I don't honestly know exactly what I want to do in the yard - I am new to the whole owning a home thing. I have an active dog that really enjoys running around the yard as it is, but I don't enjoy going out there because I sink up to my ankles in bog. I want to replace the upper deck and build another deck underneath it to make a workshop/storage space; I would like to build an enclosure for the cats that leads from the house out into the garden so they can get fresh air and exercise without being in danger; I want to build a small chicken coop/shed so I can keep a couple dozen quail and a couple chickens (max chickens is 4). I just want it to be a private area where I can do my own thing. I am not a huge gardener per se, but I enjoy plants and nature and would like to make the yard usable and look nice. The property is on a slight decline sloping away from the back of the house. and the street is also on a hill - one neighbor is higher than me, the other lower. The higher neighbor has put multiple levels in his yard with landscape ties and filled it all in with crush. The other neighbor has a slightly more dry yard than mine, but then their yard has been taken care of. The person who owned this house before me was a very elderly man who did not do any yardwork anymore. A lot of people on my street have converted their yards to crush and/or used landscape ties to make different levels since the neighbirhood is on a hill. Perhaps I should do a tour of my yard and put it on Youtube!

Actually, that was the side I didn't do anything to other than cut a few of the larger berry bushes at the bottom of the hill. That birch is in rough shape and without staking it up and waiting several years, it won't survive. I would just assume take it down since it's not really in a great location anyway. I hate to do it since they are becoming relatively scarce due to disease and insects. This picture http://minus.com/lbx4OfKnwRF4xc shows what are definitely blackberry/raspberry bushes. I wouldn't mind having them, in fact I would welcome having a ton more, just not here. Being on the slope they will not be easy to get to when the mature and have fruit. If there was a way to transplant them or something I would love to hear it. I had tried it in the past, but the only way I have ever seen them grow was by accident and negligence. Based on the size of a few of the lower bushes, I would bet they may produce a limited amount of fruit. The smaller ones at the top of the hill however are definitely not mature enough from my experience. Going off on a tangent... I loved having berry bushes growing up and we had a large sandy area on my parent's property that they grew like crazy in. They eventually began to die off and my dad chopped them all down. The began to come back by the time I went to college, but it took a while to get any amount of fruit from them. My last year at college I rented a small cottage on a back road that had the biggest patch of black raspberries I had ever seen. I started picking as soon as they began to ripen and then ever couple days for the next 3 weeks. I stopped for lack of room in the freezer for 1gal ziplock bags. I made at least a dozen pint jars of jam and a few quarts. I gave a bunch away but i'm hoarding the last few of the "good" batch for myself. :) So in other words, I would love to have berry bushes, just not where they are. A lot of what you see on the ground on the left side (looking from the house) is debris and not much in the way of live plants other than some weeds. Obviously it is still very early here and not much has come up yet though. The tree shown in the background of this picture http://minus.com/lbwhVJrx76OE9d appears to be planted from what is left of the mulch/preparation around the base. This shot http://minus.com/lvFny84VUSjeW shows a rock swail that comes down from what is left of the last owners fish pond sort of thing. There is a reddish low lying plant growing on either side that I failed to get a close up picture of. It appears that it will look nice later in the spring but needs some weeding and/or mulching. I will take your advice and try posting some pictures on the "name that plant" forum. In the meantime, would I benefit from getting some sort of tall meadow grass mix to put down in a few weeks? *whoops, I wrote a book

I had the water mitigation guys out to my house three times in the first year after I moved in, so I'm pretty familiar with the drill. If your builder hasn't called them already, call them first thing in the morning and get them out there that same day. If the builder wasn't planning on doing it, do it yourself and present him with the bill afterwards. They have moisture sensors which they'll use to test the drywall (walls and ceilings). Moisture over a certain level means they'll rip it out so the framing behind can dry out. Within a certain range, they'll just put some fans on it. They may also put fans on the wet framing after ripping out the drywall. In some areas they may just pull the baseboards but leave the drywall alone, depending on how high the water has soaked in. They might also treat some of the wet framing to prevent mold. The carpet you can lift yourself now. Begin where it's wet, and pull back until you reach a dry spot. Pull up the wet pad as well. Drape the carpet and pad over things like chairs and such to allow air to circulate on both sides. You can actually save the carpet if only a bit is wet and you act immediately to air it out and get fans blowing on the pad and carpet. The water mitigation crews I worked with really knew their business and were very professional. Once you put yourself in the hands of a competent crew you'll feel much better. But it's more important to get them in and doing their thing now, than worrying about who's going to pay for what. Worry about money and repairs later, do the damage control now.

