I think it's a great idea. Good luck with it.

I can really relate to this woman - I live on a 1/8 acre suburban lot, just one block from a subway stop in a close-in suburb, and I've ripped out nearly all the grass and replaced it with a mix of native and non-native perennials, shrubs, and trees with just grass paths inbetween - my garden is also NWF certified. I'm sure there are some people who hate my garden, but when I am out working in the front yard I get nothing but positive, unsolicited comments from the pedestrians who pass by. But I do make an effort to keep it fairly neat, and I live in an area where all the houses are older, a bit funky, and there is no HOA....we have a tolerant live-and-let-live attitude here, but there are other parts of my town that are HOA restricted and my type of gardening would probably be prohibited. There are some towns near me in suburban Maryland (Takoma Park and Greenbelt come to mind) where the towns actually ENCOURAGE the 1/8 acre suburban lot owners to take out their front and back lawns and plant natives and xeriscapes. There are entire blocks in Takoma Park, MD where everyone has done this and it's just beautiful to walk down those streets in any season. If they keep hassling here, perhaps this lady should move to another area where the neighbors think more like she does...

I seeded on 8/10, so it has been 4 weeks and a day. I was traveling this week, but we got a lot of rain on Tuesday, so my wife turned off the sprinklers for a few days. I think the rain helped things along, because there has been quite a bit of germination in spots. I imagine the temperature drop (highs are finally out of the mid to upper 90s) probably helped as well. I'm still disappointed in the germination in some areas, but I think there may be too much dead KBG in those areas keeping the seeds from being in contact with the soil. I've got at least some germination throughout the lawn, so I think next year, I'll stop watering or start watering every other week, and the natives will take over. I plan to further rough up the areas that had poor germination and drop some seed tomorrow (I kept a little in reserve). I'll also buy some in late winter and do some dormant seeding. I'm also considering buying some "plug flats" in the spring. I'll plant a few seeds in each plug, get it to germinate and plant the plugs in holes I make with a turf hound. I figure that way I can get guaranteed growth in my "target" areas. I reread most of the thread and was amused by David's comment on the KBG "racehorse" because on the lawn forum, everybody bemoans how slow KBG is to germinate. But compared with natives, it's pretty speedy. Depending on how the natives are doing next fall, I may wait for it to cool off a bit and core aerate (didn't do that this time and I think it was a mistake) and overseed again, but with only the western wheatgrass (or maybe also the sheep fescue).

I've seen that article in several places, one is below. IMO any bailout should be limited to individials or companies who were actually defrauded in some way. I do not believe in government bailing out individuals OR businesses who acted irresponsibly. Mark my words though, any bailout will be promoted as if it's "for Americans to hold onto the dream of homeownership," but in reality it will help shady businesses continue their shady practices, (the stuff that caused this problem in the first place). I find it almost disgusting that people who pushed these bad loans on unqualified buyers shunned regulation or law enforcement attempts, and now they want the government to get involved. Tax payers would not really notice the relatively low cost of helping true victims of fraud, but we will all notice the much higher cost of enabling crooks to continue. Here is a link that might be useful: Article