Most of the blogs that show vinegar weed killer recipes, show household vinegar with 5% acidity.

This.Will.NOT.Work. I repeat, This.Will.NOT.Work.

You need a vinegar that has AT LEAST 10% acidity PLUS a horticultural citrus oil. There is some controversy within the organic gardening community regarding vinegar strength. Very respected gardeners say that 10% acidity mixed with citrus oil will kill weeds.

For at least 10 years I have been using a 20% vinegar for my weed control. I have not tried 10% vinegar ~ but I trust the gardeners who say it will work. Many of them are diluting their 20% vinegar by cutting it in half and adding water. Doing this will give you two gallons of 10% vinegar.

WARNING: This 10% – 20% vinegar is potent. You need to wear goggles, rubber gloves, long sleeves, and shoes when working with 20% vinegar. It will burn your skin if any splashes. I have experienced this first hand ~ it can be very painful.

While the vinegar alone will work well at getting rid of weeds, it's the orange oil that nails the coffin shut on weeds. However, none of this will kill weeds if it isn't properly applied. That is the real secret to killing weeds and killing them for good.

If you want to kill weeds naturally, then here's what you do:The correct ratio for weed killing is: 1 gallon of 10-20% vinegar to 1 C. of orange (or citrus) oil. Mix well. (see my Warning above) Then, add to either a spray bottle like this one. I highly recommend rubber gloves when applying with this type of bottle ~ it does tend to drip.

This ONLY WORKS when applied at full strength, in sunlight, during the heat of the day.

That means, if it rained yesterday, then don't apply it. If rain is in the forecast within 24 hours, don't apply it.

Wait until the soil is dried out a bit, the sun is bright, and it's the middle of the day. It must be at least 70-degrees for maximum efficacy. The weed will think you are giving it some good food. Down the hatch, little weed.

Keep in mind that this brew does not discriminate. Be careful where you spray. It will kill your flowers and plants just as effectively. Obviously, avoid application on windy days.

Here are some tips to get a Clematis started up your tree!:

-Choose a tree with rough bark, like a maple or oak. A smooth tree, like a cherry, with not get enough grip for your Clematis as it grows.

-Plant it on the shady side of the tree trunk and add compost. Mulch well. This enables you to give its roots the shade they need to start well.

-If you are not planting by another vine, then add a way for the Clematis to make it on to the tree bark. Use small bamboo canes, fishing line or twigs to make a scaffold for it to climb.

-Help the Clematis along by occasionally tucking its loose new growth into the rough bark of the maple.

It has turned out beautifully! I especially like the dreamy blue of Clematis 'Perle d'Azur' when viewed on the tree trunk against the blue sky. I hope yours does too!

Terrariums

Terrariums are making a big comeback! The great thing about terrariums is that you can DIY with any glass container. Terrariums can be made from glass jars, mason jars, glass bowls, and even light bulbs.

To build a terrarium, a few things are needed. The first is the glass container in which you would like to plant your mini garden. Next, you need to plant the plants and it is usually necessary to plant the larger plant in the middle.Use soil that does not keep too much moisture in but does not dry out quickly either Once you have placed your plants, water the plants and cover the soil with pebbles or moss. Now you just need to seal the container, make sure to keep the terrarium out of direct sunlight, and to uncover if too much condensation occurs. Enjoy your new terrarium!

Pots

Plant the traditional way by planting herbs,flowers, and other various plants in pots. You can easily buy pots at a local supermarket or nursery. If you would like to be more financially conservative,then consider buying a simple terracotta pot and decorate it, or a plastic pot.Cheaper pots can be visually appealing as long as you keep them neat and add a little creativity. The bigger the pot, the more drainage holes it needs,therefore make sure to either pick a pot that has enough holes to suit its size or drill your own extra holes. Smaller pots only need one drainage hole.

Recycled Containers

Another way you could plant indoors is by going"Green" and by recycling containers. Reuse plastic cups, or consider reusing tin cans from loose leaf teas and cans from coffee. This is another opportunity to let your creative juices flow by decorating these recycled versions of pots the same way you can decorate terracotta pots.

Balcony Gardens

If you have a balcony in your apartment, this is a great opportunity to create balcony gardens. Balcony gardens can be created in various ways with a mixture of pots, crates, and jars.

One of the options of a garden is the palette garden. Palette gardens are simple as all you need to do is find a palette behind any supermarket and repair any loose boards. Once you have repaired the loose boards you can add fabric to the backside; this will prevent the dirt from damaging the wall that the palette garden will be leaning up against. Once you have that set up, add your mixture of plants including flowers, cascading plants, and herbs. Now you have a full vertical garden on your balcony!

You might not have enough outdoor room, but that doesn't mean you cannot invite Mother Nature into your home. If you love gardening then these examples and tips can help you create mini gardens and balcony gardens to enjoy doing what you love!

I have had a dirty little secret!Everyone always tells me how clean my house is. It's not really. Not since I've had kids. You've seen those cute little signs, Excuse the mess, we are busy making memories or Excuse the mess, we live here? Well that's not really my style. In fact, my house is nothing like the clean it used to be before the kids. I've grown more accustomed to the mess, but so many little things tend to get over looked these days. Many people have exciting goals like running a marathon or skydiving (and I may have just become the biggest loser because I just googled Common goals people have, because I couldn't come up with 2 good ideas), you know what I've always wanted? To put my house on the market and have the ad say, "Mrs. Clean lives here". I'm not kidding, I actually told my realtor I wanted that on my add. She said, your house will sell itself. OK, she was right, but I really wanted that at the time. One thing I've been over-looking lately is my kitchen cabinets. I'm home cleaning today and thought, maybe today's the day to get that grease off the cabinets. Now keep in mind, these are just the cabinets over the stove, and grease is always building up on these cabinets. I wipe down my cabinets frequently, since they are white and show any dirt, but I do tend to "overlook" these top cabinets because I never could seem to get the grime off with much success. I have those god-awful therma-foil and for lack of a better term the surface is "pockey". That means there is a little texture that allows dirt and grease to accumulate. The picture shows best how greasy these cabinets were. I've tried many products before, but today I decided to go for some simple soft scrub and a warm dish rag. I love the lemon scent and use this for a lot of my cleaning. I poured it on my dishcloth and just rubbed it on the grease, and just like that, all of the grease and grime came off. I've tried many other cleaners and de-greasers and seriously never got such great results with barely any elbow grease at all. I might suggest if you are working over your head that you wear some protective eyewear, because trust me when I say, you don't want your break from cleaning to involve trying to get soap out of your eye! Just sayin. Check out the before and afters. It's really pretty amazing!

For quite a while, I have admired all sorts of wonderful homemade and commercial raised beds seen on Pinterest and Hometalk. Because I couldn't justify the cost of buying the lumber and didn't want to tackle disassembling pallets, raised beds did not seem to be in my future. But then, our neighbors replaced their shutters and were nice enough to give them to me when I asked. They know by now that a repurposing project is about to get underway.

You could do other configurations, but I used two shutters on each side and one-half a shutter for the ends. That used up all ten of the free shutters. Odds and ends of lumber stored in the garage rafters came down and became corner, end and middle supports. I even had enough wood screws from another project to use for this one!

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