Is it true that vinegar will kill weeds. I have 3 very large gardens surounded by tiny river rocks that are about 2"s think in most places well they are covered in all kinds of weeds.Anyone know what would be the best thing to use.My neighbor uses a blow torch,looks fun but not sure if it works.

Hey, I had my own "Blew the budget" thread. A very wise KF guru (Buehl) gave me this great advice: To decide what you can do to cut costs, I recommend asking yourself the following questions: (1) What is not that important to me and doesn't add functionality? [Candidate for elimination altogether] (2) What can I do at a later date? [Candidate for deferring until a later date] (3) What can't be done at a later date and I can't live without? [Candidate for keeping and doing now] I know that you are also asking about what you can do vs. paying for a contractor, but you may want to narrow down the list with this logic first. At least that will help you to prioritize. It sounds like you have found at least one candidate for "what can I do at a later date" with the backsplash. For me, my moldings as a cross between 1 and 2 (doesn't add functionality and can be done at a later date), so that was going to save me a lot of $. Once you have your prioritization, then maybe you could break the project into phases with the #3s in the first phase, #2s, then finally #1s - mixing in the parts that you think you can do yourself. Good luck - it's tough making these choices, and it often feels like an "all or nothing" proposition.

Here's a picture of my knife scratch that I made on the Blanco Silgranit metallic grey earlier this afternoon. This was with a serrated steak knife. I originally did about 15 saws across and then "topped" it off with about 10 more to it before I took the photos. It definitely took some effort to get the indented scratch there. It's noticeable mostly from certain angles, most probably wouldn't really notice it if just looking at the sink. I haven't tried eliminating the scratch yet.

Awesome! Thanks! I am really proud of myself for making the 511 mix. I have been meaning to do it for a few months now, but was putting it off thinking the the foxfarm was going to be ok. It was quite therapeutic to sit over a bucket and sift the bark picking out the sap wood and fiberous strands and then mix it all and bareroot. It suits my nerdy tendencies and I am feeling really proud of myself and hopefull for the ol’ gardenia. I will give it a good flush tomorrow with my weak FP and vinegar water until it runs clear. It was a bit cloudy when it exited the pot today on the first watering. I have it closer to the house now so it will only get 2 or 3 hours of morning sun and the rest of the day bright shade. I am looking forward to getting it back to full health! Oh and I did a PWT test with the leftover 511 mix and the PWT is really small! Only 20% of the total volume of soil. So if my calculations are right, only 2” in the 12” pot is perched. Pretty good right? FX all goes well from here! I really appeciate your time and knowledge!