Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

Question: After years of neglect, my "lawn" is a complete wreck. It is green, all right, consisting of every green weed known to man. Should I get my soil tested? Should I chemically treat and kill the lawn and start over?

Answer: The answer to your first question is easy: Yes. Getting your soil in good shape is the first step toward growing a healthy lawn, whether you decide to try to save the one you have or start over. A soil test will tell you which nutrients your soil is lacking, so you can feed it accordingly. It will also tell you the soil's pH level, which determines whether the grass plants can use the nutrients in the soil.

There are other things you can do to improve your lawn, including giving it a core aeration and top-dressing it with compost. Mowing properly is important, too, because it helps the grass stay healthy so it can out-compete the weeds.

From your description, however, it sounds like you're going to have to renovate the lawn, either by over-seeding or replacing it. Over-seeding involves dethatching and aerating or slitting the lawn, and then spreading seed over the existing grass. Replacing the lawn is what you referred to: killing the existing grass and planting new.

-- McClatchy-Tribune News

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Lawn & Garden: What can be done with a lawn gone bad?

May 1 (two to three weeks) squash, pumpkins, cucumbers, zucchini, watermelon, muskmelon.

Materials needed

Use soil-less seed starting mixes like Jiffy Mix, Miracle Gro Seeding Mix or one recommended by your local greenhouse.

Containers should be about 2 inches deep, such as greenhouse trays, pie tins, egg cartons or any trays with bottom drain holes added. Use separate trays for each type because seeds grow at different rates. Also needed are wooden or plastic labels or stakes. We make our own by cutting plastic milk jugs into stakes 4 inches long and 1 inch wide.

Why not seed directly into the final larger pots or cell-packs? Why seed into trays and then transplant? Because its easier to provide optimum germination conditions for a seed tray than a larger grouping of pots. Seedlings become stockier as you transplant them slightly deeper into the final container.

Procedure

1. Moisten the seeding mix the previous day by adding water to the bag and stirring by hand. Dry mixes can be difficult to water after seeding.

2. Fill containers almost to the top with mix, then gently firm and level.

3. Seeds may be broadcast over the surface of the mix or planted in rows. Being of German stock, I prefer neat rows. Press a ruler or pencil into the mix to make shallow furrows.

4. Planting depth is important, and its usually shallower than we might expect. Small seeds like petunia can be merely pressed into the mix after sowing. Larger seeds can be sown into a furrow and covered with mix, or place the seeds on the surface and sprinkle mix over the top. As a rule of thumb sow seeds at a depth equal to two or three times the seeds diameter. Its better to err on the shallow side.

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Growing Together: Scoffing at the Season: Banish winter by starting seeds indoors

DENHAM SPRINGS, LA (WAFB) -

Amanda Toups made her way around her muddy yard Monday afternoon in the newly constructed Quail Creek neighborhood near Denham Springs.

Toups says she received a picture from her husband last Friday showing a Ward 2 Water excavator on her front lawn. Toups says workers told her husband they had to dig up her yard to install water lines for the new house across the street. A big dirt mound was left behind and Toups wanted answers.

"I started to contact Ward 2 and said when are you going to come out and fix this and they said we just have to let nature run its course refusing to give any kind of help," said Toups.

Toups is not alone. There is another yard down the street with a mound of mud left behind. Toups says she continued to call and was eventually referred to Ward 2's head foreman who she says refused to do anything but fill the hole with dirt because the company had right of way.

"I was shocked, mad, upset," said Toups. "It's just not fair that they can come on your personal property do whatever they want, never notify you and not even leave a note on the door explaining what happened."

The damage to Toup's yard is beyond the six foot right away which is why she believes Ward 2 Water should be responsible.

In a phone call, Ward 2 Water Manager Preston Killcrease explained normal procedure is to fill in holes with removed dirt and spread it evenly. Killcrease also vowed to make sure Toups was satisfied.

"We will do anything to please the customer," added Killcrease. "Anything it takes I'm all for it."

Killcrease also requested that we give Toups his cell phone number and after a quick call with him Toups said she was feeling optimistic.

See more here:
Livingston Parish resident says water company damaged lawn

QUEENSBURY For SUNY Adirondack students who smoke, the gazebos on campus offer a safe haven.

I come out here to enjoy my smoke after all the stress from school, said Whitney Morehouse of Lake George.

Morehouse also likes the chance to socialize with other smokers.

Theres so many people that I dont see on a regular basis that Ill see out here, she said.

The gazebos are the colleges only designated smoking areas, but that will change in the fall when the campus goes tobacco-free.

The Board of Trustees in December voted to move forward with the plan to prohibit cigarettes, cigars, chewing tobacco and electronic cigarettes from campus. The decision brings the college in line with a SUNY goal of getting all campuses smoke-free.

College officials are stressing education instead of punishment and are hosting workshops next week for students and staff looking to snuff their smoking habits. The first workshop will start at 12:30 p.m. Feb. 19 in the Miller Auditorium of Dearlove Hall. A second workshop is slated for 6:30 p.m. Feb. 20.

Some students dont plan to attend the sessions. Tricia Pratt, of Wilton, said she has been smoking for 25 years and doesnt plan to quit.

Ive figured its my only bad habit, she said.

It is a habit brought on by stress, say smokers, and its hard to stop.

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SUNY Adirondack offering workshops to help students quit smoking before campus goes tobacco-free

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