Thank you everyone for the responses and kind words!! I definitely still have plants to take out! like the strawberrys and the bush thats all hacked up! I noticed that lots of you mentioned the bed layout. Does anyone have any ideas what i should do? I have an idea in mind but for some reason i have a feeling it wont look the way i think it will look. Maybe i draw something out and put it on here. But ideas are more than welcome! I loooove looking at houzz!! I have a lot of pics saved. Ive been through TONS of tropical photos but none are really close to what im looking at having in my garden. ): its hard cuz the ones that are nice, i would have no idea how to apply that to my yard! But its still nice to look (: The plants i have are: 3 med cordylines 2 small cordylines 2 philodendron 2 small bird of paradise The 1 big bird of paradise 2 giant white birds of paradise Lots of baby upright elephant ears 5 hibiscus 2 black canna A couple canna lilys tropicana 1 hibiscus tree 4 plumeria but i think i have to keep those in pots where i live And 4 red tip looking bushes that are all along the side of the house that arent horrible looking i just dont like that there are the same plant all long the side of the house. I think thats it (: Oh and 4 gerbera dasiys This post was edited by Reese87 on Mon, Sep 9, 13 at 14:37

Sorry to arrive late. The locus classicus here is Montagu Allwood, Carnations, Pinks and All Dianthus, page 72 ff. I'll type out the pertinent passage, but everyone should try to acquire a copy of Allwood's wonderful book. BALLAST OR BURNT EARTH The great value of this consists not only in the potash it contains, also its special help in lightening and giving drainage to heavy soil, but in the wonderfully stimulating effect it has upon root action, especially with all members of the dianthus family. It supplies something which is beyond the reach of the chemist. To make ballast it is a good plan to dig out some of the stiff, dense subsoil and burn it in small fires, conveniently distributed. A number of small fires are better than one big one for making burnt earth, because if the clay is lightly burnt it loses its tenacity and then a small amount of plant food is made available. To make ballast as hard as brick dust a large fire is necessary because that generates more heat. We at Wivelsfield burn clay for all our carnations and dianthus, using about one-eighth in the compost, but as much as one-quarter in soil for sowing dianthus seed, and also for early pottings. Undoubtedly the potash so supplied is in a form which is most beneficial and health-giving. We dig stiff yellow clay and burn this when wet during the dull wet months of the year. In fact it is difficult to persuade it to burn freely when it is dry. We commence with a large fire of wood, and when this is partially burnt, we cover it with the wet clay sprinkled with a little soft coal dust. This is the only secret. If the clay is too soft and wet, or too powdery and not in lumps or clods which admit air or draught, or if the wind causes one side to go dead, then iron pipes are placed to encourage a draught. The ballast heaps are kept smouldering for months. As the clamp burns through, usually twice in the twenty-four hours, it is covered in with clay and a dusting of soft coal dust. In fact, it must be kept well covered so as to preserve the heat, yet not smothered. When the heaps get too high they are dragged down with iron drags, a portion at a time, and covered with clay and coal. The ashes or ballast are sieved before being used and we prefer to keep them dry. The lumps are allowed to weather. Pure wood ashes of course contain more potash but are not so beneficial to heavy soils, because they do not keep them so well aerated. Some will ask, is all this expense worth while for growing carnations? To grow the best it is always worth while. Our father, when a farmer on the wolds of Lincolnshire, always sowed sieved burnt earth with his turnip seed, and he was famous locally for his exceptionally fine crops. He used to plough up the turf on the sides of the parish roads (you could take liberties like that in those days) and burn these turves when dry during the summer time. The method employed was to make a circular well of turves with spaces for draught around a large heap of wood, fire the wood and, when nearly burnt through, put turves upon the embers, then close the whole lot in with turves as it burnt through. This sod clamp would burn for weeks. Undoubtedly the roots and humus in the turves, and also the draught, must have assisted the burning, because I well remember in those now distant years that everything seemed to be consumed. However, for turnips the old Governor never used the ashes for at least one year. They were then sieved and sown with the turnip seed through the drill. When the wolds in Lincolnshire were reclaimed from being merely rabbit waste land much of the surface soil was burnt in long ridges on the hills. That would be, I imagine, during the Napoleonic Wars.

I enjoy the harsh scientific threshold here. Am looking for a whole house conditioner, "softener" and pure drinking water solution that removes chlorimine and fluoride. Just wondering is the study done at Arizona State University at http://www.uswatersystems.com/pdf/ArizonaStateUniversityWaterSoftnerStudy.pdf considered non-scientific proof? Or is that not up to the standards of testing that you all require for proof? What testing would meet the requirements? When a tester comes to your home and does a test for Hardness, VOCs and ph balance is that not factual of what you have? Or is that some kind of bias slant to have them tell you which system you need? This is a very confusing process.

I do have a Karbon. Wall-mounted. Love it. I looked all over for a soap dispenser that wouldn't argue with the Karbon. We just put this one in. It looks good, but its operation seems to be to be a bit stiff. This saves on soap though. :) My last soap dispenser gushed at the slightest pressure. Sorry but I still don't have a working camera to show you how it looks with the Karbon. :( rc Here is a link that might be useful: Kohler K1995 soap dispenser