Mulch mow the grass at a high setting. This encourages deep roots and also helps to crowd out weeds. Usually, I'd say to water deeply and infrequently, but you may not be able to do that with your water situation. It would be better to water a section of the lawn for a long time, then another section for a long time on a different day than to water both sections a short time on the same day. If possible, it's best to water about an inch a week (adjusting for any rain that falls) applying it all in one day. In your case, you'd want to give each section an inch, move to a different section for the next inch and so on. In the hottest part of the summer, watering twice a week for 1/2 inch may work better. Fertilize once in the spring and twice in the fall, with the last one after the top growth has stopped but while the grass is still green. Those are the most important things to do. If you want to try to start killing the weeds, either get a weed hound and pull them or spot spray with something that has 2,4D in it. Don't use the weed and feed products. Fertilizing and killing weeds are different activities and should be separated.

If I have the right county for you, try these links for your county's gardening resources. http://ccmg.ucdavis.edu/ http://cecontracosta.ucdavis.edu/ Now, you have a couple options. Most people do a soil test, altho I never have. Contact the above resources for info on this inexpensive test. Ask specifically about lead and other toxins, do they even test for that. Some folks dig or double dig and add in organic matter. If you have compost, use that, or you can usually buy it in bags or bulk from nurseries or the city or county. Again, the above links should know this. If I have to buy "soil" for a garden I buy "humus" or "composted manure" never "topsoil" becoz it is heavy and void of much nutrients. I would not use container soil or potting soil, either, as that is a very light mix made esp. for container plants. I like another method called lasagna gardening where you just layer cardboard and/or newspaper, wet it, then add your organic matter or compost/humus (as described above) several inches high into a raised bed and plant. This is also called no-till gardening. Underneath, the cardboard and newspaper will be decomposing and killing off the grass or weeds underneath becoz there is no light getting to it. Just like if you lay a bag of soil on the grass and in a couple days the grass underneath is dying. After planting your veggies, I would mulch with whatever is locally available like shredded wood or wood chips. I like the shredded better, it is easier to move around,softer to walk or kneel on, and doesn't float away in a rain. Here in Mississippi, alot of us use pine needles or pine straw as it's called. If you are not planning to plant right away, you can compost in place over your cardboard or newspaper by throwing your veggie scraps and plant waste right on your future garden. Read more about it by searchiing lasagna gardens. You might also want to search about planting in hay or straw bales. Here's one sight: http//www.postpaper.com/haybale.htm This might esp work for you the first year.

The first thing you should do is read the "Read Me" thread. That will take a day, but it will give you all kinds of information and force you to answer questions about who you are and how you use your kitchen and what you ultimately want from the space. It will also tell you how to post pictures. Start with the existing kitchen. What is it's age? Are the cabinet drawers in good condition? Is anything worn or coming apart? Will your old cabinets be able to fit modern appliances without alterations?Do you want to change anything else like add ventilation or a DW that doesn't currently exist? Is there any place that you want to add storage? In other words, what in the space is worth keeping? It's no good to start planning new countertops to go on top of worn tired cabinets that don't fit your needs anyway. Second thing is the layout and a functionality analysis. Draw it out on graph paper and really look at it. Is there any way to improve it. People live with less than optimal layouts all the time and get used to it. What would you do if you weren't used to it. Do you want warm floors because you go barefoot or tile floors for ease of cleanability? Do you want a side by side for the better ice production or a french door because of the easy gliding freezer drawer? (Even full, it's an easy glide to you.) How do you use a kitchen sprayer and would one on the faucet or separate work better for you? Third, after you tackle the functional analysis, is the actual choice in the decor kitchen elements like flooring and appliances and counters. (Phase 2 is the what, Phase 3 is the which) This is when you start developing your idea of the look for the space. Use pictures of the various elements and put them together into a collage. You can see what may or may not work. Light floors, cabinets, and counters tends to not work very well design wise. It hits the repetition element of design, but it overdoes it and clubs it to death. You need contrast and variation in textures and colors also. Phase 4 is the design analysis and weeding out of choices that don't go with your vision of the space. This is one of the hardest phases, because if you use all of the choices that you love it can end up looking like a second hand thrift store instead of a pulled together whole. You are starting in the middle of a project without even having a good idea of the beginning. STOP. Start over at the beginning.

in my MI ... i HAVE TO DIG AND STORE THEM for winter.. because of my ground freeze ... im kinda surprised that you need to do that in z9 ... but im to lazy to look if up ... so the idea is.. when youre doing your own research ... is to try to find info that is more specific to your zone ... or even better a join a local garden club.. and find out from your new friends ... that said ... many vigorous perennials.. need to be dug up every few years ... just to basically ... rejuvenate them ... the centers can get so congested that water and air cant move properly thru ... and eventually.. after many years.. you end up with a fairy ring or dead material.. and the live plant all around ... so you dig it all up.. remove the dead stuff.. and replant the vigorous young plants from the edge .... now.. with this beast .. set it in shade for a week or so ... they are tubors.. basically like a potato ... lets it dry and shrink a bit ... and it might just show you how ans where to start breaking it apart ... it is said.. to pull things apart.. rather than going in there with a chainsaw. or knife.. or ax ... plants tend to break apart so you dont end up cutting thru good material ... which might end up rotting and causing different problems ... you might go as far as just throwing it around the yard ... its good stress relief ... lol .. until it starts breaking up .. i was once told by a hosta guru.. to just beat a clump of hosta roots against a tree ... until it broke up ... he claimed it released growth hormones in response to the stress ... ok ... lol .. regardless.. i never lost any form such ... dont make this more complicated than need be ... and dont worry about it ... you might only have a couple hundred viable tubers there ,.. when it boils down.. so what if you lose 90 .. lol ... most of us wouldnt have room for that many anyway ... ken ps: if you do have more than you can use ... you can gift them to your new club friends ... between garden tours and trading plants.. thats the whole point of the club ....