Amending the soil here strikes me as a losing proposition - unless you stick to raised beds and square foot gardening (along with heavy mulching). Much to my surprise, bamboo will grow here - but it will cost you in water. A lot. Don't do it. Xeriscape instead. I fully understand the need for green - but some things we just shouldn't have in this area, because they just aren't suited and water is not unlimited. Outdoor pools and huge expanses of lawn are only two of the many things that just ought not to be here. Xeriscape. Look for plants that are drought tolerant - such as yellow trumpetbush, lantana, etc. The UNR has a lot of online resources to help you find native or at least adapted landscaping options that will minimally impact your use of water. You may water your lawn only 3 days a week in Reno, during restricted hours. Xeriscape instead and keep the lawn to a smaller space where you can relax and enjoy it, instead of trying to sod and maintain an entire yard. Plant trees and shrubs in catchment basins. Make use of native or adapted ground covers where ever possible. Xeriscaping does not mean putting down black plastic and then dumping rocks on it. Look around at other people's yards to get some ideas. Make use of pergolas and arbors (and climbing plants such as Cardinal Climber, Scarlet Runner bean, or clematis) to provide shade. Build a patio of paving stones or a wooden deck instead of solid concrete to allow water to seep in instead of running right off. Plant drought tolerant varieties. If there is an outdoor patio or deck, it will be burning hot for most of the day unless it is shaded. A pergola or partial roof is necessary if you expect to have the use of the area throughout the day, and not just in the early morning or late afternoon/evening. A wooden deck won't be nearly as bad as a concrete patio - but it'll still be too hot to spend time out there during a large portion of the day unless there is shade (or it is on the north side of the house). Our patio is on the south side of the house and it is unusable most of the day in large part because of the reflected heat from the concrete. But back to "soil amendment" - once you stop trying to turn this into a climate that it is not and cannot be, there is a LOT you can do to satisfy the need for green. Some things that I struggled to grow in lusher climes do VERY well here - such as lavender, rosemary, and German thyme. German thyme (and some other thyme varieties) make nice ground covers or edging plants for raised beds. Dwarf rosemary and thyme both will spill over edges of raised beds very nicely and in an attractive manner. All three plants are well adapted to the dry, gritty soil typical in many areas (there is clay in the flood plains to the south). All three are drought tolerant, and in fact don't typically do well in anything other than well-drained soil. You won't need to water these much or at all sometimes. Roses do VERY well here and don't require nearly the level of care they do in wetter climes. For the garden, I am using the same technique I have been using for several decades, only with no need to deal with slugs. Mulch, mulch, mulch! In an urban setting like this, I use broken down cardboard boxes (such as are used for shipping or moving) as a weed barrier, cover with the cheapest landscaping mulch I can find (currently 2.50 @ Home depot for 2.5 cu ft), plant in raised beds, and square foot garden. Wet down the soil in the raised bed - I amended the native soil with some peat moss, dug down as close to 10-12" as I could get because that is where your garden plants will keep 90% of their roots - break up hardpan at the bottom, if any. Wet the cardboard and lay it on the damp (but not waterlogged) soil. Cover with an inch or so of the wood mulch. Drip irrigate. Cut holes through the cardboard for individual plants, leaving enough space around the plant so that water can soak directly into the soil from your emitters. Plant them indented - sort of in a basin, to catch, retain, and deliver more water directly to the roots. For row veggies like carrots, lay cardboard between rows. Cover over all with the wood mulch. This cools the soil significantly even in a raised bed and makes it much more worm-friendly, as well as providing garden veggies with a cooler, more evenly moist environment for root development. If you are building new raised beds above grade, I'd just break up the top 6" of the native soil, work in some of your soil mix, and fill with a good soil mix. Look for Al's mix on these forums and go from there. You will still need to mulch. If you are trying to recreate a mid-western style garden, in a huge plot at ground level, that just isn't your best gardening solution in an area like this, no matter how much you amend the soil. By amending the soil significantly, you are making it inappropriate for native plants, and you will still need to water like a mad thing. It will also take DECADES and be a constant on-going process. Consider switching to a raised bed/square foot gardening approach instead - it will conserve water and make weeding/watering/growing much much easier. This isn't like many other