d d , you are making a number of ascertians that I think are making you do things that will not prove of benefit. First, you associate water as a saviour, something the grass needs and needs lots of. If a pint works well, then a quart will do better and a gallon will just be the cat's meow. That's wrong....very wrong. Grass is no more than a bunch of small plants that grow together and they need nourishment just like other plants....but when too much is too much.....it cant help. One inch per week is recognized as the total volume needed for a lawn to live successfully. Too much is as bad as too little; what happens is, the water doesn't stick around, the roots are deprived, they grow weak and short and the sun then has an easy time to bake the soil. Too little or too much...it works both ways. Your lawn cries out for aeration....from your pictures there does seem to be a lot of thatch....dead material between the blades. When thatch builds, it deprives the soil of necessary oxygen and water. Even tho you water it, and rains have been overflowing, unless the ground absorbs the moisture, it cant do any good. Without explaining what aeration is comprised of....do read articles on 'why a lawn should be aerated". There are many methods and tools employed to effect good aeration....so read about it. Your lawn needs something to make the soil want to take in moisture and retain it. You say your soil in your vicinity is mostly sand....and when you think about....how good does sand retain moisture. So you have to do something to make your soil want to take in moisture and keep it....yet allow good drainage. In that there is an easy and effective way to achieve this. Organic matter. Organic matter comes in many forms...and only by injecting something of this nature into the soil will it keep moisture. Peat moss, newspaper, hay, straw, compost, topsoil, triple mix, loam, and yes....sand. Grass clippings---you don't have any I knwo, but clippings have a lot of nitrogen from fertilizer given, that should not be wasted. But, clippings have a lot of things wrong with it...and should be given to a compost pile first. Sand used in gardens is not the beach kind...it is a coarser granular type...buy it at a quarry or soil dealer that specifies it is builder's sand. This giving of compost though can be a budget killer---it is not cheap. Compost is material that is allowed to break down by microbial action....and should not be used unless in a completed form. Since your lawn is in such bad shape, I suggest you think to do it over....rototil the ground and inject much organic material. Much of the material can be inexpensive...peat moss, newspapers, old hay, old straw (straw and hay are grown and therefore have seeds and unless its at least a year...two years better--it can drop seeds and result in giving you a barnyard) Put down at least 2"....but 6" is better of topsoil. Rototil it all in, rake level to ensure good drainage, then put down sod or seed. The organic material you add should be at least 20% of the volume mixed in. Do not, if it becomes available, add more than 20% compost to what is already there. More is too much. When you buy seed, buy the best type you can afford...it will pay dividends. Poor seed will not grow in the best of soil---but good seed will grow in the worst of soil. In your area of New Jersey a combo of 40% Kentucky Blue, 40% perennial ryegrass and 20% fescue makes a good tough grass for your area. Its summertime now....the heat of which is not conducive to making good lawn---the heat can kill the seed and what sprinkling you do will dry out quickly. So, keep what you have and shake your head, but think to do your lawn in the fall when cool temperatures return. Grass grows much better at that time because there's less competition from other plants. Sprinkling water over it will not be lost to evaporation and if you follow good principles of grass making, you should have a pretty good starting lawn sometimes this fall. Starting: Be sure to use a "starter" type fertilizer when you first lay your seed. It can help speed up and protect germination. Next spring, put down 2" of compost (or topsoil) over the area and let your grass grow up and through it. Repeat this every year, fall and spring, 2" layer over your lawn....at least for the next 4 - 5 - 6 years. Making this a regular routine can help your lawn stand up to adversity better.

hoodat, I wouldn't mind some yellowjackets, tho I know they can be really agressive. I only have red wasps and dirt dobbers that nest in the eaves of my old house, up inside where I can't get to them- they leave me alone, I leave them alone. Occasionally tho they get in the house. It's my understanding these kind of wasps aren't beneficial. I do have plenty of spiders, and don't want to resort to chemicals that are going to get rid of them. Vacuuming is out of the question- I might try making a homeade trap with a yellow paper plate. My concern is that some say these lure these guys, but they are already here. Any other traps you can suggest? Due to a less troublesome but still major problem with squash bugs..... I'm considering pulling cuke, bean, zuke, and some tomato plants( dx). So if I pull up these plants....dispose of them (can't burn) gotta go in the trash before trash day), and then double dig or cultivate the soil, keep all grass and weeds down...will this help? Can I keep these guys from coming back next year?

Sandy, Hope all goes well with your mother and and that your daughter has an easy flight. Trying times, but it will be nice for all of you to be together to be each others support to get through them. drzoidberg, No idea of what Live Monarch sells for sleeves, but it sounds like they must be really small. I made my own sleeves. The size picked for each situation should be big and roomy enough to enclose several branches with enough plant to see the larva all the way to pupation. Doesn't mean you have to leave them in the sleeve to pupate, just that it gives them enough plant "choices" to feed on until they get there if needed. IE, when I went out to service the sleeves in nature I let the remaining plant enclosed in the sleeve be my guide. If not enough I usually redid the sleeves to enclose new branches and simply moved the larva to the new location. That said it sounds like you will have to move the late instar cats to larger quarters to pupate. Either a bigger sleeve, to some kind of emergence cage or just unsleeve them and let them find pupation sites on their own. The sleeve itself acts like a sun shade up to a point. Works much the same as the spines on cactus for example. Even so I always tried to place my sleeves so a portion of them was in direct sunlight and a portion in shade or filtered light. Gave the cats a choice and they could freely move to what they wanted. If not possible because of where your plants grow, simply mist the sleeve at least a couple of times a day. That has the same effect as a swamp cooler to cool the cats off.

Rachel, I used Brush Killer, undiluted. There are different brands but it will say 'Brush Killer' on the container. I believe Basic RoundUp is a different product. I see RoundUp now offers a combined mixture that supposedly kills brush, ivy, etc. too. I don't know how well it might work on stem cuttings. When I googled Brush Killer, several items popped up; Bayer Advanced Brush Killer Plus Concentrate, Southern Ag Brush Killer, etc. I think the product I used was made by Bayer. Remember not to dilute the product, just pour a bit of the product into a throw a way cup or something with a broad flat bottom where you can set it down without fear of it overturning, like an empty plastic milk container with the top cut out, anything that will work for you and can be disposed of following your work session. Soak the cotton balls and apply one cotton ball to each freshly cut stem, cover with a plastic sandwich baggie, secure tightly with a strong rubber band and you're done. Be safe. Secure the pets while you're working. Wear good hand and eye protection. I usually doubled the gloves I wore and then threw them away after each work session. Be careful when handling the product. When the weather is warm, I usually noticed wilting within a day and then over time, the plant dies and dries out. I had such a mess of these vines coming up out in my lawn and coming up in my garden beds. Nothing I tried worked until I used the cotton balls. The vines had created a garden nightmare for me. Good luck. You will be so relieved when these things die off. Mary