The answer probably depends on your soil and its ability to keep soil microbes alive. If you have pure sand, then adding compost every year might be helpful. I say, might, because I have an area of pure sand and have not used compost since that one time in the 90s. In my neighborhood compost costs $35 per cubic yard. Delivery charges are another $35. App rate is 1 cubic yard per 1,000 square feet. Total cost is $$70 per 1,000 square feet. Whereas I can get soybean meal, a really good organic fertilizer, in a plain bag from the feed store for $15. It covers 2,500 square feet. Total cost is $6 per 1,000 square feet. It provides much more bang than a layer of compost. Why? Because soybean meal has protein in it. Protein is food for the soil microbes. Compost has expended protein (in other words, no protein) but it has a lot of microbes and dormant microbes. What most soil needs is food for the microbes rather than more microbes. I harvested a picture posted here by mrmumbles last June. It shows a picture of a spot in his lawn where he applied alfalfa pellets (rabbit food) in May. Here's the pic. Note the color, density, and height differences between the zoysia in the spot and that surrounding the spot. Alfalfa is considered a good organic fertilizer but not a great one. This year I have been using an excellent organic fertilizer, corn gluten meal, every month. My lawn has never looked this good. Next year I will use about half this much and switch over to soybean meal (much cheaper).

" I do feel though (plz let me say this just once..) that they look like prison facilities." (edit: I caught ltonk before he or she made an edit. But that's a fine opinion to express if you're not used to the look, which, clearly most people in the US wouldn't be) Well, obviously, the British aristocracy would disagree with you. I don't see any razor wire fences, guard towers, concrete block batiments, etc. Are you sure you've actually seen a prison in your life? FWIW the first picture is the back of Castle Howard, here's a better overview: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/north_yorkshire/3624511.stm Of course the ones that actually _were_ castles were in a sense a reverse prison at one time. But I don't think that's the reasoning behind the way they may or may not be planted. I think it's more a mindset about what landscaping, gardening, and architecture all actually are, and mean. There's an utterly fascinating essay I have somewhere...unfortunately I've downloaded 1000s of pdf files of interesting articles and papers over the years, and it's hard to find one I need at a moment's notice - about the history of the concept of "culture" vis-a-vis horticulture. How "culture[d]" and "horticulture" are inexorably intertwined. Basic point is gardens always started out with a utilitarian goal in mind, but their cultural effect was recognized early on. (hanging gardens of babylon, etc) I think to really pull out occam's razor and slash this one open if I may mix metaphors, to put greens in front of one's castle would have implied one had nowhere else to grow one's food. Or something like that. Funny that you said thatthough, as, even though I'm a bit of an anglophile and certainly a fan of English gardening culture, I was reflecting recently that such stately homes, lovely as they are, reflect the "prison" that pre-20th century society was for those who were not in the gentry and aristocracy. You could only build such places without modern machinery and run them efficiently when labor was incredibly cheap and expendable. With the # of recent examples of these piles turning back into what they once were...i.e., fully private homes that don't even need the revenue of visitors, you have to worry whether the world hasn't turned back that way a wee bit. But let's not get into economic policy. That would make a real OT mess. The two I know about are Leonardslee, the Loder Estate - home of one of the most famous collections of rhododendrons in the world - and Torosay Castle, but I'm sure I've read of at least one other in the past few years. This post was edited by davidrt28 on Tue, Apr 30, 13 at 23:22

I hope others reply - I built mine very similar - shelf, straight sides. Where the liner shows above the water is more annoying than you might think... even with the rock overhang. Especially when water drops due to evaporation or whatever. If I had it to do over, I would have the liner go around the top shelf rock instead of over it (ie rock goes in the water instead of the dirt - black foam around sides and back of the rock.) Or maybe have two rocks instead of one - bottom rock in the dirt, top rock in the water. Where are you located? Footings ideally go below frost line - or just be prepared to readjust rocks every now and then, may not be a big deal.

Working on at least reducing the size of my purse. I tried putting only 1 check from each check book in my purse and that didn't work out too well because I used one and forgot to replace it and then had to use the other from a different account (which I didn't want to do). So its still a work in progress. Going out Friday night and am going to try being purseless. I think the key to purseless may be keeping a bag of stuff in my car. This was brought up on the other thread but I really need to do it. The dress is a Ralph Lauren, about $90 at Macys. It was so comfortable and you could crunch up the fabric and it did not wrinkle. And its machine washable! Also, not see through as so many dress are now.