Okay guys here ya go. First experiment is a pic of the house that is already seasoned and lookin' good. But TW the only thing I saw was "" on your post. I have no idea what bpgreen saw. And since I don't know where to paste it I am pasting here and the Optional Link URL and the Name of Link. Hope you guys can see this.... http://nfinit.smugmug.com/Landscapes/Landscaping/518159_jubCB#21331199_f7o5C Here is a link that might be useful: http://nfinit.smugmug.com/Landscapes/Landscaping/518159_jubCB#21331199_f7o5C

I posted a request in May 2011 for the pear root problems, see above. I did not receive any answer. Then I read other websites and learned to kill the rooting system successfully. Now I receive an email from Debee Deeks for same problems. So I decided to re-visit this web to post a follow-up to share my story. As I said, the stump of the pear tree was removed. I had to deal with the strong rooting system producing twigs on the surrounding ground everywhere. The more I cut, the worse the new twigs. The chemical I used was Roundup concentrate plus. The detail is "Kill the roots guaranteed. Roundup weed & grass killer. Concentrate plus. Net 32 fluid oz. made by Mansanto Co, Missouri, 2009". I bought this from Home Depot or Lowes or OSH, (dont remember detail, probably Home Depot). The cost is about 10-30 US dollars (dont remember detail). Again it should be Concentrate plus. Also need to buy a pair of gloves that are resistant to chemicals (I bought a pair of black rubber gloves long enough up to my upper forearms). The face mask is optional if wind is not strong. Also needs a clean rag or sponge (I used a small piece of cloth rag). Also needs a porcelain bowl. Weather and timing: midday, like noon when sun is shining, is the best and when the twig are actively growing. The twig foliage should be dry without being watered or irrigated, (otherwise the chemical is diluted by water). The height of the twigs is best at 1 2 feet. Make sure not to spill any chemical onto the vegetable or other surrounding useful plants. If necessary, may need to separate by a cupboard. Chemical is very strong. Protect yourself. From my experience, the killing will be successful, but dont injure yourselves. Ready? Now wear appropriate garment, mask and gloves. I pour the Roundup chemical into a bowl (to facilitate the handling). Wet / soak the rag in the bowel with chemical. Then rub the rag against the leaves (both sides of leaves) and twigs (all around the twigs) until they are totally wet, from the leaves all the way to ground (dont let rag touch the earth, because the chemical is immediately inactivated by soil). Make sure do this to all the twigs. In a few hours, you will see the change. Usually by 2 weeks, all leaves and twigs die. If there is residual living twigs or leaves, may apply more chemical in 1 -2 weeks to those surviving twigs. And may apply more even some time later until they are totally die, if needed. Even with that, sometimes you may still see one to two twigs coming up the next spring. Use the chemical again. For some superficial roots, you may just dig it out as much as you can. The principle of the chemical is: the chemical is absorbed by the leaves and twigs, then transported by the stems / twigs to the root to kill the root. So for those green twigs, dont cut but use the chemical first. Then later when they are dead, may dig it out if necessary, but many times not necessary to dig. I applied chemical once, then add a bit one week later, then 4 weeks later for the residuals. This spring I saw only one twig and I physically removed it. No more until now. All the underground roots will die out due to the chemicals and due to lack of sun energy (because no leaves now to take in sunshine). It is worth trying above. And post your experience later for other readers benefit. Yangming Cao

New organic way is to understand each rose rather than blindly spray it with Bayer like ARS recommends. In my alkaline clay with pH near 8, roses grafted on Dr.Huey are quite healthy ... Dr. Huey's root secret plenty of acid to release potassium from rock-hard clay. Saw the neighbor with Angel Face (grafted on Dr. Huey), tons of blooms, and 100% healthy for many years. But multiflora-rootstock is a blackspot-fest in my alkaline clay. Multiflora-rootstock doesn't secret enough acid to un-lock potassium in my hard-mineral-clay. Wimpy own-roots that don't secret enough acid isn't best for my heavy clay. I had a Kordes rose, Deep Purple as own-root which was 100% healthy in loamy & slightly acidic potting soil .. but broke out in blackspots when I put in my hard clay. New organic way is to understand that each rose is different in its need for different minerals. Dave and Deb Boyd, zone 5a, noted that Double Delight and Oklahoma have a higher need for iron. True, I put red-lava-rock (high in potassium & iron) on Double Delight, and it blooms lots. But red-lava-rock was a disaster for Betty White .. its white petals turned brown at the edges. New organic way is to understand that roses like a STABLE environment FOR HEALTH. 1) Stable moisture: After more than a week of no rain, I peeled off 2 inch. of alfalfa hay, in full sun ... the soil is soaking wet underneath, with tons of earthworm. I peeled off grass-clippings as mulch, decent moisture, but less than alfalfa hay. The driest spot is under 2 inch of wood-chips, and it was in shade !! Zero earthworms, soil is bone-dry like the wood-chips above. 2) Fluffy and loamy: I put various additives in many holes in October. Dug those holes today, June 29 .. that's after 9 months. The holes stuffed with leaves are moist and fluffy like chocolate cake. The holes stuffed with crack-corn (high magnesium) was fluffy at first, but corn's stickiness and high-magnesium glued up with my clay into concrete. The holes stuffed with woodchips is really dry and glued up with clay like concrete. The holes stuffed with alfalfa hay is soaking wet, but gluey & compact, due to alfalfa's high-magnesium & calcium. The holes with alkaline clay broken up with coarse sand and gypsum is very fluffy, lots of earthworm. 3) Stable pH: Clay has the best buffers (hard-minerals) to neutralize acidic rain. But loamy soil, like potting soil in my pots .. cannot buffer the acid in my fermented alfalfa-tea, nor too much acidic rain. I have to top my pots with alfalfa pellets and pea-gravel for their buffering capacity. Alfalfa at pH 5.8 is high in magnesium and calcium. Pea-gravel has pH of over 9, high in calcium & magnesium & potassium.

Densifiers are used to seep into pours of the concrete (the spaces left behind when the water evaporated) leaving behind a silicon product that is more than a surface application (it seeps down into the concrete...not very far but far enough). We have this on the showroom floor where I work. They scuff (but do not scratch). They still stain. They still loose their gloss when objects are dragged across them. But they can be polished up again. Here's the write up of one such product: https://www.wrmeadows.com/en-ca/liqui-hard-canada/ Notice they say it "improves" resistance (but does not STOP) chemical intrusion (staining). It improves abrasion resistance (but does not stop it). Once the densifier is applied, you may not be able to apply another permanent floor down over top (like tile....nothing will grab the top layer of the concrete). A floating floor would be one of the only ways you could add a different floor over top of this. Just be aware of what you are signing up for when it comes to a permanent concrete finish. It has been my experience (6.5 years in the flooring industry) that concrete floors get "covered up" inside of 7 years. As for my costs above...it should be noted that I'm in Canada...in a SUPER HOT market with VERY FEW high-level professionals. The minimum wage in my area is almost $13/hr. Many parts of Canada are going to reach $15/hr for someone to work at a Tim Hortons. As soon as you have a skill of any sort you start making $20 - $30/hr very quickly. Our plumbers/electricians bill out at $180/hr (Red Seal) which is MORE than a Family Doctor is allowed to bill the Canadian Health Care system. Makes you think about a 'trade' doesn't it?