You are getting too many opinions. Asking here will just add more confusion until you are completely paralyzed by information overload. At least my opinion comes with written explanation you can check out for yourself. You will also get opinions after this which may contradict mine, so that isn't going to help. KBG will not do well in shady areas. That is the main reason many people get a fescue/KBG mix of sod or seed. Seed is out of the question for this time of year, so sod is your choice. If you have a lot of shade, then 100% KBG might be a nightmare. For shady areas, fescue will predominate. You can overseed these areas with more fescue in the fall if you want to improve the density and help keep weeds out next season. I believe compost is overrated. Since it has been the preferred choice for organic gardeners since the 1930s, there is a lot of resistance to my opinion; however, there are a lot of lawn folks who are very happy with the use of alfalfa, soybean meal, and milorganite. The best way to improve your organic matter is to get grass roots into the ground and to feed organics from the top. You have realized a weakness in a full organic approach. Once weeds are established, it can be overwhelming to get rid of them. Sometimes a one-time spray with herbicide can save you hours of time and weeks of frustration looking at your slow progress in de-weeding. But if you continue on a full organic fertilizer routine, you will quickly overcome any negative effects of the herbicide on the soil microbes. Just because you use a chemical herbicide does not cancel out your organic history of fertilizing. "Going organic" has as many definitions as does "vegetarian." Most of the lawn gurus I know follow a mixed approach of using organic fertilizer all year long until the last application which they use a high nitrogen, fast release chemical fertilizer. Along the way they might spot spray some clumps of weeds which have gotten a start for some reason. Generally that is minimal, though, due to their diligence in the lawn - these folks really are lawn nuts. By spot spraying they are not subjecting the entire lawn to herbicide. Tupersan is a preemergent herbicide. It will have no effect on your dandelions. Usually dandelions are most affected by a product like Weed-B-Gone spray. Weed-B-Gone is a selective type herbicide which only kills broad leaf plants. It has no effect on grassy weeds. Get it in a container that connects to your hose and spray the plants individually. You only need to moisten the leaves of the plant, not drench the soil. There are some handheld spray hose attachments which allow you to screw another hose thread attachment on after the hand valve. I would use one of those to control the application of the herbicide. Or you could use Weed-B-Gone and pour it into an dial-type hose end sprayer like the Ortho brand available everywhere. If you do not use all the product in the Ortho sprayer, you can pour the remainder back into the original bottle. The Ortho has a flow control trigger built in. As for the heat in MIl, you don't have to worry. There are limits but I think you're fine. If you use the spot spraying approach you should be able to do that with no effect on the turf. My opinion of corn gluten meal as a preemergent herbicide is that it is worthless. I applied CGM at a rate well above the suggested rate every month for a full season and seem to have as many weeds then as any month or year at this house. However, as a fertilizer, it is the best organic fertilizer you can get. Unfortunately the cost makes it out of most people's range especially considering alfalfa is so much less and seems to work about as well. Proper watering and mowing are much more important to control weeds both pre and post emergence. I've never heard of waiting a full year to do anything following any type of spraying. If you kill the weeds now, Mother Nature will fill it in for you by next June. For your area with the new soil and no existing grass, you can use RoundUp, a nonselective herbicide, to kill everything. Spray it once, water for a week to induce any new seeds to sprout, and spray again in a week to kill the new sprouts. Wait a day or two and you can put the sod down.

1. the homestead you should be bale to trim at this point. If you want to wait, you can but those are probably dead and new growth will cover them soon. Homestead can grow fast! 2. I'd wait just a bit more for your last 2 lantanas. you can cut the stalks to the ground- they are going to emerge from the ground, not the stalks. the stalks do offer some protection in winter, so you should leave them then, but no worries now. If they don't come back, look at it as an opportunity to try something new. You do already have some lantana. 3. don't know too much about magnolias, so i'll pass on this ones. I'd just say a big tree probably wouldn't be hurt by some fertilization, and most don't really need it. 4. Since your lilacs are small, i'd go ahead and get a big ball of moist soil when you move them so you be sure to get all the roots. You'll have to watch them this summer if it gets dry. If the hydrangea is small, go ahead. If it's bigger, you can do it, but be sure to water it a lot this summer- they are thirsty plants in the best of circumstances. i've always heard for hydrangeas they are happiest at 40-60% sun. which may be your partial answer for #6 as well. 5. i have other hibsicus but not moscheutos, and i never feed mine (i don't feed much but veggies, other than what they get in mulch & compost, truthfully). I would think rose food would do the trick. The year you lost a lot of foliage to jb's, that would stunt them, and since they are thirsty plants, the drought may have been enough to keep them from blooming last year. They need a good deal of sun, so if they are semi-shady that may be your culprit. Most hibs blooms on new wood, and i don't think they are an exception, so with the good conditions this year, you should see blooms. most hibs bloom a bit later than now, tho- they are warm season plants. Mine are just getting going. 6. No doubt the hydrangeas struggled with the drought! They are very thirsty- pat yourself that they made it through the drought! They typically bloom on old wood, and with the dry conditions, probably didn't set buds for last year. You should see some blooms this year if they didn't get frozen back with that hard freeze this spring. This is the reason the rebloomers who can bloom on new wood are popular- even with late freezes you get blooms, just a little later. I have a mini one that i cut back hard this year b/c it out grew its space and it's already got blooms! Yay- i like new wood types! I have a varigated lacecap old wood type and i hardly ever get blooms on it. Gets frozen nearly every year. Fortunately i like the foliage so much i just look at the years it blooms as bonus. My oakleaf seems able to shrug off everything and has bloomed every year, even the drought ones and late freeze ones, for many years now. You may want to consider adding one of these- they are definitely easier than the typical hydrangeas. White, conical blooms that fade to dusky pink and persist 1/2 the summer. Gorgeous wine red fall color on distinctive leaves. More drought tolerant than the mops or lacecaps. What more could you want? (me- blue color, but it ain't happening). :) hope that helps! tammy

Can't help you with the ID - I am thinking you would have to post a picture... As for suggestions for big hostas, right now I am really taken with the large uprights, Komodo Dragon, Fluted Fountain, Sagae, Liberty, Magic Fire, Regal Splendor, montana aureomarginata, etc. I think they add so much to a garden. All my hostas are too young to really show off in pics, otherwise I would post some. The hosta library is a great place to browse for ideas. Oh, and welcome and God bless you too...

PAINTERGIRL!!!!! I got my paints in the mail, and gave it a shot today. I am VERY happy with how those hinges turned out!! They were shiny brass plate, but I stripped that off, and underneath they were a sort of cheap tinny silver colored base metal. I found a set of vintage brass pulls, so I wanted them to match. Looky what I did: I used a mix of brown, black, gold, and copper for the base coat, then mixed some black and brown for the edges and recessed areas. I am just so pleased with how it matches the pulls I can't hardly stand it! Here's a peek at the appliques with the glaze: Like I said, it turned out really subtle, but that's ok. I'm afraid if I'd gone darker, it would have been a mess. I got the chandelier back, still need to rehang some sheers and have some mirrors cut. This is a crazy week, but I hope to have pics of the finished room by next week.