crouch- If you believe your soil is compacted, you should consider aerating as part of your late summer/early fall lawn care program. Try sticking a long (6" or so) screwdriver into your soil. If it is tough to get it in to the handle, you may well have a compaction issue. Not sure where in Jersey you are, but right around Labor Day is when I get into aerating/overseeding activities in CT. Cold overnight temps, shorter days, and an abundance of maple leaves makes October much too late around here for a high success rate with kbg overseeding. I was absolutely blown away with the results of my efforts last fall, which I moved up to Sept 2-4 (I know everyone says "fall overseeding," but "late summer" would be more precise). Of course I'd love to pat myself on the back as some sort of lawn guru, but the truth is we had pleasant days, not too cool nights, regular rain, etc. right into Thanksgiving! With crabgrass dying with the first good frost, I may not automatically reach for the roundup. I have found that cutting my existing crabgrass/lawn as short as possible and bagging/raking the clippings allows me to seed immediately without the use of roundup. If timed properly, the desirable seed germinates and gets strong enough in the fall so I can apply a pre-m in the spring to prevent the crabgrass seed from germinating. I wouldn't necessarily give up on it this year, but I can't expect you will get optimal results at this point either. I would heed billhill's advice about organic material and watering. KBG is a notorious slow germinator. I would also seriously consider having a soil test done. I understand you wanting to be able to mentally turn the corner on this one way or another and nobody likes to see their hard work go unrewarded. Maybe adjust expectations downward and hope to be pleasantly surprised now. Armed with the knowledge you can gain on this board, this may well be the last spring you need to endure lawn envy.

Ok, so I got my results of the soil test back from UMass. Here are the results: -------------------------------------- Linestone and fertilizer recommendations for established turfgrass Apply 50 lb of calcitic limestone/1000 sq ft. Lime may be applied at any time, but mid-autumn or early spring is best Recommendation: 3 lb/1000 sq ft P205, and 4 lb/sq ft K20. To provide the above recommendations you may follow the directions below, or you may devise your own fertilizer program using the recommended amounts of phosphorus (P205) and potassium (K20) along with one pound of Nitrogen per 1000 sq feet. It may necessary to raise nutrient levels over several applications. Apply a 20-3-12 fertilizer @ 5 lbs/1000 sq ft in late April, late June, and very late August. If more convenient you may substitute the late April recommendation with the same application made 1 to 2 weeks after your last fall mowing. Follow these recommendations for two years. Retest the following year. Consult the interpretation sheet enclosed or obtain one of the turf guides referenced on the backside of the interpretation sheet. Micronutrient(ppm) Boron: 0.1 Manganese 1.3 Zinc 0.5 Copper 0.3 Iron 31.0 Sulfur 15.0 Soil Ph 6.1 Nitrogen: No3-N = 0 ppm BUffer pH: 6.7 Organic Matter 3.1% (desirable range 4 - 10%) nutrient levels (ppm) Phosphorus: 1 Potassium 45 Calcium 219 Magnesium 83 Cation exch Cap 4.0 meq/100g Percent base saturation K = 2.4, Mg = 13.9, Ca = 22.5 Micronutrient levels : all normal Extractable aluminum 128 ppm (soil range: 10 - 250 ppm) THe lead level in this soil is low. --------------------------- If I want to use organic fertilizer, do you have any recommendations for brands? Since I have missed the recommended late april application, can I apply one now, and still apply another in late June? If I apply the suggested lime amount, how will that affect the pH level? I am thinking of overseeding with kentucky bluegrass in the fall. Also i noticed in their interpretation sheet they mention that a Cation exch capacity of 10 to 15 is typical. and values below 6 may indicate the soil will have trouble supporting good turf growth unless special management techniques are employed. Should I be concerned? how can I increase this value?

Nice for the cactus perhaps... Normally it flowers in one burst in August or thereabouts even though it has buds from when it comes out of dormancy, but this year I'll give it a couple of flowers for possible identification and perhaps cut and dust the rest -- I really want it building its strength for its first winter outside the (out)house. It's also been wrong-footed from the start of the year, since the cloudy cold snap quickly gave way to sunny early summer and sunburn has been a problem for the first time (you can probably see from the spines that it's used to a lot). It should fade, but I've read somewhere on the CactiGuide forums that it takes weeks for Echinopsis to recover. Haven't been able to find much other info on it, as usually by the time people take photos and put them online the damage is more severe. The supports were necessary mainly because the cactus goes down almost as much as it goes up, tapering to the point from which the roots originate. Quite fascinating, but there's no way it could have been set down while I filled the pot.

Thanks, everyone! I did post this in the landscape design section as well, and as you guys expected that forum gets more traffic. I'm actually rethinking the vinca for several reasons; when I think about it some more, I really wanted a low evergreen edging as opposed to a groundcover, per se. Is liriope evergreen in our zone? Is it deer candy? Any other suggestions for what I could use for that purpose? About the deer, you're right that we have been lucky so far. Though they have eaten more than their weight in a lot of plants for some reason they have always basically left my hydrangeas and roses alone. I really have no idea why! Meanwhile they've nibbled or sometimes really chewed on hollies. I think my deer are a little funny. They do tend to try to avoid coming super close to the house, maybe because we back up to over 100 acres of arboretum and they're slightly shy? The dogs, as mentioned, have also helped, both by barking and by peeing outdoors.