Well put about the overcrowding and lack of growth regulation. And anything we can do to offset the depletion of our aquifers is a good thing. Education is key. I wish they'd teach kids in school about how our state functions - ecologically. Sometimes I really think Florida's a lost cause, and it just makes me sad. Government and individuals have screwed it up in so many ways - not just with irresponsible growth, but with draining sections of the everglades, straightening the Kissimmee river, then trying to correct the mistake once they realize what a mess it made. Allowing developments to crowd out panthers and black bear even more, allowing industry and homeowners to pollute the lakes and rivers. Lake Apopka used to be a huge game fishing lake - now the fish are dead. It's like that everywhere. The majority of new residents are here to retire, so they may not necessarily care about the future of our state - since they're not leaving it to anyone. So more golf courses go in, more developments are built, more lawn chemicals are used and more water is wasted and polluted. My little spot here is very small, and in the scheme of things, it's probably not going to make a bit of difference if I don't waste water or coat my property in chemicals. But maybe if enough of us try, maybe there will be something left that's worth having when my niece and nephew reach adulthood. I choose to heavily mulch and if we're not getting rain, I water twice a week on the allowed days for one inch each watering (since we're still on water restrictions here). The plants that need more water die. The ones that don't, I get more of. Two of my gorgeous brugmansias that had grown to the size of lovely small trees almost completely died this year because I refuse to give them more water. Now that the rains are back, they're starting to leaf out and one is loaded with buds. My garden is far from sparse - it's quite lush on very minimal water. I have to tell you, every day in this heat, my plants wilt. They wilt by 11am, and they look like they need water really badly. But by the time evening rolls around, they've perked up again. If we get rain, they really perk up. It's heat stress more than it's lack of water. I wilt by 11am, too... In my opinion they can wait until the day comes that I'm allowed to water them, or they can wait until the next rain. Inbetween, they're probably not going to die. You're right when you say with everything there is balance and responsible use. That's why I choose to not over water, or grow plants that require more water than I'm willing to waste on them. Your garden sounds really pretty, by the way, Dave. And it's really great you stop the extra watering when the rains become regular - we've all seen sprinklers going in the rain, and it's craziness. I do feel for you having a neighbor who doesn't (or isn't able to) care for his property. I have a neighbor who sometimes lets her dogs' poo accumulate so much that it reaks. Especially in the heat. And she also excessively waters. She'll hook her overhead sprinkler up to her hose and leave that thing going all day long. Then she'll do it again the next day. Funny thing is, her plants don't look any better for it than mine do.

Ditto on where you be! But, in general, there are three things that might have some value. Bugs? yes and no. Some you really need, and spraying everything for anything crawling will most likely be counter productive. Okra generally does just fine in desert conditions directly from seed, but it's famous tap root will not go down if there's no deep moisture. You'll be better off watering longer and less often. If sunflowers are on the west side and are getting west sun both directly and from bouncing off the west wall, you may have a hard time with them under-performing.

Sure! I can certainly post back once I have some results to report. I have a tendency to dive much deeper than necessary into details of any hobby I take on...in the end I'm sure a lot of these details aren't critical. I'm in a detail-oriented profession so I think it's just a natural mindset for me to fall into. In this case though, the more I think about the whole coco media buffering, the more I realize that most people who have to worry about it are growing in 100% coco-based media or are utilizing hydroponics. Any of the negative effects I would experience from unbuffered coco (if there would actually be any such negative effect in practice) should be largely offset by the fact that the coco is only 1/3 of my mix. Also I'm applying a fertilizer with every watering that has calcium and magnesium in it so the cation exchange issue should theoretically only be temporary as the media should balance over time. Some of the research I've read indicates that it is more important for the coco to be properly washed to a low electrical conductivity than it is for the cation exchange complex to be buffered. This is because seedlings and young plants are substantially more sensitive to the negative effects of high sodium exposure than they are to a temporary deficient quantity of available calcium/magnesium. The good news is that most of the high quality sources of coco products are washed to a very low electrical conductivity, it's just hit or miss whether a particular manufacturer buffers or not. Since I'm going to be growing a few plants each of some of my aji limon peppers and purple jalapenos, I think I might try buffering some coco and not buffering the other coco and see if there is a noticeable performance difference between the two if the rest of the mix is the same. It would obviously only be anecdotal, but it would still be an interesting thing to see!

Believe it or not it's not that much of a challenge in your area. You just need to adapt to the heat. Transitioning from fescue was a great move. If nothing grows then I'm guessing you have shade from, say, a sissoo or a palo verde planted somewhere. Here is a picture of a friend's St Augustine in May of this year. He lives in Gilbert.This back yard has the traditional block wall around and a sissoo in the picture to the west. He has heavy shade most of the day. Bermuda failed year after year. He finally took my suggestion to try St Augustine, and it worked fine. He waters deeply on Monday and Friday throughout the summer. He mulch mows at his mower's highest setting every week or two. He fertilizes with organics on the federal holiday schedule (Washington's Birthday, Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor Day, and Thanksgiving). If shade is your issue, then St Augustine is your future lawn. It only comes as sod. Sod can be expensive, but if you need to do this on a budget and are patient, get a few pieces of it started in the shade and let it spread to the sunny areas. St Augustine will spread in all directions about 15 feet a year. It spreads best when temps are in the 70s, so that would be winter time for you. I can walk you through that better if that's what you decide to do. I've done it before, and I'm doing it now in our new yard.