I can certainly sympathize with you. The folks that built my house back in the 70's had gravel paths around the side yard and a huge gravel driveway. They put down landscape fabric under it all and to this day, I am continually taking my scissors out and cutting away the fabric as it appears everywhere. And so do the weeds! So I don't think it is a helpful product. I learned here on GW to put cardboard down before I plant. Not only don't the weeks grow through it (although at some point as it deteriorates, they will), it is the start of the famous "lasagna gardening". So you might want to try that the next time you make a bed. I plan on replacing the cardboard when the time comes. In my paths, I'm stuck for the time being, so I just pull the weeks and use a little roundup. In the meantime, if you don't like chemicals, try vinegar - it works sometimes. Hope this helps, Hester

Several of the most mature looking ones in my garden are on the "beware- slow grower!" list but I haven't found them so...I have others than I think are much slower and are of similar ages but much less mature looking. Ones I'm getting annoyed with their slowness are Brother Stephan(sp?) and Blue Ivory, Barbara Ann, and Big Daddy. None of those grow for me. These have all improved noticeably year after year. These were all moved at least once early in their years in my garden. Tokudama Flavocircinalis now Manhattan, which is described as having glacial growth rate on the hosta library page, I think, has been a good grower. Then: now: Thunderbolt then: now: I guess Remember Me has been slow, considering it is a small hosta. But it's still worth it. This may be the only hosta that actually got planted and not moved. now:

I have had both in floor cleaning and a Hayward Navigator. The in floor systems don't really work very well. The idea is fine but they are so poorly engineered that they will miss most of the pool. It takes a lot of water pressure to make the heads work and they have to be spaced rather close to be effective. Most builders just don't do that they use too few heads and too small piping and pumps. If fact in my present pool I had to by a Zodiac Z3 just to get the pool clean. So save your money. Many pool builders will include in the standard pool a simple remote control system that will do about all you need. $4000 is way out of line($2500 profit for the builder). I had a pool cover, it lasted 2 years and the sun destroyed it. Not work the price. The colored lights are very over priced for what they do. The IntelliTouch pumps are a huge overkill for home pools. They are hyped because of the profit factor. Proper sized pumps will work just as well. Unless you have a water feature that is sensitive to water pressure they basically are a waste. They actually a less energy efficient than a single speed pump. The hype is that if you turn down the 2hp pump it will save electricity, well if you just installed a 1hp you would do the same and save a $1000. By eliminating the above items you should have enough budget left to look at the various water features. There are many and they really add to a pool. Cliff s

EXACTLY! "Rock bottom" and "gravel bottom" - two totally different animals! But people lump them together and say NEVER put rock of any kind on your pond floor. A shallow layer of gravel is never going to collect any more "gunk" than, as you said, a bare bottom pond. It's easy to scoop, easy to swish around and the fish definitely pick through the gravel and find things that interest them. Plus LOTS of people who are way smarter than me will tell you that the gravel provides more surface area for the beneficial bacteria to cling to and grow in your pond. The more the merrier!