"Scott's does not have the label for your grass seed online (404 error), so it's hard to know what you might have." I got a copy of the label and this is what was in the mix that I used: 9.76% Wendy Jean Creeping Red Fescue 9.75% Shademaster III Creeping Red Fescue 8.77% Citation Fore Perennial Ryegrass 8.28% Silver Dollar Perennial Ryegrass 6.34% Gaelic Kentucky Bluegrass 2.92% Abbey Kentucky Bluegrass 2.92% Right Kentucky Bluegrass 50.00% Water Smart Plus Fertilizer Coating 1.00% Inert From Seed .25% Other Crop Seed .01% Weed Seed ------------------------- "1. Why do I have such an ugly color lawn? Is it the seed I used? Could be but it's more likely the fertilizer you forgot to use. You didn't mention that you used any so I'm making an assumption. If you did fertilize, what did you use and when?" You are correct, I did not use any. I listened to the guy at Home Depot (maybe a mistake?) that told me I should not fertilize a new lawn, it could kill the grass coming in. ----------------------- "2. What is the grass that almost feels and looks like hay? Need the label off the Scott's bag to know the Guaranteed Analysis of the seed. That is not completely likely to help because what you probably have is a weed that's giving you that effect. Does that grass ever go to seed? If so, can you let it go to seed and take a picture. Grass is much easier to ID if there's a seed head or flower." I’m not sure to be honest. When I pull a piece out, it comes from the same stem that has 3 or 4 other grass-like blades (that are still green). ----------------------- "3. What, if anything can I do to fix this and make it a nice, green lawn (other than starting over which is last resort)? Fertilize if you have not already done so. This time of year you should not use chemical fertilizers, but you may use all the organic fertilizer your budget allows. Rather than using commercially bagged organic fertilizer, I prefer to use the ingredients of those same fertilizers. You can buy them at any feed store under the name of alfalfa, corn, wheat, soybean meal, etc. It's a little secret that organic fertilizer is made from animal feed. The application rate for any of them is 20 pounds per 1,000 square feet. Again, you can use it any day of the year, or every day of the year, with no fear of hurting the grass. It takes 3 full weeks before you see results with these grain type fertilizers." I can definitely try that. With that, I’m sure I wouldn’t have to worry about my puppy ingesting any of it. If you have been fertilizing, then there is likely a problem with your soil. Send a sample to Logan Labs in Ohio for testing. You are undoubtedly strongly inclined to send your sample to Penn State, but you'll get a lot more test for the money at Logan Labs. To be honest, I wouldn’t have any idea where to send it, but now I have an idea. ----------------------- "*Note - I have small mounds, maybe golfball size that appear and when I knock them over, there are holes about the diameter of a pen or sharpie. I have no idea what is creating these. There are no holes protruding from the "ball" except the one that enters down into the soil. These are likely earth worm mounds. Sometimes they indicate that you have a hard layer of soil under the softer layer of soil. This can happen when you rototill. A much better way to soften your soil is to use any clear shampoo, like baby shampoo, to increase water penetration and soften the soil deeper down." I tilled last year because the yard was probably 4-6 inches too high. When It would rain, the patio would end up under water. I took out about that much dirt, and loosened up the soil even under that, then added topsoil. Baby shampoo wont kill the grass? How would I apply it? How have you been watering (when you water)? How often and how long when you do water? Here is probably my first issue. I planted the grass last October, threw the hay down, then 3 days later got married and went on a honeymoon, so… for the first 2 weeks, it never got watered, then the weather took a down turn and I was only able to start “caring” for it this spring. ----------------------- "How high/low are you mowing the grass?" If asking in inches, I’m not sure, I have not measured, but I have the mower set on the next to last highest setting (almost cutting it as high as possible).

I'll see if I can dig up some of (Vlad's) thornless blackberry for you. You've got a lot of picky stuff happening. I wanted to share a poison ivy tip with you that I figured out myself, the hard way. Poison ivy is an oil. Urshol, I think it's spelled. You might have gotten rid of it this year, but it's tenacious! Anyway, a degreaser addresses oil. Not bleach, sand, or other caustic stuff. They don't cut oil. So take Dawn dishwashing liquid and liberally spread it all over yourself like suntan lotion. Pay attention to neck, ankles, wrists, etc. Let it dry. Go do your thing in the garden. When you come in, either smear yourself with more soap and let it sit for a few minutes, or use Lever 2000 or Lava in the shower. (Also degreasing soaps.) Don't put the same clothes back on for any reason -- I've also made that mistake. Wash 'em. If you find you've actually gotten some PI, if it's still burning you still have the oil on you. I've gone so far as to just smear soap on me and continue what I was doing since I wasn't able to hop into a shower or something. If you do get some, it'll still itch some, but not insanely. Looking forward to meeting you on Saturday.