places in the country, where wood mulch can be had for the asking for free or at very low cost. There are no sawmills here. There are no hay pastures to speak of and straw and hay are at a premium. If the municipality has a wood chipping facility, I haven't found it yet - but in this arid region with few trees, I'd be surprised if there is enough yard waste to warrant such. I'm pretty sure drip irrigation is limited to the same days and conditions as the lawn watering schedule - I think that's for all automatic watering. You are allowed to hand water at any time - but your water bill will be much smaller if you minimize that to emergency situations and/or container plants. Because we just moved in here, I don't have drip irrigation set up and am watering my dozen or so plants this year by hand - but next year the drip irrigation will be in place and I will build additional self-watering raised beds out on the otherwise useless Astroturf a previous owner thought would be a wonderful idea (it wasn't). Check out the Master Gardener classes this coming spring at your local extension office - learn about xeriscaping. You are not limited to cacti and sagebrush in a xeriscaped yard. Some xeriscape plants are quite attractive, such as the lavender, lantana, yellow trumpetbush, and many other xeriscape-appropriate plants that can serve to stabilize soil and attract bees, butterflies, and birds. There are some quite attractive xeriscape-appropriate ground covers that will help to conserve what little moisture there is and cool the soil. Planting xeriscape-appropriate plants with a mind to water conservation will give you an attractive but still sustainable landscape. It doesn't have to be tumbleweeds, rocks, dirt, and concrete. You will still amend the soil, but on nowhere near the scale necessary if you are trying to recreate the soils from less arid regions. Finally, be aware that because of the swing in temperature between day and night, we get frosts here earlier and later than you would think, going by day time temps. Average last frost date is mid-April; average first frost date is mid-September. You can extend this somewhat if you can protect plantings. Mid-August is the time to plant fall crops of lettuce etc. Some useful UNR extension publications: Irrigating your vegetable garden Raised Beds Desert Landscape & Gardening Becoming a Desert Gardener Container Gardening Gardening Guide for High-Desert Urban Landscapes Getting Started with a Vegetable Garden - planting dates! The All Seeing All Knowing Lawn Care Manual More can be found at - UNR Extension Publications UNR Extension Resources Keep in mind that a lot of the publications are for Southern NV (eg Las Vegas, Mojave, Moapas Valley) - so check to make sure the specific information is useful to YOUR area here in Reno. And remember that areas of Reno can differ dramatically in elevation, and a small change in relative elevation can make the difference between success or failure with a particular plant, even if it is a native species. BTW - if you are interested - backyard chickens are legal in Reno and Sparks. Much to the dismay of my son, heh heh heh! Backyard Chickens in Reno Check with the city but they seem to be legal in most places inside the city limits. Here is a link that might be useful: Desert Denial - Get Over It! This post was edited by zensojourner on Mon, Jul 21, 14 at 15:32

Flyleft - I asked your questions of a friend who visits Reno regularly and here is her reply, more or less in toto, sorry if some of it is repetitious: "The amimal sanctuary is closed (they're only open in the summer). I second your thought that Virginia City might be fun (check out virginiacity-nv.org/kids_korner.aspx). The drive to Virginia City goes up a fairly steep grade, so check weather/road conditions. Since it's Christmas/winter time, there's an ice skating rink down by the River (in Reno). Then there is the automobile museum; it's Bill Harrah's private collection of automobiles. I'd also suggest a visit to the Lake, espec. Emerald Bay, which is beautiful any time of the year. Maybe ride up the gondola at Heavenly Valley, the view from up there is, umm, heavenly. (Flyleft - I think she's referring to Lake Tahoe; was going to suggest that myself; it's really incredible.) There's a Railroad Museum and also a Children's Museum (www.cmnn.org/) in Carson City, about 1/2 hour south of Reno: you drive through some genuinely rural, old Nevada towns - horse country - and there's a chocolate place along the road, the Chocolate Nugget, something that might be if interest to those who love chocolate. Restaurants: Skyline Cafe on Skyline Blvd/corner Cashell in Reno. Great view of the city espec. at night with all the lights, and reasonably priced food. The food is Italian, and they have quite a pizza selection. I also like the buffet at the Atlantis, and the coffee shop at the Grand Sierra Resort for breakfast. For Mexican food, there's Hacienda on 10580 N. Mccarran Blvd., Reno. Rubicon Deli on California St. has wonderful sandwiches." Hope this helps. My friend has great taste and is a wonder at finding interesting things to do and good places to eat!

