Karnina said: "What can I do to control it somewhat?" If we are talking about the same weed, I regret to admit I know what you are talking about. Three blades of grass, growing from a small pea sized seed, and as it grows it sends out shoots of new grass? When I went to my Extension Agent inquiring what to do about nut grass he said the only thing I could do is "move". Well, that is not an option, so this is what I have done; however, it doesnÂt work. I have built three lasagna beds over the nut grass. Each bed started out being 22 inches high, 50 feet long, and 5 feet wide. I used cardboard from appliance containers, it is really thick. After the beds were complete I mulched the top of the beds with book hay, thinking that should get the job done. Silly me, I should have known it wouldnÂt work when I saw some nut grass growing through a concrete slab. Needless to say the nut grass grew through the beds; however, it was weak and easy to pull, but it kept coming back. Since the lasagna bed is so fertile the nut grass grows rather large, thus it is easy to see and pull. This is the best control of the weed I have had so far, and it has limited the amount of nut grass in the beds. I guess it is better than giving up. One thing I am noticing is that nut grass is not growing very well in the beds amended with charcoal; I am keeping an eye on that development. While nut grass doesnÂt stop the quality of the harvest, it is a pest nonetheless. My cousin says to go get some hogs; they love nut grass and will root every speck of it. A real help my cousin is, a real help indeed Blutranes

I do not always have access to pumice so I mix it up with whatever grit I have hanging around. Expanded shale. , washed 1/4 Decomposed granite , course red lava sand, perlite. I am not anal retentive. I am more of the "what's in the frig" kind of gardener. I do not know if you are in Florida, California or Texas. The quantities will be important to your location and how humid you are. I know Floridians who grow in 100% grit, and inland Californians who use more humous in the mix. Its a mixed bag here in Texas as U sit under the remnant of Hurricane Harvey who might be leaving 20" on me. I have also gone all summer often without summer moisture. Not this year.

Wow, this thread took wings again! Let's see if I can answer. missymoo - we wonder, too, about the discomfort of being still. But as I said upthread, she stops the pacing when we're not paying attention to her. She was never a particularly active dog, so other than maybe being bored, I'm not sure it's discomfort. Yesterday DH was gone and I was puttering around the house. She landed in one of her favorite spots and was there the entire afternoon. tibbrix - We live in NC, so the water is really cold right now. I just don't think I could do that. I wouldn't want someone tossing me in a cold lake in February. And she hates water unless DH is in there with her. I don't think he'll go for that. :) mimi - the vet has done a bunch of range of motion and that type of testing. There haven't been any tests with machines or anything. She doesn't think the dementia is really an issue because of the dog's attentiveness, being in-the-moment when she's there, etc. She said there is still a lot going on upstairs, and there are no other symptoms of dementia. We have her on pain management drugs, which are limited because she is also on Prednisone, which means she can't take NSAIDS. She's also on a supplement and fish oil for arthritis. I will look into the PAWS, that might help some. starsplitter - we have not used glucosamine/chondroitin for this dog, although we gave to another dog years ago. I'd have to ask and research it, it might not work with the Prednisone. The Pred is for a chronic liver ailment, and is keeping that well controlled. She only get 5mg every other day, so super low dosage, but long term. Thanks to everyone for all of the suggestions and words of advice. We've never had a dog live this long, so we're in new territory.

I tried them 2 years ago with mixed results. I planted indeterminate tomatoes in 7 gallon fabric pots & these raised beds. Same varieties, same age (raised from seeds), and the same amount of sunshine. I lined the sides of the fabric pots with large garbage bags to help hold in the moisture. The plants in the fabric pots were still hard to keep moist and I don't know if that was the reason they didn't do as well or if it was some other factor. They weren't even half the size of the ones in the raised beds and production was also greatly reduced. On the other hand, I planted eggplants & ground cherries in the 3 & 5 gallons pots and they did fantastic!! The plants were very happy and production was great. I also lined the inside with garbage bags to help with moisture control and they were still hard to keep the dirt moist; but those plants didn't seem to care.