Some good news is you never need to rototill in preparation for a lawn. In fact that is the worst thing you can do. Start now to get into good lawn habits. Here they are... Basics of Lawn Care After reading numerous books and magazines on lawn care, caring for lawns at seven houses in my life, and reading numerous forums where real people write in to discuss their successes and failures, I have decided to side with the real people and dispense with the book and magazine authors. I don't know what star their planet rotates around but it's not mine. With that in mind, here is the collected wisdom of the Internet savvy homeowners and lawn care professionals summarized in a few words. If you follow the advice here you will have conquered at least 50% of all lawn problems. Once you have these three elements mastered, then you can worry about weeds (if you have any), dog spots, and striping your lawn. But if you are not doing these three things, they will be the first three things suggested for you to correct. Watering Water deeply and infrequently. Deeply means at least an inch in every zone, all at once. Infrequently means monthly during the cool months and no more than weekly during the hottest part of summer. Do not spread this out and water for 10 minutes every day. If your grass looks dry before the month/week is up, water longer next time. If that does not work, then you might have to water more than once per week during the summer's hottest period. Deep watering grows deep, drought resistant roots. Infrequent watering allows the top layer of soil to dry completely which kills off many shallow rooted weeds. You will have to learn to judge when to water your own lawn. If you live in Las Vegas your watering will be different than if you live in Vermont. Adjust your watering to your type of grass, humidity, wind, and soil type. It is worth noting that this technique is used successfully by professionals in Phoenix, so...just sayin.' The other factors make a difference. If you normally water 1 inch per week and you get 1/2 inch of rain, then adjust and water only 1/2 inch that week. Mowing Every week mulch mow at the highest setting on your mower. Most grasses are the most dense when mowed tall. However, bermuda, centipede, and bent grasses will become the most dense when they are mowed at the lowest setting on your mower. In fact there are special mowers that can mow these grasses down to 1/16 inch. Dense grass shades out weeds, keeps the soil cooler, and uses less water than thin grass. Tall grass can feed the deep roots you developed in #1 above. Tall grass does not grow faster than short grass nor does it look shaggy sooner. Once all your grass is at the same height, tall grass just looks plush. Fertilizing Fertilize regularly. I fertilize 5 times per year using organic fertilizer. Which fertilizer you use is much less important than numbers 1 and 2 above. Follow the directions on the bag and do not overdo it. Too little is better than too much. At this point you do not have to worry about weed and feed products - remember at this point you are just trying to grow grass, not perfect it. Besides once you are doing these three things correctly, your weed problems should go away without herbicide. Seed in the early fall. Is shade an issue? If not then Kentucky bluegrass is the type of grass that will spread to fill in holes and thin spots. But it does not grow in shade. In shade you'll need fescue. Hence the sun/shade seed mix. Fescue does not spread like KBG. If you can get a seed with no rye in it, I would take that over one with rye. Rye can be beautiful but for beginners it can trick you into making a mistake at the outset. Rye does not spread either. For a rental you can get your seed at any box store. Seed from there comes with weeds but who cares? You'll get your deposit back anyway even with a few weeds.

Because many Austin roses are nearly as hybridized as Hybrid Teas, (being bred mostly from Florabunda class roses) the earlier H.T.s should go well with them. The first two H.T.s, have a growth habit that is bushier and more attractive than the typical H.T.. 1. "Snowbird" is a white H.T. that has an old fashioned bloom style. Very fragrant, of floral perfume with a hint of lemon zest. 2. cl. "Mrs. Herbert Stevens" I would grow this because all the white Tea roses I've grown have mildewed badly in my organic rose garden, near San Francisco. "M.H.S. blooms early with the Tea roses in spring, while other H.T.s must wait c. a month later to bloom. Bushy and as floriferous as a Tea, it can be grown as a free standing bush. I hope vintage gardens sells it again soon. 3. "Sunday Lemonade" is the light pink sport of "Lemon Spice". S.L. opens to show a frilly old fashioned bloom style. It's real strength in beauty is as a cut flower. Fragrant. 4. "W.E. Lipcott" I saw this rose at Luannes and thought it was an H.P. at first. It has that plush style of bloom. It is very fragrant, of damask rose. The color blends from a rich rose-pink through rose-red, and would be stunning beside, or in front of a taller white rose. Luanne uses organic methods too, and the bush appeared to be quite healthy, in our powdery mildew prone climate. Lux.

I'll need to check but I think I recall in Jeff Lowenfelds book "Teaming With Microbes" he mentions that fungally dominant soils will have a lower pH and bacterial dominant will have a higher pH. That being the case you may try swinging your pH by applying more bacterial friendly soil amendments. I know that most grains are fungi friendly so maybe try some light applications of mollases or sugar to see if it swings the pH. I've always been a little curious about whether changing the amendments could swing the pH but with slightly alkaline soil and an acid loving turf I've always concentrated on developing fungi. As you may or may not know it's much hard to develop fungi in soil than it is bacteria. Bacteria can be grown almost by accident! I wonder if by exploding your bacteria populations if that will sway the acidity of your soil? Sounds like an experiment in the making!!

Your new gray floor tile will make the whole room look like concrete. I think it's too similar in tone to the shower tile. The wood look tile you currently have on the floor is fine. You just need to rethink your other choices. What you have will work with a dark stained cabinet or a white/light gray painted cabinet with a white quartz top. Decide on paint when it's all done. OR, if you want to use the wallpaper, find a small scale white floor tile, and use a dark blue or white painted cabinet with a white countertop. You have to decide which items are more important to you - the wallpaper? the floor? the marble countertop? Know your priority and then work backward to find the parts that fit with the one or two items you want.