good info, I have been using chemicals, as I was new to the states, knew no-one and moved into our house in September, so no compost, I have started a pile starting with the leaves!!, and have been trying to find more pallets so I can create more...I may have found a source, in the shape of a mass horder I meet on saturday, but it was his wife offering, she even showed me them, and said I could take them at the end of the BBQ, but as a bit of a horder myself knew, best to ask him!, and never got the chance, anywho (sic) I have been using way less than they suggest, and doing sq foot, which advicates peat moss, I have used it, but not in the quanties suggested, as I am feeling bad! hopefully I will never have to use the chemicals again and can sustain myself next year, I have also planted lots of peas and runner beans, to help with nitrogen here and there and I am also looking at green maneurs. Also at the BBQ they had tons and tons of well rotted manuer from their horse who died 2 years ago, I am waiting to ask on that, as they had 40+ fruit trees to plant, other than that no garden. I am not "organic! but I like to use nature as much as I can as I remember the ladybird/bug invastion of 76,77,78? only remember it, as a little girl they where everywhere, and my Dad and Pops, where on cloud nine as surprise, surprise, these huge numbers of ladybirds happened during the worst aphid problem they had ever encountered, and solved their problems. just to ask, do you have and environmental agency in the States? I was a nurse in Occupational Health in the UK and alot of our degree centred on environmental impact, and health? and our proffesor (I worked for, not studied under) had spent a large part of his medical profession in the US and used the environmental disasters, he worked on in the US to teach us in house...he was part of some sort of quick response team?...Oh maybe answered my own question???

First: thanks KT for the post - but the link didn't work today, not here. Kinda hard to dredge all the trash out of orbital space, ain't it, Vgkg? "Who has used nuclear weapons in the past, who has the largest arsenal pointed at other countries, who is expanding use of such weapons (including on conventional weapons), who is talking about deploying such weapons into space, who has hundreds of military bases in some of the most politically sensitive places in the world, and who is acting unilaterally and pre-emptively?" Why, al Qaeda and al Qaeda's helpers, of course. Don't mistakenly exclude "tests" from "uses." And don't exclude "cells" from "bases." Never mind: NOTHING they hit is EVER a "holy site," is it? There goes "religion" again! The "zombie themes" sound SO much more Soviet than American - but we're getting there, all in good time, my pretties, and our little dogs, too... Gee, just like in Hollywood's movies, before long we can expect on our own continent - overdone dead zones. Maybe we should invite Elena over here for a "before" tour, with an open invite for an after tour of the same spots...eventually, some preacher will take up the cue and tell us all what we should do...and we'll do it...or else...again, never mind: preachin'z already happenin'.

Thanks for the suggestion, akaM. Yes, our soil testing was performed at NC State. But you remind me it is probably time to repeat it when we redo the bed this fall. I am sure the concrete wall leaches into the soil, affecting the ph. We are going to take down the wall, at least partway, and inspect the barrier cloth to see of perhaps sand is intruding when it rains. Then dig it out, amend, pray, and replant . . . something. Perhaps several things, just to see if anything can survive. So far as too much moisture, I do not recall what the winter of 2012-2013 brought us while the hostas were dormant. (We cannot irrigate from mid October through late March, and don't need to.) The slope and the sand generally ensure good drainage there. When the hostas were put in, I checked them every other day with the usually reliable finger-in-the-dirt test. Based on my past experience with hostas, all seemed as it should be. But the plants put out very little new growth and were beset by everything but plague and voles. First slugs, which we managed. Then rabbits nibbled down two, so we began spraying with IMG rabbit spray. Periodically I would find a hosta crushed in the mornings, as if a dog had rolled around in it. (We have never seen deer tracks on our property.) it was as if they attracted trouble. It was discouraging, and out of about 18, 6 returned in the spring. Those did not thrive, so I tore them out in June. The impatiens I planted there in a few test areas did not grow. At. All. This, despite the fact that they were growing lushly in the same amendments in beds not 30 feet away. But those beds had more shade, so I threw in the towel on impatiens. The liriope went in in May of 2014. By fall, three were dead. In January, the lawn service sheered them to 6" as they do with all the liriope, but perhaps they ought not have since they were clearly weak. One more died after flushing this spring. I replaced the four, and now three more are looking dreadful. The soil, if anything, looks dry and sandy. My irrigation tech just did a routine inspection of the heads and emitters this morning and said the line was emitting fine. I am not trying to talk anyone into believing anything, but for what it is worth, we have ordinary 1-gallon emitters set every 30 inches, running for 20 minutes three mornings a week at 2AM in a bed that averages 24" wide. Beyond that, the math of the thing escapes me. But that is the level of drip we use on all the perimeter beds -- lorapetalum, ivy, holly, Encores, a row of privet, a few roses and goshkis, and three low-lying chindo viburnum. Everything looks fine. I've been gardening almost 40 years, and have never seen a shrub, flower or vegetable I could not coax to thriving, but this bed has been hard. Yes, cursed. I keep thinking there must be something that will survive -- shrub, annual, groundcover -- but the lawn service just shrugs now. My irrigation mechanic just did a routine inspection all the lines and heads this morning, and was completely without ideas or fixes. Ugh. Having just recited this, I DO feel like leaving it to the mulch . . . In any case, I know no plant is "bulletproof" but I will still gladly take any last-ditch plant ideas anyone cares to throw my way. Thanks, and forgive the droning.

Sooooo, which part of Los Angeles? So far in my informal poll, 12 years long, only one person lived in LA. I grew up in Riverside and have lived all over the Southland for school and jobs, so I'm fairly familiar with the micro climates that matter to you. You were watering totally wrong. We talk about watering deep and infrequent. Deep means 1 full inch all at one time. Measure that with your clock and time how long it takes to fill some cat food or tuna cans placed around the yard. That will be your watering time from now on. Infrequent depends on the temperature. That's where I need to know where you live. If you live in El Segundo it will be different than if you live in Pomona. Most lawns in SoCal are small rectangles. Those can be watered very efficiently with a hose and a turbo oscillator type sprinkler. And yes, I realize this advice flys in the face of everything you read and hear in SoCal, but those people are wrong. Deep and infrequent works everywhere with very few exceptions. Phoenix is not an exception but El Paso is (soil type is much different). If they can deep water once a week during the summer in Phoenix, then nobody in SoCal needs to be watering more often. Getting back to the original issue, you do not need to pull out the dead grass. St Augustine turns a golden color before it dies. It looks very dead but it will return when watered. If it turns to a dry straw color, then it's dead. St Augustine spreads when the temps are between 70 and 80 degrees. That means just about all year long if you live west of the 405. If you live east of the hills around Pomona, that means twice a year in the spring and fall.