Yeah there are a couple of things... The Bermuda Bible has been updated this summer, but not on this website. It's on another one. If you Google it, I believe the first result is the right one. I cannot link you to it because that violates the terms of service here at GW. Ask me how I know that!! Baby shampoo is perfectly fine. Why? Because baby shampoo never has conditioners in it. If you use a shampoo with conditioners, who knows what will happen. Oils and soils don't work well together. So any clear shampoo should work fine. I also like baby shampoo because it doesn't have any other additives or fragrances. The shampoo should work better than an aerator. Aerators are hard to use and a little on the dangerous side. I'd stick with shampoo a few times unless and until you are dissatisfied with it. Give it a month and apply at least 2 times. Sometimes it takes a few more apps, but give it the good ol' "college try." Do not expect the soil to become mushy. What happens is the shampoo allows the water to penetrate deeper into the soil. The deep moisture sets up the perfect environment for the beneficial fungi to grow in the soil. Those guys take weeks to fill the soil, so you won't get soft soil right away. And the soil will only be soft feeling when it is moist. As it dries out between watering, it will firm up again. Is shade an issue anywhere in your lawn? If you have bermuda on the north side of a fence, building, bush, or tree, it's going to thin out. You'll have to come up with something else for those areas. Don't try using seed to fill in the thin areas. Seeded bermuda and sodded bermuda are completely different animals. If you mix them it will look weedy forever. You should be fertilizing bermuda every month with something. Read the Bermuda Bible and it gets specific about which one to use. Beyond that, and in addition to that, I would strongly urge you to use an organic fertilizer application at least once per year. Texas weed used an organic program at home and a chemical program on his sod farm. He knows both. He wrote the Bermuda Bible suggesting only chemicals, because he believes it to be the most successful for bermuda. His only problem with organics was the cost for the frequent heavy doses of fertilizer. Having said that, there are people here on GW who use only organics on bermuda and they are very happy with it. Be sure you get before and after pictures of both the front and back. Sometimes you see things in the pictures that you did not notice walking around in it. Many of us have seen hundreds of lawn pix. It is not unusual at all for us to see things you weren't even concerned about.

mogator88 - actually I just got a call from the local store today. She understood my needs and called the sales rep and they agreed that I could buy this sofa. They faxed the info and I'm going to the store tomorrow to see the leather samples and the cost. Thanks so much for your continued help. Now I have several choices that I feel completely comfortable that they are 1) made in Canada or US and 2) have decent construction - not plastic blocks. I'm not between a rock and a hard place anymore. And I'm thrilled that I walked away from the Macy's Natuzzi Italasofa because I know it wouldn't last very long. thanks, Sky

Nasus, I'm so sorry to hear about the passing of your cousin. This really is a hard situation but for one you heard about his passing from other relatives, you really never know under what circumstances he might have said that. Sometimes things get misunderstood when passed around. Whatever the case is, I think that as his brother, whether they had a strained relationship or not, he has a right to know. I would put myself in his shoes. You know their relationship better than any of us here do, so ultimately the decision is yours. Have you decided?

kimmq is kimmsr, I did read what you wrote. Several times. There is no way what you wrote can in any way be interpreted to mean anything other than lack of organic matter causes soil compaction. "Compacted soils are usually the result of a lack of adequate amounts of organic matter in the soil." your statement does not say this is the only cause, but certainly states this is A cause. Your rewriting defines the first commandment. kimmq is kimmsr cannot be wrong. He ain't right, but he cannot be wrong. And yes, from words you have written in the past, I know you are a he. You got the relationship backwards. Soil organic matter is not a cause of compaction...that's pressure. It can be from raindrops. Certain soil types have physical properties that make them more susceptible to compaction under certain conditions, but any soil can be compacted. One of the conditions that soils that have been compacted often have is low organic matter...but it is not the only one, and it is not a cause. It's also one of the few physical properties of soil that you have any realistic hope of changing. (ironically, for the purposes of discussions in these forums, one of the physical characteristics of soils that are usually not compacted is sand. To understand that, you have to know a little about the prismatic nature of sand particles, as well as their nearly inert chemistry. sandy soils also often have very low organic matter, but that's just coincidence, right? However, my prediction is: a lecture about why adding sand is rarely a benefit, the perils of adding not enough, and how much it takes to create any benefit.) Since when does core aeration not assist in the addition of organic matter to the soil profile? To make such a claim is crazy talk. It's like my left foot...it's just not right. You now have a series of holes as deep as you set the machine. Air and organic matter are not able to enter the soil profile to the depth of the core. And as much as anything, it's not the organic matter that is helping...it's the air. Now, things down there can breathe. Composting can happen, microbes can be more efficient...the list of benefits from this is unending. Every once in a while, if a lawn has deteriorated to the point that there is little or no viable turf left, then by all means, consider tilling...again, a lot of potential benefits, but it's just one of a number of possible techniques one can use.