Thanks for the fine fescue brand recommendation. I am thinking about adding some creeping bentgrass to the mix for the damper areas. From what I understand, I should put the seed down around mid-April to avoid germination before frost (not practical to wait until Fall) Is there an herbicide that won't interfere with germination and early growth to help combat some of the thistle, privet, and other weeds that will be competing with the fescue along the fence line?

gsweater... Turns out that I had measured incorrectly and it will cost me about $850 to have sod installed...plus I don't like the installer's approach who want to till in everything (including the existing weeds) with the soil ammendments. I have also looked at the sun situation and get at least 5 or more hours of sun on most of the area and since I already have perennial rye on my front lawn (from oregon turf and trees), I think I will stay with that... This coming weekend is supposed to be nice so I am thinking of tackling the project then. So here is my plan: 1. Kill weeds--any sugestions on a good weed killer I can spray with my garden hose? I have nothing in the way that needs to be protected. 2.For soil preparation, I am going to add a mix of 35% sandy loam, 45% garden compost,5% super mulch, 5% mushroom compost, 10% and horticultural pumice. Based on what I have read around here I am thinking about adding around 2 inches, so about 5 yards. Do you recommend I scrape off the exisiting bark dust or leave it? 3. Since I have decided to go with seed (it will be just me doing the job) and since I have a good amount of sun, I will go to ace and order some PRG. Any other thoughts or anything I have missed that I need to consider before getting started ordering materials? Thanks!

I couldn't find a write up by dchall, besides bing an organic furu, he does an excellent lawn seeding write up. If you're interested in a slightly different take, do a sight search for "dchall" and check some of his seeding advice. This one is by tiemco, he is a seed and soil guru, and this is one of the best seeding step by steps: ":RE: The order of rehabing a fescue lawn Posted by tiemco 6ct (My Page) on Mon, Aug 20, 12 at 21:56 Well I seem to do a write up every year regarding this, so here goes. When you kill everything and start fresh it's called a renovation. To do it correctly, one usually starts with a soil test in the spring to give you enough time to add amendments to bring your deficient macro and micro nutrients up to a good level. You said you are adding lime. Is this due to a low pH, or is it just something you generally do? Are you using calcitic or dolomitic? Anyway, lime should be added either way before or way after seeding, say a month at the least. It will take a while for lime to dissolve, and if you apply it at seeding you can get interactions with starter fertilizer and the very top layer of soil can have a much higher pH than you want. So if you are going to lime, either do it now, or wait till a month or two after you seed. For Round-Up to work its best, the grass and weeds need to be actively growing. Watering a few times a week prior to applying Round-up and after applying will make it more effective. Once you notice the grass starting to die, usually in 4-7 days, you will want to mow it as low as you can before it lays down. Once it's down, it's a lot harder to mow. Many people allow a period of fallowing at this point, applying water to get any dormant grass to reanimate, and any rogue weed seeds to germinate. If you aren't going to fallow, that's fine, it's optional. So now you have a brown lawn, and the soil should be fairly moist from the waterings. The next step that I like to do is power rake, especially if you have thatch, or the soil is obscurred by dead grass. TTTF seeds are pretty big, and they can have trouble getting to the soil if thatch is an issue or you have a lot of dead grass matted down. You can skip this step if you want, it's optional, but I like to do it. It also loosens up the top inch or so of soil. After a power raking, either rake up all the loose dead stuff, or use your mower with the bag to remove it. Now you are ready to seed. I like to do all the prep work the day before, and the seeding the next day early. A light watering the night before seeding is also a good idea. So now you're ready to seed. Use a broadcast or drop spreader, whatever you feel more comfortable with. Apply the correct amount of seed, more is not better. If it says 8-10 lbs per 1000 square feet, shoot for 9. Make multiple passes in different directions to make sure you have even coverage. If you do this, be sure you lower the setting on the seeder so you don't put down too much on the first pass. Once all the seed is down you have a few options. One is do nothing. Some people like to roll the seed with a water filled roller. Some people like to top dress the seed. Some people like to do both. If I could only do one, I would topdress. Another thing some people do is apply Tenacity herbicide at the time of seeding. If you have a lot of weeds, or anticipate a lot of weeds it can really help reduce them at seeding. Now that the seed is down, and you rolled the seed and or topdressed, an application of starter fertilizer is a good idea. I like to use a half app at this time, the other half after the first mowing. You can use a full app if you want, but with all the watering you do I feel that you lose a lot of that full app due to leaching. Now it's time to water. Watering is probably the single biggest factor in success. The seeds need to be moist continually until they have all germinated. This generally means three light waterings per day. If you have a sprinkler system, then you are golden. If not, you need to set up hoses with timers. You can do this when you water prior to rounding up. Make sure the whole lawn gets adequate coverage. You are watering to keep the seed moist, so no puddling. Generally this means 5-15 minute watering cycles depending on your water pressure and coverage. Three times a day is generally enough. Then all you have to do is worry about your seeds, and the weather, and everything else that can go wrong. Once all the seed is up, and you see the green fuzz, you can start to cut back on the waterings to twice a day for about a week, then once a day for a week, then every other day, etc. Your first mowing should take place about a month after seeding, or when the new grass is 3 inches tall. Mow it down to 2. I'm sure I forgot some things, so please ask questions, and this isn't the only way to go, but it has worked for me very well." Good luck to you on your project.

Tigerdunes - "Triple-split" is the term I have heard used when the compressor is located outside of the heat pump housing. In my case the compressor is in the garage, HP is outside and air handler is in the house. It may be referred to as something else as well but the folks I have talked to call it that. The specs you list are likely what I will go with (at least very close). Specs aside, my biggest concern has to do with top brands. Top meaning reliable, efficient, good warranty, etc. The current system has heated well but has not cooled very well since we moved here in '96. And yes, I will have the duct system looked over to ensure everything is sized correctly. Carrier doesn't seem to have a very good warranty. Would that concern you at all? Golfer1512 - I had someone who works in the industry tell me Tranes aren't what they used to be and the manufacturer isn't standing behind their warranty in some cases. That's only one persons experience but it concerns me. I have heard of the stats from CR saying Rheems require less repairs. I have a contractor coming over next week who swears they are the best HPs out there right now. But I am a natural born skeptic when someone is selling me something! :- ) Thank you both for replying! I really do appreciate it. Please keep the responses coming as the more information I have the better. Ron