Stone, I've kept Citronella (4" potted plants) in the yard. It works, IF you're sitting right next to it..LOL.. They smell too much like Raid, an odor I'd rather not breath, so I don't care for them. It's probably safe though. Safer than breathing Raid in the can. On the other hand, people on the Hoya forum vow Citronella and other fragrant Geraniums, (dried and crushed) keep Mealy away.. A good-sized Citronella works..I used to work in a plant store, and someone gave me a free 4' Citronella tree..I hated its smell, gave it away..The tree was in the front yard, about 8' from the porch..While sitting out front, I have to say the smell kept mosquitos away. So, IMO, if you have a large tree or several smaller plants, it'd probably do the job..Toni

This type of countertop can be treated as a living and growing surface. Over time, various things may hit it, some of which will remain. Do not treat them as stains to remove, but as a development of the surface. Granite is not supposed to be supper stain resistant; let it age with grace rather than trying to keep it the same way it was when installed. You will find this advice particularly helpful when and if you get some chips in the surface. These things were meant to be used, not coddled and worried about. Renais

My dad and I had to buy many years ago bark collars that had just come out and read about them on the internet and mentioned them to my dad, these are ones that do not spray as we don't like anything to be sprayed at them. We called the puppy trainer that trained them with the invisible fencing we got when they were puppies and she worked with them and the male dog didn't like it at all and the female dog as with the collar for invisible fencing had to up it so she would get effected from it. We were also told like the invisible fencing collars don't keep them on at all times as their necks wil break down, so give them relief like at night and when you aren't there so that if anything goes wrong, you are home to help them out. It got all I had to do with the male dog, he would hear his sister running outside and go charging outside too and start barking and I would say do you want the collar and he would immediately quiet and go inside. I didn't like him not barking totally as I like him protecting and he did when anyone did drive up to the house and they would see him or hear a dog barking and watch him despite being small size. You have to be home when you first do it to make sure its okay and also don't freak them out bad like the invisible fencing collars can. Just watch them. Also like in any training use your words to them like you say no bark and if they keep going on, then put the collar on and say no bark, if its not working, its not strong enough but make sure someone that knows how to do it do it properly and not over load it up. It worked for our dogs and like I said with the male dog it got that I just said the word to him do you want the collar? And he didn't have to wear it saying that to him. Yes, they will still bark without and then you go back if its a problem again but I gave the male a good chance and he didn't wear it especially when we lost his sister and so he was quieter then.

A few months ago I came home to find that my bf had transplanted my plant. I appreciated it (it was something on my to-do list). However, it was a plastic pot with no drainage. I'm a very busy grad student and have never kept plants really. I thought if I tried to transplant it that day it would go into shock or something and die, but I kept forgetting to do it and now I see that the stalks have turned brown and the bottom leaves are drying out/falling off. I read that usually in these cases it's usually too severe of a case of root rot to save the plant. Should I try to examine the roots, get the bleach and fungicide and save it or should i just toss it before my neighboring plants catch the fungus? Because of my schedule I am almost leaning towards just throwing it out... It's a shame because it was doing so well before :/