There's a lawn care forum here at GW. You might want to pose your lawn questions there. I assume you mean some kind of garden or shrub bed along the driveway, not mulch per se. Construction of a bed itself isn't all that big a deal (remove sod, test soil, amend with organic matter, plant then mulch to conserve water and reduce weeds), but to select plants you'll need to consider the soil type and sun exposure. In NH, presumably you'll also need to consider snow removal and possibly salt tolerance along a driveway which might make some shrubs not particularly good choices. Perhaps a no-mow groundcover other than grass would be a better choice than a mixed perennial or shrub border. Again, think about the practicalities and decide what might work better for you.

Sounds like you are watching too many commercials to help you with your gardening. Here are the basics of lawn care: Water deeply and infrequently. Deeply means at least an hour in every zone, all at once. Infrequently means monthly during the cool months and no more than weekly during the hottest part of summer. If your grass looks dry before the month/week is up, water longer next time. 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. Mulch mow at the highest setting on your mower (special exception for KBG - mow at 3 inches). Most grasses are the most dense when mowed tall. Bermuda, centipede, and bent grasses are the most dense when mowed at the lowest setting on your mower. Dense grass shades out weeds and uses less water when tall. Dense grass feeds the deep roots you're developing in 1 above. Fertilize regularly. I fertilize 4 times per year using organic fertilizer. Which fertilizer you use is much less important than numbers 1 and 2 above. When to aerate? Never needed if you follow 1,2 and 3 above. When to overseed? Not needed with KGB. Overseeding is a fescue problem. 20-0-0 is only appropriate if you have bermuda. Any other grass would require a soil test to determine a specific mix of fertilizer. Chances are whatever is on the shelf currently is okay to use. But don't apply after Memorial Day. If you do you are getting into the summer heat. Heat and chemical fertilizer are not good for the grass. The sprayer approach to fertilizing is not a good way to go. Grass needs fertilizer at a rate of pounds per 1,000 square feet. The sprayer can deliver micro-ounces per 1,000 square feet. You'll need a drop spreader or a broadcast spreader and large bags of fertilizer. Trimec is one of any number of 2,4-d type herbicides. Don't mix it with anything else, especially fertilizer. Herbicides work best when they are spot-sprayed on each weed. If you are doing the 1-2-3 above, you likely will never need herbicide. If you apply it, though, you should see the weed die in less than a week. If you don't see that, then it could be the herbicide was not designed for that particular weed. Trimec types of herbicides are used on weeds like dandelions and clover; not crabgrass and other grassy weeds. Relax. It is not hard to do this.

How often should a New Jersey lawn with clay soil be watered during the summer months ? I am currently watering 3 times a week, 30 minutes each zone. Water should be applied in sufficient quantity to moisten the root zone to a depth of 4 to 6". For "average" soil, this has been estimated to take 1" of water. Soil, water pressure, and watering devices vary, so the amount of time will vary. Roots will grow down to the moisture. Short watering times only wet the top inch or two, so the roots stay close to the surface. Deep, infrequent watering induces the roots to grow deeper. Deeper roots can maintain water to the plant for longer periods between watering. Do the new turf type tall fescues show a pleasing visual turf quality similar to Kentucky bluegrass ? I've seen beautiful fescue loaws, but I personally prefer KB. How many months does it take for overseeded lawns to mature if I overseed in the fall ? I believe it can take 4-6 weeks after the first mow for turf to harden off. Any online lawn seed sellers that sell in small quantities at reasonable prices ? Looking for top quality cultivars not sold in big box stores. Is a 90/10 TTTF/KGB mix good for overseeding ? See below for retailers. Keep in mind that the percentages are weights not seed count. So a 90/10 means the bag contains as many TTTF seeds as KB seeds. Looking to significantly improve my lawn this fall. It is in decent shape...just needs to be thicker and more lush. I have no clue what type of grass I currently have. It appears to be a mix of cool season varieties. See this site: http://turfid.ncsu.edu/ItemID.aspx?orderID=GR&orderDesc=Grass. Proceedure fo overseeding is for another time:) Here is a link that might be useful: Seed Retailers

Synthetics are things like Scott's or Vigoro (although both companies also make organic fertilizers). They're usually white or white with bright green bits, and generally get applied in the 3 to 6 pound per thousand square feet range. These fertilizers are (usually) salt based (although urea can also be used, which isn't a salt). Urea itself is a crossover. It's an organic molecule, but in use the amounts that go down and the general strength is more in the synthetic range. Blood meal would also fall into this range. Neither urea nor blood meal enhance the soil as classical organics would. Organics are Milorganite, grains, feather meal, and so on. Colors vary, and the amounts applied generally range from 10 to 20 pounds per thousand square feet. Which one to use is always an interesting argument. Properly applied, there's nothing wrong with a synthetic, but it's wise to keep a closer eye on your soil chemistry when feeding synthetically. They'll tend to deplete your soil a little more than organics will, leading to a see-saw effect. Organics are a lot more wide open, although soil testing is also a good idea. Although I gave optimal dates for correct feeding, there's really no wrong time to apply organics (except maybe on frozen ground). If you want to feed now, organic is your only option--it's too early for synthetics and they'd be an additional stress on the lawn. Overseeding is done when daytime temperatures are just dropping off their summer highs, to about three weeks later. For you, that's in a week or so, all the way through very early September.