pistilo, actually Katrina, and even more so the several hurricanes before Katrina, did hit the tropical plant industry REALLY hard. I work for a professional interior landscaping company, and some plants simply became unavailable, or they were so scarce that the prices were outrageous and the quality lower than normal. The reason is that almost all of the tropical foliage on the east coast is produced in Florida. Some plants were damaged by the hurricane itself. Many of the other plants are grown under shade cloth for protection from the intense sun, and the hurricane ripped away the shade cloth and perhaps knocked down the supporting posts too, so the plants burned. Plus the power went out for days, so they couldn't run the irrigation systems, and the plants dried up as well. It took many, many months to be able to get decent big plants again. Some of the huge ones that take years to grow up still aren't available at all. I believe some of the growers are considering just giving up, because they are tired of rebuilding and getting knocked down over and over again. Plants are also produced in California, and some overseas, but shipping costs make it prohibitive to send to the east coast.

Hey Great minds think alike...I was just over on the tufa forum looking at the gal from NY, who did some awesome yard projects...including some lawn/bed edging as I am gearing up to do a bunch of crete fun!!! You are always coming up with stuff outside the box!!!Way to Go! (hope you didn't empty that bottle all in one sitting!lol)!!!

When I first discovered cooking with wine, my motto was "One for the pot, one for the cook." Now my motto is "None for the pot, one for the cook." Of course there are a few exceptions. My how times have changed!

Test the raw water before the softener. Every result form the city will be at the treatment plant and usually only the health related stuff not the water quality data we need. By the time you buy the DIY tests (less accurate) you're better finding a local certified lab (much more accurate). Municipal environmental health departments can usually point you to a lab or a local university might help also. What size is your old 5600 softener? Model #? If you don't know the K then how high and what is the diameter of the resin tank?