1. Get a soil test. Call your nearest county extension service for a test kit and details. It will likely take two weeks for results. If you need to apply sulfur, lime, or any other amendment per test recommendation (that is not applied in Step 6), you can do it after seeding if you don't get results back in time. 2. Apply that "R" word stuff and again one week after the first application. You can seed the lawn one week after the second app. 3. Scalp it down 4. Rake it up 5. Core aerate (or cheat with Nitron A-35) 6. Fertilize 7. Sow seeds 8. Topdress 1/4 inch layer compost, peat moss, or clean straw (weed-free). 9. Irrigation schedule water 15-20 minutes twice a day for two weeks water 20-30 minutes once a day for one week water 30-45 minutes once a day every other day for one week water 30-45 minutes once a day twice a week for one week move into deep irrigation, increasing the time to provide 1 inch of water all over and decreasing the frequency to just once a week. Starting off, the schedule supplies roughly 1/4 inch of water, then increases that amount while decreasing frequency of application at the same time. Like practically everything that concerns lawn care, this schedule is a general guideline and should be modified to accommodate your specific conditions. The lengths of time should be modified if you have an automatic sprinkler system since that will not take as long to provide adequate moisture. So, decrease amount of water (time) but maintain frequency as is. The tuna cans test is recommended. If it is still especially warm, you may want to irrigate 3 times a day (10-15 minutes if necessary) for that first couple weeks. Your objective is to keep the upper 1 inch of soil moist and not let the seeds dry out. Baby the grass for the rest of year. Once the seeds begin to sprout, don't walk on it if at all possible. First mowing is when the new grass reaches two inches. Remove 1/3 of the grass blade, then allow to grow to 4 inches. Cut it back to 2.5 inches and maintain 2.5 inches mowing height.

St. Augustine is not recommended for us in N. MS, but it's grown in the lower South. I wanted Zoysia, but the builder had a good deal on Bermuda sod. The Zoysia would have cost more than twice as much, this is an acre and a half of sod, so I just didn't need the extra expence at that time. Moving to a new place is expensive! The Bermuda is invading my flower beds, and I have many of them. I bird and butterfly garden. I've done just about everything I can think of to defeat it. It's winning! And it's the toughest stuff to pull out of all weeds! I've smohered it with newspaper, ringed all beds with round-up, pulled and pulled and pulled! Send the cold and rain our way please!!! We are suffering the worst drought on record. We had a drought in spring, which is unheard of in this area. Spring and fall are supposed to be wet. And now we're headed into July an August. My water bill was three hundred dollars, which is a lot for me. Looking into getting rain barrels (no chlorine in the water better for plants, too, and frogs!!!). The thing is to be of any use I'd have to have about 8 of them. We use a tremendous amount of water in the summer. Thanks for all the helpful answers. Michele_1

Thanks, Bill - I was hoping you might see my plea! Backbuttering, which we weren't doing before (oops), has helped enormously, as does this tip on how to do it. My husband has determined that (a) he will never tile a wall again and (b) those who do it professionally (and do it well) are worth every cent they charge.

So what you're saying is that the Ventilation guy has suggested building a soffit over the window behind the existing range, then running duct through the soffit and then through top of the upper cabinets, then out through the outside wall on the right. Is that correct? While I suppose this could work, it might end up looking a little a little peculiar at the point where you need to connect the ducting to a ceiling-mounted island hood. Most chimney-style island hoods are designed to accommodate ducting going straight up through the ceiling. Have you considered a telescoping down-draft ventilator that would rise up behind the range? While I always recommend a range hood where one is possible, your kitchen is somewhat unusual, and it might not be the best solution. You indicate that you've chosen a dual fuel Wolf range. Since the oven will be electric, your range won't be releasing nearly as much heat or as many combustion byproducts into the kitchen as an all-gas model. You might be able to get by with a good downdraft exhaust utilizing an island trim on the range. It wouldn't be ideal, but certainly better than no exhaust, and you wouldn't have to contend with installing a hood in a place where it isn't practical. As an aside, your current stove appears to be a drop-in model, which you indicate is in a peninsula. Are you sure a Wolf range will fit into the same space? Most commercial style ranges are somewhat deeper than drop-in models. The new Wolf may project out into the kitchen several inches further that what you have now.