"BTW - history completely contradicts your belief in soil testing. Almost nobody gets soil tests now and they weren't even available to homeowners until recently. Like a lot of modern technology, it can be a useful tool. However, people got along just fine without them in the not to distant past." What does that even mean? History contradicts your belief in soil testing? How does history contradict a belief in soil testing? That sentence is an example of making up something that sounds intelligent but has no basis in fact. Soil testing is an extremely important part of all the crops growing in this country. If we had a better understanding of soil science earlier in the 20th century then the dust bowl probably wouldn't have happened, or at least it wouldn't have been so bad. Turfgrass, like any crop, has its ideal soil conditions. The closer you can get to the ideal, the healthier the grass. How would you know if you need lime? Let's say you need lime, which one would you use? What about a phosphorus deficiency. Most fertilizers have little P, so are you supposed to guess if you have deficiencies? Andy's plan is the right way to do it. Sure you can do a renovation by omitting steps, but if you want the best results you will do it the right way. Rushing it will usually result in doing it again next fall.

I got some ideas for you as I am doing the same myself with part of my back fence(but not on the fence). It is an experiment I just started myself, but I do know how to make a trumpet vine into a tree. I have 6 started right now, but am adding 6 more soon. I had 3 started from seed last year, but one died when I accidently got some ant spray on it. Bug spray kills trumpet vines. I found out the hard way in the past 2 years. One seedling is only 1 foot tall while the other is 4 feet high. I want mostly yellow ones even though I got access to dozens of orange transplants from a big main runner. Making a tree from a trumpet vine takes a lot of prunning and time. First let the vine get to the right heighth you want your tree. You can keep them seperate about a foot and a half apart. Best use an 8 foot picket fence post. Train the vine to grow straight up using plastic ties. Just snug enough to hold it in place but not too choke it. I'm having mine go to 6 feet. One of mine should be there by end of growing season. Next spring when I see first signs of growth I will cut off the top above 6 feet. This will cause the vine to shoot out from the sides of vine. Do not let shoots grow too far out and get too long. If you get muliple shoots I will trim off one or 2 each day. If shoots get too big they can offset the growth of your shape of the main stem that you want to look like a tree trunk. Don't over prune at a young age. Usually if I look everyday, and if I see a new growth come out I'll nipp it off within a couple day. Slowly nipping these off will cause the main stem to get wider and woodier. It may take a good 10 years to get it to a good thick diameter. To transform in tree shape takes time and patience, so I would do it with a variety of them, so at least to get a few good ones. Once you have a good woody trunk you can stretch out a wire horizontally to about where you would like to form a couple branches and let a couple shoots grow out there. Let them and only those 2 grow out all year. They should probably flower as well that year. Next spring cut those shoots to the desired length you want your first 2 braches, and so on until you got your desired looking shape of tree. Depending on how fast your vine grows you may aquire tree shape in less than 10 years. I've seen some get there within 5 years. Hope that helps you out some. Anyone else trying to make some trumpet trees can share your experience and maybe we can all benefit from it. Glad to share. Have fun...

its more the moisture content of the wood than the acclimation process. If you have a wood moisture meter you would know right away.

Have you looked into items and spaces that will make life easier once you move in? Such as shelves in the laundry room, where you'll put the kitchen garbage pail, etc. I wanted to dwell on this point a little more, too. That you should focus on setting up the INFRASTRUCTURE you will need. I love infrastructure--we often ignore it, esp. stuff like shelving, etc. Be sure you have hooks for brooms, enough shelves int he closets (in any closet w/ shelves, seriously consider adding ONE MORE shelf) Then, you can decide what you want to put there. "Gumball Rally" is what I thought it was.And that's a great philosophy for lots of situations. Gloria, we're contemplating a move down the block, and my DH was saying "no need to pay movers except for the piano and the couch; we can just carry it down." Over my dead body! We've got 2 kids, and 4 people's worth of stuff. Last time we moved, I nearly killed one of his friends (who was helping us but wouldn't listen to me) out of frustration. I told DH then, we are never moving ourselves again. It is just TOO HARD. And, that same friend moved, w/ DH helping, and he packed some, moved some, etc. It's VERY inefficient. MUCH more efficient to pack everything, truck it over in ONE trip (get as big a truck as you need), and then unpack. I suppose 4 doors away doesn't require a truck, but it'll use a handcart, and major packing. I've really learned mylesson from watching those friends. Pack everything before you move ANYthing.