Shamefully, we have not been taking very good care of it. We have in the past fertilized sporadically with commercial fertilizers. Once to maybe 3 times a year. We just put down the Scott's fertilizer with Halts. When the forsythia are in bloom, right? I will have to measure the mower height and I *think* I have DH convinced to mulch this year (unless we let it get too high). We also haven't watered it in the dead of summer ever, really. I guess it would be easy enough to measure rainfall (and water deeply once a week! See, I have been reading!) I guess I probably know enough to think if we just fertilize, water when needed, mow at the right height, try to keep the weeds away (which stronger turf will help with), and seed in the fall we could be in pretty good - or at least much better - shape. But I'll take validation on that or any further advice...websites, plans, ideas for how to transition to more environmentally friendly fertilizers. I guess I don't know where to go for that stuff - I imagine I would have to drive out to the farm supply stores far, far away for some of the things I have read about on here (which are escaping me at the moment, of course). Although I guess to do that 1-2 times a year wouldn't be terrible depending on the volume we would have to store and the storage properties. I'm open to ideas!

We have GIANT MUTANT DEER..they eat my daffodils, even my iris when they come up in the spring. The deer ring our doorbell and run away, laughing. They ate 15 roses down to stumps and then TP'd our yard. In short, they are mean. I tried planting garlic around some roses. They just left that alone and proceeded to defoliate the bushes. So now I take one egg, some milk, chopped garlic and mix in a watering can and pour it over my bushes and fruit trees. I have been doing this religiously for the past few weeks and so far it is working....

First off if i were her i'd get a second opinion and a new dr with a Heart!! In 2008,i had a total knee replacement,3 months later when i went for my final check up with my ortho dr i had found out a few weeks before that i had breast cancer.WTF within 3 mos 2 major surgeries. Anyway when i was at the ortho dr's he said to me,are you ok,you don't seem like your jolly self,at which point i lost it and started crying.When he asked what was wrong i told him of the diagnosis.He said,honey don't worry too much,they've come a long way from where they were 20 years ago,and i'm sure you'll be fine. After his exam and a clean super bill of health from him for my knee,he hugged me and told me he'd keep me in prayer.I thanked him and felt so much better when i left there. A compassionate and caring dr is what your friend needs as well. I also agree with all of what has been said by the op's. For me the first day i found out,i knew before they told me,that i had cancer.I had had many mammos and a few biopsies before,but this one seemed different,like it was taking too long,IMHO,and they were taking too many samples.I started crying while they were still doing the biopsy,and cried all the way home and for over 4 hours after i got home.Poor DH didn't know what to do.He called one of my sisters in N.Y. state and told her and asked her to tell everyone else that needed to know ,other sisters.He told them i didn't want to talk to anyone then ,but would call when i was up to it. Everything progressed sooooo fast that it seemed sureal.DH went out and got me a small tape recorder,that one of my dr's suggested,as they said,you're going to hear so much info in the next few weeks that you'll never be able to retain it.When i went to see the surgeon,my #1 son,DIL,Dh and that recorder went with me.Less than 2 weeks from diagnosis i was in the hospital being prepped for surgery.There were a lot of folks all over the world praying for me,my family and my medical staff.I told the dr's on the way to surgery that they were being prayed for by many people,they thanked me and said they had said their prayers as well.I had a great team from start to finish. Tomorrow i go for blood work,then sometime this week i'm supposed to have a cat scan,(must call about that tomorrow,then after that's done i go see the oncologist. I have been getting check ups every 3 mos,but this one he set for 4 months,so we'll see how it goes,i'm believing all thigs good. I hope your friend gets a 2nd opinion and quicker appointments for whatever she has to do. She may not feel like talking to anyone when she first gets home from the hospital,or from chemo appts if that's the route she has to take.So tell her if she doesn't feel like talking that she can tell you and you won't be offended. These procedures take the winds out of your sails.Best of luck to all of you,will add you all to my prayer list. Take care,God Bless kathi

I agree with reeljake, your yard looks better than the original picture suggests. You a further promote growth by mowing even lower. You can get a reel mower for $25 of craig's list or a motorized reel mower for ~$200. Leave the clippings on the lawn. It will make a ton of difference as far as growth is concerned. The biggest issue is frequency of mowing. The lower you mow, the more often you have to do. If you can commit to 3-4 mows a week for a month or so, you can fill in a lot of area. Plugging good spot into bad spots will help. Reduce the water to 1" or less per wk (my lawn is doing well on 1/4" every 4+ days in 90-100 degree temps). More water only helps the weeds. Finally, increase feedings - alfalfa, corn (cracked or meal), soy meal, milorganite, etc are your friends. Dump 15-20 lbs per 1000 sq ft every 2 wks (in addition to the synthetic fertilizer) and watch the magic happen. This is my current routine per 1 k(every 2 wks): Milorganite x 1/2 bag Vigoro (35-0-5) @ 2.8 lbs Corn/alfalfa 10 - 15 lbs SBM 10 lbs It may seem rather extreme but my soil is moist, teaming with life and the grass is growing like crazy. I was going to plug some bare areas but I had so much lateral growth before the plugger arrived in the mail that I just skipped that step.