I was so disappointed my hydrangeas did not bloom last year.We had such a mild winter. It was a shock to me as these plants were propagated from my grandmothers 40 year old plants and they had bloomed the year before at her house. I live about 15 minutes away from her and never thought I would have total winter die back. Our new home is on a hill and we get very strong unprotected winds in the spring for about 2 weeks. In mid march, the plants were leafing in and a few nights dropped to the low 30's and all the stems died in all the hydrangeas. They grew back from the base but since they bloom on new growth, I had no blooms last summer. This year, I have new leaves out on old growth already. I chose 2 Hydrangeas to try to protect. I had some moving blankets from our last move. I wrapped the stems loosely to make them more upright. I took 4 foot rebar and placed them in the ground around the hydrangeas for support above the plant. I took a 50 watt low voltage landscape light and placed it in the center of the plant. I took two blankets per plant and placed them over the plant. I secured the blankets with a few stones at the base. I added a remote thermometer inside one of the blankets to see if my experiment would work. I also placed a thermometer outside the plant. I remove the blankets on warm days and rainy days. So far it has worked. We had temps of 21 and underneath the blanket the temp was 33. My other hydrangeas have already died back to the ground. The reason I am doing this is for sentimental reasons. These hydrangeas remind me of growing up. It has been a pain to have to check the temps every night to make sure I cover them up in freezing temps. Even if it works, I do not think I will do it next year. I think I will pot them up and overwinter them in my greenhouse. Sorry for the long book version. I love hydrangeas and can not think of my southern garden without them so I may just have to pot up my propagated plants and replace my outdoor hydrangeas with ones that bloom on new wood. Then I would not have to worry about them dying back.

If you cover the "weeds" with about 4 inches of sand you may kill most of them. Just what to do depends on whether you have perennial "weeds" or annual "weeds". There is no reason to spray the whole area with vinegar, or anything else, just spray the "weeds", or till them in and at the same time work in organic matter and then level and if necessary grade that area.

I'm in the process of putting carpet tiles in my basement. First I used a shop vac to pull up most of the major dust, then I mopped the floor with fabuloso multipurpose cleaner mixed with water ( according to directions.) I used a regular old "janitor style" mop, let it dry, and mop it again. This should do it. This should work better than a swiffer. Just make sure after you mop a little bit, dip the mop back in the bucket to clean the mop and get fresh cleaner on it. This has worked great for me. Good luck!

I have currently researched and tried a couple solutions to this. I have found that the solutions given by professionals are wide ranging and very contradictory. First, be sure the answer is for OLD HORSEHAIR plaster. Many solutions are for plaster, which is different The options and contradictions given: 1. Use premixed joint compound. My friend did this totally successfully throughout her home 15 years ago- giving a skim coat of about 1/16" and sanding it smooth. And several professionals (at paint stores and on-line) have said this is the way to go. BUT, many contractors say NOT to do this because the plaster, if it is lime based, will resist the gypsum in the premixed drywall plaster and it will cause it to prematurely (within weeks or years) fail. I used it on one wall, and it dried nicely, but was not as solid as plaster or spackling compound. It primed and painted well, though, and the paint adhered well. So I am not convinced this is not a good solution. But time has not tested its permanence. 2. Use setting joint compound. I used this after talking to the people at USG about their products, and they said NOT to use the premixed, but to use the setting type. That it would adhere. I scraped it on thin onto one wall, but, as the person here suggested, I saw that it dried quickly, possibly before it had a chance toset. Then it would not be hard.. just a dried powder. Went back to USG and he said it needed to be at least 3/32” (who can measure that??) thick to insure it has time to set. I did the rest of the walls thicker. The next day, the walls were very patchy of darker and lighter grey. I went to wet sand, but the stuff just washed off. It seemed dry, and and about as hard/soft as the premixed, so I let it go.. but was concerned. The next day I primed it with 123 Zinsser primer. Two days later, put the gentlest tape on it to hold up a paint chip… and the paint peeled right off. Went back to the bag of compound, and noted that it said the product would get HOT when setting. My walls never got hot… or even warm. On my last batch, the plaster did not even set up in the bucket after 2 days.. it was still cool and moist. So I do not think it ever set. So I have primer over a layer of dust in a very difficult-to -paint stairwell. 3. Use Veneer plaster or Plaster of Paris. This I have not done. When I first started out a contractor said I should not use any type of joint compound, but this would be a harder, better surface. I bought the bag and was about to start, but then read that I would need to let it set for nearly 30 days before I could paint. Also, many sites say you need to use a plaster bonder between the two plasters. I found that the plaster bonder was not sold by anyone locally (I would think if it was so necessary, it would be carried), and it was going to be 2 weeks for me to get it. I suspect the idea solution is to use the plaster bonder, and then the veneer plaster. And go for the long time period. But I went the above routes after researching these other "options". In retrospect, 5 weeks later, I should probably have done this. 4. Durabond. I did not use this, but it is supposed to adhere to the horsehair plaster well. Only it is super hard to sand afterwards. My neighbor used it once in his house, then took the remainder of the bag to the dump as it was impossible to sand. He went with Plaster of Paris. 5. Spackling compound. This has not been suggested by anyone, but, after having gone through all the above, I think I will use spackling compound. It adheres to everything. Hardens well, Paints well. Is compatible with all surfaces. And since I am only scraping on the thinnest layer, although it is pricier, it is worth it in the long run. Does anyone know of a reason this would not work? I have 2 more rooms to go.