tension/pain and anxiousness are now my default daily disposition.

MRI FINDINGS: There is normal alignment of the cervical spine. Vertebral body heights are preserved. No aggressive osseous lesion seen.. The craniocervical junction is normal. The visualized posterior fossa structures are normal. The spinal cord demonstrates normal signal intensity on all sequences. The visualized neck soft tissues are normal.

Individual levels:
C2-C3: No significant spinal or foraminal stenosis.

C3-C4: Minimal posterior disc/osteophyte complex noted, in addition to mild facet/uncovertebral hypertrophy, resulting in mild flattening of the ventral aspect of the thecal sac. No significant spinal stenosis. Mild-to-moderate bilateral foraminal stenosis suspected.

C4-C5: Disc/osteophyte complex, resulting in moderate left foraminal stenosis. No significant spinal stenosis.

C5-C6: Disc/osteophyte resulting in minimal flattening of the ventral aspect of the thecal sac. No evidence of significant spinal stenosis. Mild left foraminal stenosis.

C6-C7: No significant spinal or foraminal stenosis.

C7-T1: No significant spinal or foraminal stenosis.

IMPRESSION: 1. No acute findings. 2. Multilevel degenerative changes as above.