The leafy weed in your 4th pic is creeping Charlie. You can probably kill that out with Weed-B-Gone Chickweed, Clover, and Oxalis killer. If that doesn't work after 2 applications (3 weeks apart), then move up to Brush-B-Gone. Those two are stronger versions of the regular WBG product. Creeping Charlie will completely cover the yard, so get it out. I like that you're mowing it high. You might have to get that tree raised up or taken out before you make progress in the back. I suggested using organic fertilizer. Usually you don't have to go farther than next door to find someone who doesn't believe in organic fertilizer, but it really works. It improves the green color, growth, and grass density. The end result is exactly the same as if you had used chemical fertilizer. The differences are that it takes 3 weeks to see the improvement (boo) and it improves the health of your soil (YAY!) So if you were fertilizing with chemicals on Memorial Day, Labor Day, and Thanksgiving, then with organics you would fertilize 3 weeks earlier. It's the same same but you get healthier soil out of the deal. Now which organic fertilizer is "the best." Pretty much they're all the same, but also pretty much they are made from animal feed like soybean meal, corn meal, corn gluten meal, wheat, cottonseed meal, and alfalfa. As it turns out you can buy these raw materials at your local feed store for about 1/6 the cost of the same weight of organic fertilizer. So that's what we talk about when talking about organic fertilizer. I like corn meal and alfalfa pellets (rabbit chow). Morpheuspa likes soybean meal and the commercial product called Milorganite. Both of those are more expensive for me in Texas, so I use what I can get locally. The application rate for all these is 15 to 20 pounds per 1,000 square feet. If you have not used organics in many years, we suggest starting with 10 pounds per 1,000 square feet to reestablish the population of microbes in your soil. Otherwise you'll have excess food sitting on your soil and that can get stinky before it goes to work. Once you have the microbes going, then use the full rate. You can use organic any day, or every day, of the year without fear of hurting the grass or soil. The limit is more practical than biological - just don't smother the lawn under an inch of fertilizer. Here's a basic lawn care guide I put together after reading this and other lawn care forums for several years. Maybe it will help you get going. Basics of Lawn Care After reading numerous books and magazines on lawn care, caring for lawns at seven houses in my life, and reading numerous forums where real people write in to discuss their successes and failures, I have decided to side with the real people and dispense with the book and magazine authors. I don't know what star their planet rotates around but it's not mine. With that in mind, here is the collected wisdom of the Internet savvy homeowners and lawn care professionals summarized in a few words. If you follow the advice here you will have conquered at least 50% of all lawn problems. Once you have these three elements mastered, then you can worry about weeds (if you have any), dog spots, and striping your lawn. But if you are not doing these three things, they will be the first three things suggested for you to correct. 1. Watering Water deeply and infrequently. Deeply means at least an inch in every zone, all at once. Infrequently means monthly during the cool months and no more than weekly during the hottest part of summer. Do not spread this out and water for 10 minutes every day. If your grass looks dry before the month/week is up, water longer next time. If that does not work, then you might have to water more than once per week during the summer's hottest period. Deep watering grows deep, drought resistant roots. Infrequent watering allows the top layer of soil to dry completely which kills off many shallow rooted weeds. You will have to learn to judge when to water your own lawn. If you live in El Paso your watering will be different than if you live in Vermont. Adjust your watering to your type of grass, temperature, humidity, wind, and soil type. It is worth noting that this technique is used successfully by professionals in Phoenix, so...just sayin.' The other factors make a difference. If you normally water 1 inch per week and you get 1/2 inch of rain, then adjust and water only 1/2 inch that week. 2. Mowing Every week mulch mow at the highest setting on your mower. Most grasses are the most dense when mowed tall. However, bermuda, centipede, and bent grasses will become the most dense when they are mowed at the lowest setting on your mower. In fact there are special mowers that can mow these grasses down to 1/16 inch. Dense grass shades out weeds, keeps the soil cooler, and uses less water than thin grass. Tall grass can feed the deep roots you developed in #1 above. Tall grass does not grow faster than short grass nor does it look shaggy sooner. Once all your grass is at the same height, tall grass just looks plush. 3. Fertilizing Fertilize regularly. I fertilize 5 times per year using organic fertilizer. Which fertilizer you use is much less important than numbers 1 and 2 above. Follow the directions on the bag and do not overdo it (unless you use organics in which case you may overdo it without fear of hurting anything). At this point you do not have to worry about weed and feed products - remember at this point you are just trying to grow grass, not perfect it. Besides once you are doing these three things correctly, your weed problems should go away without herbicide. Oh and leave the weed n feed products alone. If you have weeds, spot spray with a liquid herbicide like Weed-B-Gone (not RoundUp). WnF products sound too good to be true...they are. It's always the wrong time to use them, and they just don't seem to work as promised. Plus it's a 2-man job to apply properly, so use fertilizer when you need fertilizer and herbicide when you need herbicide. My basic schedule for fertilizer is Memorial Day, Labor Day, and Thanksgiving. Depending on where you are, these are close enough to perfect. They are easy to remember. There are reasons for not fertilizing before Memorial Day and for not fertilizing during the summer, so don't second guess these dates. If you have questions, please ask before you act.