I think garden gal from the Pacific Northwest doesn't quite understand what 12% humidity, 115 Def. days and brutal afternoon sun does to wood in the desert. Contractors never put in wood fences here even though they are cheaper than masonry ones because of it. I don't know how long it will take your wood to fall apart but one summer will probably be enough to make it look bad. No nice gentle fading to silver grey for us here in the desert. I've just spent the morning painting fascia board that was replaced only a couple of years ago but is already trashed. If I were you I would look somewhere else than at wood for your screening. Sunscreen material comes in a variety of colors and can be used as "walls" around your hot tub in place of RW lattice, and the australian cassias would make a nice 5-6 foot low water use living evergreen screen far more attractive than the redwood fence you are considering. Good luck, Maria

I've never read so much miss-information in my life. Most of the responses in this tread are by people who have no idea what they are taking about. that being said - here are some facts. I was extremely resistant to the idea of a "fake" lawn. I mean, I'm a grass kind of person. There are no synthetic lawn companies anywhere near me so I started doing internet research on the product. Talked to several companies. To make a long story short I ended up deciding to use a company called ProGreen to order my synthetic lawn (about 2000 sf). 1. you get what you pay for; if you buy the low-end grass you get a low end product. 2. Synthetic lawn is not cheap: $12-$14 a square foot if you have someone install it; About $4.25 a square foot if you do it yourself like I did. 3. It drains very much just like real grass. 4. Dogs and cats love it, don't chew it, and you clean it up just like real grass. 5. I roll around on it, play on it, and go out and lie in the sun on it just like real grass. I love it. 6. Todays syn grasses carry 8 yr warrenties, but will last 20. 7. The little rubber balls are not even required in the "good grasses" - read that thicker, longer grasses. 8. The syn grass gets a little warmer in full sun, but cools quickly in late afternoon 9. It's the best landscaping decision I ever made, looks and feels incredibly real. I hose or blow it off every couple of months. Most of the time it doesn't need it. I like it so much in front, I put some in back. My dog spends hours sleeping and playing on - never complainted yet :)

I have spent many hours reading about organic lawn care and feel like I understand all the concepts, but clearly am still having issues. I am going to submit another soil test, have not done one in about 3 years. In the meantime, I have starting working through some of the tests outlined by Kimmsr. Here is what I have found so far: 1. About 6-8 worms in a shovel full of the lawn. 2. Tilth - tough to tell. Wouldn't hold together at all when slightly damp, adding a bit of water and hit held together too well... 3. Smells earthly, no foul odor 4. Just did the soil in jar test, I will review in 24hrs. I have done this in the past and couldn't make heads or tails of the different layers, hopefully this time it is more clear. Dchall, thanks for the info on the nematodes, will be doing that next June. I will wait to see what the soil test says, but I interpret the clover as nitrogen deficiency because I go very light on the fertilizer due to cost. This year, as an example, I put down probably 20lbs of corn gluten meal in the early spring as a pre-emergent, and then again 6 weeks later, and that is about it. In the fall I usually would also apply ringer brand organic fertilizer at about the same rate. This year I have not, because I have been so busy re-seeding all of the damaged areas. Yes, I overseed every year and seem to always have dead spots after the summer. This is probably because I cannot keep up with the 1inch per week that is needed. Water is just too expensive. As a result, my lawn goes dominant, but often I have many spots that just don't come back. Then in the fall I spend many hours using a detaching rake to pull out all the dead grass and overseed. Next spring, my lawn will look really good, thick and green, but by July it starts to suffer. I had grubs in the same area last year, but didn't inspect closely as I assumed they were a small population. This year, they are Bad... Other issues I have to deal with, are mature trees on surrounding properties that limit the amount of direct sun I get. Nothing I can do about that. Probably as a result, I have areas of my lawn that always get moss, although I may be able to improve that by adding amendments. Thanks again for all the advise. I will keep you posted when I get my soil test results

Evidently not. I see it is sold in Australia though where you are located.