Building on what Gary said, if you want to make the leap, you'd probably want to start with a soil test. That will tell you if you need to add any P or K and if so, how much. Where I am, there is plenty of P and K, so I only need to add N. A general guide follows. Always mulch mow at the mower's highest setting. Water deeply and infrequently. If you have problems with annual weeds germinating in the spring, apply a pre emergent when the forsythia is in bloom in your area. Use a fertilizer in the late spring. The particular fertilizer you use would depend on the soil test. In the absence of a soil test, I used to think a balanced fertilizer (10-10-10, 16-16-16 etc) was best, but now lean toward a nitrogen only fertilizer (21-0-0, 39-0-0, 46-0-0 etc). The reason is that P and K stick around pretty well, so they may have been building up over time. When you fertilize, use enough to apply 1 lb of actual N per 1000 sq ft of lawn. I ignore the spreader settings and get the amount of fertilizer I calculate I need, set the spreader fairly low and keep spreading until it's all gone, making multiple passes in multiple directions to try to get even coverage. If you have broadleaf weeds, you can spot spray them when they are actively growing (a week or so after fertilizing will probably do the best). Don't spray when daily highs are abouve about 80-85 F. DON'T fertilize in the summer unless you use an organic fertilizer. And even then, apply at a lower rate. Fertilizing in the summer makes the grass grow fast and use more water when you really want it to slow down and use less water. In the fall, you can fertilize once it cools off a bit, and the final fertilization should be after the top growth has stopped but while the grass is still green. For that one, always use a nitrogen only fertilizer and apply 1 lb of actual N per 1000 sq ft of lawn.

Jo, it is that with pots, I see the hosta and think 'Wow, it's looking good. I bet it'll look FANTASTIC sited in the ground!' And it does. I don't hate pots, not at all. When I was a resident of apartments, my patios were always full of potted plants, and that kept my gardening urges well-indulged. But now that I'm fortunate enough to have a little bit of property, my mindset, I guess, has been 'in-ground first'... I do have some empty pots to fill. And it will be with hosta, some on the deck, some on the patio and some on the front porch. I'm just not going to go 'nuts' with it, if you will. I have a few beauties I'll leave in pots; 'Queen of the Seas', 'Blue Sophistication' (Which looks amazing in it's pot), and I have a 'Great Expectations' doing very nicely in a pot. I think the only other one in a decorative/'permanent' pot is 'Hadspen Blue' and I'm going to divide that up in fall and site a piece in the earth. I love the blue color so much, though, that I am certainly going to keep pot-growing the other piece. I just noticed that in naming off what I still have in pots, I am leaning toward blues in a big way! LOL. But, y'know, being a hosta-person, I may have 20-30 hosta in pots in a few seasons. We'll see how I REALLY deal with running out of room in a year or two! ; ) Cheers Jo! Don B. P.S. I know, 'QOTS' will eventually get really big. Maybe I'll divide it, site some in ground, and get a GIANT decorative pot for the other piece of it. This post was edited by Don_in_Colorado on Sat, Jul 13, 13 at 19:04

For the past four weeks I've been working out on the company gym's treadmill 4-5 nights a week doing 3-4 miles at a brisk walk. I also add incline to help build up my hiking endurance. During the workout my heart rate runs between 128 and 136. I'm also eating salads and WW meals, drinking water, lots of water and hike at least once a week. So far I don't feel like I'm making much progress. I had a doctor appointment yesterday and weighed in more than I did before starting my workouts. And please don't tell me muscle weighs more than fat because at this point I should have lost at least a pound regardless of how "buff" (LOL) I am. My blood pressure was a bit high too. I'm so disappointed. I'll keep it going though because I really need to work on my inclines for easier hiking but geez. Jodi-

One of the problems you run into as a designer is the client constantly making changes because nothing was defined or put in writing at the beginning of the project. The questionnaire is the designer's bare minimum of getting your requirements in writing. I would suggest that you develop your own programming document and give that to the designer. You should be able to do that in 2-3 days if you know what you want and how your house should function. Start with an overall description of the house with the number of rooms by name and their function. Then describe the relationship between the rooms. Once you do that, go through the house room-by-room and describe, in detail, how each room should function, the features it should have, and the type of finishes. Make numbered lists for each room such as - Master bathroom shall be attached to the master bedroom and shall have the following features: 1. Dual sinks 2. Walk-in shower with no door. 3. Jetted soaker tub. 4. Water closet shall be separated from main bath area and shall have pocket door. 5. Wall in back of sinks shall be glass tile from counter top level to ceiling. Color as selected by Owner. 6. Counter top shall be soapstone. 7. Floor shall be plank style porcelain tile. Color as selected by Owner. 8. Shower shall be full Kerdi system. 8; Shower floor shall be black pebble type tile. 9. Shower walls shall be porcelain tile from shower base to ceiling. Tile size and color to be selected by Owner. Bathroom walls shall have 40-inch high 12x24 inch porcelain tile wainscoting. Color to be selected by Owner. Bath towel bar shall be ladder type and heated. Plumbing valve fixtures shall be Kohler with brushed nickel finish. Sinks and toilet shall be Kohler color as selected by Owner. etc., etc. You should be as interested in the house design as you expect the designer to be; and if you're not getting the attention to detail you want - then be proactive and create your own programming document. I created a programming document for the architect who designed my new house. The document is 13 pages in length and gave the architect defined design features that he could essentially use as checklist to make sure the house had all of the design elements that I wanted. It's a winning design strategy as it give everyone a common basis for the design, and should reduce changes later in the project as the basis of design is defined and in writing. This will serve as a reference document for the remainder of the project, and should be given to the builders to bid from in addition to the plans. It gives the builders confidence that the owner knows what they want and also gives the builders a reference source from which they can ask questions as they formulate their bid.