Congrats on your first garden. As they years pass, the better you'll get...the more failures you'll discover...and the more successes you'll master. You're paying attention to not only what's growing well and what isn't...you're paying attention to how plants compete with each other in your environment. "I planted peppers in the ground and they all went crunchy. So I took them to the greenhouse and they gave me new ones." ...and it sounds like you've found one hell of a friendly supplier there. Good on them. Good luck with the rest of this season and next season, too.

d d , you are making a number of ascertians that I think are making you do things that will not prove of benefit. First, you associate water as a saviour, something the grass needs and needs lots of. If a pint works well, then a quart will do better and a gallon will just be the cat's meow. That's wrong....very wrong. Grass is no more than a bunch of small plants that grow together and they need nourishment just like other plants....but when too much is too much.....it cant help. One inch per week is recognized as the total volume needed for a lawn to live successfully. Too much is as bad as too little; what happens is, the water doesn't stick around, the roots are deprived, they grow weak and short and the sun then has an easy time to bake the soil. Too little or too much...it works both ways. Your lawn cries out for aeration....from your pictures there does seem to be a lot of thatch....dead material between the blades. When thatch builds, it deprives the soil of necessary oxygen and water. Even tho you water it, and rains have been overflowing, unless the ground absorbs the moisture, it cant do any good. Without explaining what aeration is comprised of....do read articles on 'why a lawn should be aerated". There are many methods and tools employed to effect good aeration....so read about it. Your lawn needs something to make the soil want to take in moisture and retain it. You say your soil in your vicinity is mostly sand....and when you think about....how good does sand retain moisture. So you have to do something to make your soil want to take in moisture and keep it....yet allow good drainage. In that there is an easy and effective way to achieve this. Organic matter. Organic matter comes in many forms...and only by injecting something of this nature into the soil will it keep moisture. Peat moss, newspaper, hay, straw, compost, topsoil, triple mix, loam, and yes....sand. Grass clippings---you don't have any I knwo, but clippings have a lot of nitrogen from fertilizer given, that should not be wasted. But, clippings have a lot of things wrong with it...and should be given to a compost pile first. Sand used in gardens is not the beach kind...it is a coarser granular type...buy it at a quarry or soil dealer that specifies it is builder's sand. This giving of compost though can be a budget killer---it is not cheap. Compost is material that is allowed to break down by microbial action....and should not be used unless in a completed form. Since your lawn is in such bad shape, I suggest you think to do it over....rototil the ground and inject much organic material. Much of the material can be inexpensive...peat moss, newspapers, old hay, old straw (straw and hay are grown and therefore have seeds and unless its at least a year...two years better--it can drop seeds and result in giving you a barnyard) Put down at least 2"....but 6" is better of topsoil. Rototil it all in, rake level to ensure good drainage, then put down sod or seed. The organic material you add should be at least 20% of the volume mixed in. Do not, if it becomes available, add more than 20% compost to what is already there. More is too much. When you buy seed, buy the best type you can afford...it will pay dividends. Poor seed will not grow in the best of soil---but good seed will grow in the worst of soil. In your area of New Jersey a combo of 40% Kentucky Blue, 40% perennial ryegrass and 20% fescue makes a good tough grass for your area. Its summertime now....the heat of which is not conducive to making good lawn---the heat can kill the seed and what sprinkling you do will dry out quickly. So, keep what you have and shake your head, but think to do your lawn in the fall when cool temperatures return. Grass grows much better at that time because there's less competition from other plants. Sprinkling water over it will not be lost to evaporation and if you follow good principles of grass making, you should have a pretty good starting lawn sometimes this fall. Starting: Be sure to use a "starter" type fertilizer when you first lay your seed. It can help speed up and protect germination. Next spring, put down 2" of compost (or topsoil) over the area and let your grass grow up and through it. Repeat this every year, fall and spring, 2" layer over your lawn....at least for the next 4 - 5 - 6 years. Making this a regular routine can help your lawn stand up to adversity better.

My husband was in michigan this week and that was one of the flights he thought about taking on thursday night. He flies a lot and it just hit close to home. Clarence is not far from where we live. We are a little more out in the country. Big sigh of relief. When the news came on at 10pm they announced at the end of the broadcast that a plane had crashed by the airport, but they didn't know anything yet. By the time the 11pm news came on, it was not until after the weather that their news crews made it to the neighborhood and they announced it was a commercial plane. WIVB broadcast without commercial break until I went to bed at 2am. When my husband called to say he was alright i was so grateful. (wipes tears and sniffles) Fran, Could i have the blanket flower, please? BTW, DS#3 watered my keyboard once, its still a little iffy. We set it in from of the blower on the woodstove for a week. Just FYI those of you sowing in the keys LOL! Thank all of you for the prayers. Families here are esp. close knit and things like this are difficult for anyone. Praying for your FIL, too Nichol. Fleethart

vm, Nothing is "Absolute"! These 'Tainers are indeed heavy. Somewhere over 100 pounds. I've never heard of one tipping over in the wind, as some folks have reported using 18 gallon ones. It depends on your garden orientation to the Sun. My back wall faces due South, so the plants do quite well on the side facing South, but are not as lush on the North facing side of the 'Tainer. You can clearly see this in the above 2 photos. If you get pretty even Sun distribution during the day, then no, you do not need to rotate them. On the other hand, once mid-way through the season wouldn't hurt. BTW, I found a Bloody Butcher blushing today when I did the rotation. Kind of a "bonus" for the effort: Raybo