Oh, you're looking for WELLIES? Hmmm...the online catalogue for Lee Valley shows them: http://www.leevalley.com/garden/page.aspx?c=1&p=51523&cat=2,51676 But it says "no longer available." Still, that might mean they're not available ONLINE, and you can still find them in the store. Either way, their customer service people have always been very helpful to me when I've hunted for similar "we don't have them anymore" products. Good luck. Wellies are great boots.

Sandra, the muck boots have deep, rigid treads on the bottom for gripping. I run up and down 45 degree hills all the time (bark dusted hills) and they seem to track fine. And, they don't twist on your foot like a lot of boots. I suppose if you wore the tread down on cement over time they might become slippery, but I haven't noticed. (knock on wood). I don't know what they'd do if I ran up and down hills of grass, however, since I'm a person who never says never! Because the bottom is rubber, I suppose there are always situations where they could be slippery, now that you mention it. But, I've never noticed, and I wear them a lot. Ok...I just did an experiment. I got my boots wet and walked through the garage. The cement is flat and smooth. Yes, they will slip under certain conditions. My cement outdoors is aggragate, so it provides traction and I usually don't notice slippage. So I guess it is an inherent problem with rubber soles. Sorry to hear about your Birkenstock fiasco. Thanks for alerting us. I hope you have better luck with your new boots! Let us know!

If for some reason you don't want to bookmark/favorites the forums you are interested in at least bookmark this link to the forums list You can find all your posts on your profile page just by clicking on your user name. The most recent posts are listed first under Recent Activity. If you want more just click on the Activity link on your page. But that also raises the question as to why one is only interested in their own activity when there is so much to learn from others? ;-) I disagree that finding stuff is difficult. It just takes a bit of exploration and reading and if all else fails just use the search bar at the top of every page. For example you shouldn't have to log in every time unless you want it that way. Just click Your Houzz in the top R hand corner of any page. Yours is http://www.houzz.com/user/laslaslas14 If you will complete your profile (including your location) then most all of it becomes automatic. Dave

Thanks for the photos. Generally, the order of doing things is first hardscape and then plants. So with that in mind, the first step I'd take would be the walk which currently is too narrow for comfort and needs to be solid and at least the width of the steps rather than single stepping stones to look friendly and welcoming. It can be just large sized concrete pavers placed touching side by side and front to back to make a solid walk or you can do a course of brick edging with an edge. Stepping stones like you have now are fine for within the garden, but the approach walk should be easy walking (so an 80 year-old grandmother can walk it comfortably.) I would run it out to the street and to where ever you leave your car. I also wouldn't plant anything other than grass or a heavy layer of mulch (perhaps with an easy groundcover) within about 12 feet of the house if you are likely to be putting in a porch in the next couple of years since you need to leave room not only for the porch itself but also at least 5 or 6 feet for workers and equipment, and even then plants will be trampled. No woody plants (shrubs or trees) over or near the edges of the septic, so do you know where the limits of the septic are? You will want a limited palette of plants here so that it doesn't look too weedy or overgrown or require too much maintenance. I would also limit your flower colors to three or four besides green. To my mind most of Bluestone's gardens have a whole lot of different plants, with one or two of each, which will be more difficult to keep looking good. With many types, you will need to be deadheading and trimming a lot compared to a fewer number of varieties that bloom for longer times and don't look terrible at any point. Although I can't see the details of the plans in the Roy Diblik books, I can see repeats of plants in loose groupings, and in general I would suggest this style of planting. Comments on gardenweed's plant list: IME Euphorbia, black-eyed Susan, and tall garden Phlox seed around quite a bit if not deadheaded, so I would avoid them if you won't be around enough to deadhead. Many Phlox are susceptible to mildew, so be sure to get one that says it is mildew resistant if you use these such as 'David'. I would be inclined to use the category of plants that never look terrible - there's a thread of those on the perennials forum that you might consider. Here is a list of plants that I'd use in a garden that only gets visited on weekends. They all have nice foliage all season and several retain evergreen foliage all winter as well. They are tolerant of dry conditions, so if you can't water they should be OK without regular rain as long as the garden is well-mulched (which is needed for weed control anyway), thugh you may want to water once a month if really dry. The garden will still need some attention every weekend (think half an hour or less to pull weeds when small and cut off dead flowers), but I don't think will get out of control if you take that time each week. If you don't want to do that, plant lawn and hire someone to mow it for you since that is the easiest option. To allow access for maintenance, add stepping stone paths every 3'-4' across the garden. Short plants for the edge of the walkway and along the road, planted in groups of three in triangles to give you good masses: Veronica 'Georgia Blue' (Dark green foliage that picks up mahogany hues in winter and deep blue spring flowers) Iberis 'Purity' (evergreen foliage and white spring flowers) Dianthus 'Greystone' (white spring flowers with silvery-green foliage that remains in winter) Sedum 'Angelina' (yellow-orange foliage and yellow flowers) Medium plants to use in the space between the short and tall plants, groups of 3 or 5: Campanula persicifolia - cultivars are various shades between white and medium blue-purple - late spring flowers into the summer, especially if deadheaded Helenium 'Mardi gras' - orange and yellow flowers in July and August Dark-leafed Penstemon such as 'Dark Towers' or 'Mystica' White or light violet flowers in spring Echinacea purpurea/purple coneflower - pinky-purple daisies in summer Siberian Iris - spring flowers in shades of blue or white Tall plants (3'-4' for the back of the garden closest to the house and the edges of the property) All are large enough to plant as singles, though depending on the selection of those I've just given a genus of, some may be short enough to include in the middle height section: Aster 'Lady in Black' reddish foliage and tiny white flowers Aster x frikartii 'Monch' OR Aster laevis 'Blue Bird' or Aster 'October Skies' Baptisia some of these are a bit smaller and so might go into the medium category - late spring flowers in white, blue, yellow or some are maroonish Hydrangea paniculata 'Bobo' or 'Dharuma' (shrub with white flowers starting in July that slowly change to pink late summer into autumn) Physocarpus 'Tiny Wine'/ninebark Amsonia hubrichtii/Arkansas bluestar blue spring flowers with feathery foliage that turns gold in autumn Caryopteris divericata 'Snow Fairy' Green and white variegated foliage with blue fall flowers Perovskia atriplicifolia/Russian sage frost, fine-textured foliage and blue-purple flowers in summer Tall garden Phlox - be sure to check that it's mildew resistant - flowers in August and into September if deadheaded