Actually, that was the side I didn't do anything to other than cut a few of the larger berry bushes at the bottom of the hill. That birch is in rough shape and without staking it up and waiting several years, it won't survive. I would just assume take it down since it's not really in a great location anyway. I hate to do it since they are becoming relatively scarce due to disease and insects. This picture http://minus.com/lbx4OfKnwRF4xc shows what are definitely blackberry/raspberry bushes. I wouldn't mind having them, in fact I would welcome having a ton more, just not here. Being on the slope they will not be easy to get to when the mature and have fruit. If there was a way to transplant them or something I would love to hear it. I had tried it in the past, but the only way I have ever seen them grow was by accident and negligence. Based on the size of a few of the lower bushes, I would bet they may produce a limited amount of fruit. The smaller ones at the top of the hill however are definitely not mature enough from my experience. Going off on a tangent... I loved having berry bushes growing up and we had a large sandy area on my parent's property that they grew like crazy in. They eventually began to die off and my dad chopped them all down. The began to come back by the time I went to college, but it took a while to get any amount of fruit from them. My last year at college I rented a small cottage on a back road that had the biggest patch of black raspberries I had ever seen. I started picking as soon as they began to ripen and then ever couple days for the next 3 weeks. I stopped for lack of room in the freezer for 1gal ziplock bags. I made at least a dozen pint jars of jam and a few quarts. I gave a bunch away but i'm hoarding the last few of the "good" batch for myself. :) So in other words, I would love to have berry bushes, just not where they are. A lot of what you see on the ground on the left side (looking from the house) is debris and not much in the way of live plants other than some weeds. Obviously it is still very early here and not much has come up yet though. The tree shown in the background of this picture http://minus.com/lbwhVJrx76OE9d appears to be planted from what is left of the mulch/preparation around the base. This shot http://minus.com/lvFny84VUSjeW shows a rock swail that comes down from what is left of the last owners fish pond sort of thing. There is a reddish low lying plant growing on either side that I failed to get a close up picture of. It appears that it will look nice later in the spring but needs some weeding and/or mulching. I will take your advice and try posting some pictures on the "name that plant" forum. In the meantime, would I benefit from getting some sort of tall meadow grass mix to put down in a few weeks? *whoops, I wrote a book

good morning sweetannie, yes, it does sound like paradise to me too - and I would be honored if I were your neighbor to come over and work for free and learn all I could Sigh, that is not to be. You know what is said about Paradise; "they took paradise and put up a parking lot." Of course your neighbors have a right to manage their property, but there may be regulations in your area on impact to surrounding land, check into that. I bought my little semi-rural plot in a teeny-tiny town a year and a half ago. It is sloped, and right at the highest edge are 4 evergreens. They are planted too close to each other... but they were mine, I wouldn't dream of cutting down 4 mature trees unless there were a pressing and logical reason. Well, two had quite a few brown tips and within a year ALL FOUR were dead as the proverbial doornail. I had an expert in to look at them, no - not borers - somebody has poisoned them. He said "someone has poisoned them, likely with copper." I look to the houses on higher ground and try to figure who may have wanted them gone, and who should PAY FOR THEIR REMOVAL, and there are no answers. I've tried posting them as free wood on CraigsList, posted on local bulletin boards, called tree services, etc. I haven't even 1/100th of the land you have, but as I said - it's MINE and I love it desperately already. I have my tiny meadow out back which slopes from my four huge dead brown trees gently down to the house. I've seeded with Crimson Clover, cone flower, and fifteen other wildflowers and I'd seeing tiny results. The neighbors, of course, seem to hate it. They were used to parking two cars on the top edge of it. Pfui. The only one who actually said anything is the house directly across the alley from me. Four dead trees stand between he and I. Ever since he (lightly) complained I have looked at him and wondered, how much did four tall trees and a neglected patch of meadow annoy him? Hmmm? GH-