>"1. If it is best to water all at once, why do many of my neighbors have their sprinklers run nearly every night?" Never confuse activity with accomplishment. Always deep, infrequent watering. Your lawn needs one inch of water per week including rainfall. Using tuna cans placed in various places, run the sprinkler to obtain one inch of water in the tuna cans and time it. Run the sprinklers each week for that amount of time in every section to achieve one inch of irrigation all over. One inch will moisten the soil to a depth of 6-8 inches. This encourages the roots grow deeply. The soil will pull the water downward. The roots will grow down looking for water and nutrients. Each week, be sure to take rainfall into consideration. >"2. When freshly seeding (or overseeding), is it best to water frequenty (daily?) for the first couple of weeks?" follow this irrigation schedule after planting your new seeds. 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. If you have to move the sprinklers at any point, the new location also receives 1 inch. After seeding, baby the grass by staying off for 1-2 months. Mow when the new seeds reach 3 inches and mow it back to 2.

When the soil gets dry about 1/2 inch deep it is time to water. Be careful not to over water though! Better to go a little too dry than to over water.

My rather simplistic mind thinks that, although sandy soil does drain faster and dry out faster, it's increased air capacity and friability means that root systems are typically more extensive and expansive (both outward and downward) so the trees somewhat make up for the lack of wate rholding capacity by being better equipped to take up whatever water is there. Furthermore, sand absorbs the water faster than clay or loam, so there's less runoff and more water actually gets to the roots in a torrential summer downpour. Finally - water sinks in deeper. An inch of rain on sand might penetrate a foot down, where on clay it may only go 4" or so. All this means that, depending on species of course, a tree doesn't necessarily need more water on sand than on clay or loam, at least once it is established.

It will die in a pot with no holes. Roses are not easy indoor plants. I have 18 of them in my sunroom. They can live indoors, but you will most likely battle pest problems constantly. Especially if the indoor humidity, temperature, and light conditions are not perfect. I have my environment nearly perfect for roses, and still have problems. They require constant work. They are just not meant to be casual houseplants. However, I wish you luck if you do try it. :-) Cheers, Michelle