It means your soil would make good vinegar with decent nutrition. What is throwing me off is the recommendation for lime. I assume they mean for a single application to be repeated frequently. The reason I say this is because 35-pounds per 1000/ft2 is not enough to raise a 5.1 anywhere near 7.0. Normally they would say something like 40 or 50-pounds per 1000/ft2 repeated every 90-days or twice annually or something like that for that low of a PH. Did they have any other verbiage with regards to lime in the recommendations? I do not have my tables out to reference too right now, but I can tell you it will take a lot more than single 35-pounds 1000/ft2 to raise 5.1 to acceptable limits. The deal is you cannot do it all at once and have to do it incrementally, so that is why I ask is there more verbiage included in the recommendations. As to your question, get the lime down ASAP to give it some time to work. Ideally you would have wanted to do this last spring and repeating again yesterday. Yes they mean 35-ponds per 1000/ft2 so if your lawn is 10,000/ft2 you will need 350 pounds to cover it.

Nice ideas. Funny thing is that I replanted 2 TS this summer after lost 2 to rabbits earlier this year. Looking at your garden and the tall T. Splendide (so beautiful) and Bobo, how about a couple neat looking ornamental grass that have some purple color to complement the mostly green color and the texure of the tall green conifer ? I recently planted a switchgrass Cheyenne Sky. It is the most drwaf and compact form (2 ft tall, plus 1 foot very airy tiny flower). The mix of dark purple/silver blue foliage, with a breeze, makes me stop and look at it everytime I walk by the garden. I planted 3 Heuchera Frost Violet next to the grass. Will try to take a picture tomorrow. Roses are another option as well if you choose the kind that is drawf and carefree as mentioned by Karin. I have double knockout, pink and red in different places and they bloom for the entire May-October. But they are tall for your purpose. But drift roses would be good alternatives. Vivian

Neem is not a registered pesticide, so the label will not say anything about horticultural uses other than "leaf shine". Producers are not allowed to make claims about neem used as an insecticide and anti-fungal spray. It probably won't ever be registered as a pesticide-- Big Ag has yet to succeed in patenting it (it's been in use for thousands of years) so any corporate claims about "owning the formula" are just plain impossible. In India and the far east, neem is used in skin creams, toothpaste, lice treatments, intestinal worm treatments as well as in agriculture. Ironically, foresters and tree researchers have discovered that neem can be used to "inoculate" trees against borers and other devastating insect pests that are wreaking havoc on our forests. We have one arm of the government using it as a pesticide and another arm of the government banning it as a pesticide. A couple of notes on using neem: - as an anti-fungal treatment it will prevent, but not cure fungal problems. I spray plants that are prone to powdery mildew and blackspot BEFORE the outbreak occurs-- when the weather conditions are "ripe" - to be effective as an insecticide, the oil has to come into direct contact with the bug. The "kill" usually does not take place right away-- neem disrupts the developmental, hormonal, reproductive and normal growth patterns of insects. There is no "wipeout" effect with neem, but there will be a gradual control as the bugs' ability to molt and reproduce is thwarted. - As an anti-feedant, neem works pretty well but you need to re-spray after a rain. - neem oil is like olive oil-- it solidifies at cool temperatures. Putting the jar in warm water just helps liquify it - you can use a few drops of dish detergent as an emulsifier but you can also use a "spreader-sticker" product for even better mixing. Sometimes these are called wetting agents and you can find them at head shops and other "grower"-type places - when you spray, shake the bottle regularly to keep the oil from separating out. When you're done, rinse out the nozzle to keep the oil from gumming it up. - for a "double dose" you can mix neem oil with insecticidal soap, but this is not usually necessary Hope this helps. - Bev

hollysprings - Thanks for the heads up. You seem to assume that PRO's aren't involved. As far as the structure goes - all steel, lvl's, ridge beams, joists, rafters, etc.,etc., etc., have been engineered. So there is no doubt that it will not fall down around my ears. What I need is folks opinion on layout, not on structural elements.....do you have any suggestions that way?