DO NOT USE PLATINUM POOS!!!!! In November of 2009 my husband and I signed a contract with Platinum Pools for 50,000. As soon as the contract was signed all we got was the run around. We had to call them over and over again to see when they were going to start on the pool. Finally they told us a date and when that date came nobody ever showed. When we called the women at the front would always say everyone was in a meeting and then send us to voicemail boxes. We would leave voicemail after voicemail and would never get any call back. Finally we got someone that was helping us and then a week later we were told they had to be let go. Long story short the pool was finished three months later than it should of took. It has been about a year and a half now and all of the pool tile has started to come off. We have gotten several other pool compaines to come out and look at the tile. They said that all the pool tile needs to be replaced and that it is in horrible shape. This is going to cost us 4 to 5 thousand dollars. There is no reason that pool tile should start dropping off after only 1 1/2 years. We have called Platinum pools and still we have not recived a call back (of course they are still in that meeting 1 1/2 years later). They wouldn't even let us talk to anyone about this problem. So as of now we are sending a letter to the BBB and also hiring an attorney.

kardut - I'm willing to give a brief rundown, but remember this: everyone will have an opinion on what type of pool that have (or didn't get) so don't be surprised if no one agrees with me. This is the part that you want to do some research and come to the conclusion by yourself. Gunite (or concrete) pools have the most options for sizes/shapes (pro) but also have the highest costs associated with then (con). I have seen some awesome pool designs and shapes, but those usually cost about 50k or more. You will eventually need to resurface the pool (con) and (at least for me - my folks in FL have a gunite pool) it wears rough against skin (con). I would swim in it almost daily and had a problem with the pads of my feet flaking away (actually, it scared the crap out of me and I discontinued pushing off the side of the pool after that) Also, I heard that you have to use caustic chemicals to clean the pool out (con). Build time can be excessive (con) as they have to not only dig the pool but put down forms for the concrete, pour it and wait for it to set. Fiberglass is less expensive than concrete (pro) but still expensive (con) - build time is considerably less because it comes in one piece (pro) but has to be dropped by a crane (con as it is costly and cumbersome). Again, you will eventually have to resurface/repair the pool (con) and I think it is pretty expensive (but don't quote me on that one.) One bad thing about fiberglass pools is that I have heard of them "popping" out of the ground from groundwater or earth tremors. Obviously, not everyone experiences that or no one would have this type of pool! Vinyl lined pools. These come in three (or more) types: steel, polymer (plastic) and wood. Wood is probably the cheapest (pro) but also the least durable (con - remember, you get what you pay for.) Polymer will last much longer than steel and some polymer panels are as durable as steel (pro). Steel will rust (con), no matter what anyone says or if it is galvanized. I have seen far too many pictures that people send when they want a replacement liner to believe the fallacy that steel doesn't rust. Steel panels can be shaped more easily than polymer (pro) while you have to "take what you can get" with the polymer since those are molded (con) In general, vinyl lined pools should last for 8 to 10 years before you need to replace the liner (pro) and the replacement cost shouldn't be as much as a resurface (pro). If you are going to have a pool installer do it for you, I would recommend getting references on their installs. Also check out the local BBB and chamber of commerce. Make sure to read over any contracts you sign and make sure you know what is included and not included. If you are going to do it yourself, make sure that you budget enough money for the install portion and can find people to help you with the things you'll need to outsource (excavating, plumbing, electrical and concrete) and check with your local township for permits, rules and regs, etc. Hope this helps - let me know if I didn't cover something well and I'll try to expound. Ted