Justaguy; no I have not had any problems with the pumpkins trying to climb the corn. Here are some pics from the start. I ended up with 10 pumpkins, the largest was 17lbs (ghost rider from burpee). The pumpkins are in between the two drip lines on the left side of the photo. If you look real close you can just barely see the corn sprouts. Photo taken 04/01/08. Photo taken 04/26/08. The plant to the right of the corn and pumpkins is yellow crookneck squash. Even with the pumpkins going into the squash I still harvested enough squash to freeze several bags, in fact we were starting to get sick of squash! Photo taken 05/01/08. You can see the pumpkin toward the middle of the row starting to sprawl past the corn and toward the squash. Photo taken on 05/19/08. You can see the pumpkin is sprawling out of the garden onto the yard and going onto the squash. Photo taken 06/24/08. And a photo of some stuff I harvested.

> "Dog urine and waste are not a problem in normal lawns" With male dogs perhaps, because the male will mark many spots. A little here, a little there, a little everywhere! However, a females urine is more concentrated because she tends to hold it longer and then only go once and in a single spot until her bladder is empty. This creates a strong ammonia or pure nitrogen, which then causes a burn spot. True dog urine spots will many times be brown in the middle and growing vigorously around the brown spot due to the nitrogen in the urine. It was just too strong in the middle. Having said that, owning females is easier for the lawn lover. One can make a potty area. A small designated area, fenced off which is off to the side works well for females. They will adapt to this easy and will use this as their area. Pea gravel works very good for this. It prevents the area from becoming a mud pit and is easy on the pads of the dogs paws. Makes picking up of the stools easy too. As for the romping around and seed selection, think big dogs playing professional sports. Baseball, football, soccer players are all hard on the their fields. Most fields are a mix of Kentucky bluegrass and rye. Rye will take a beating and abuse. An aggressive KBG cultivar such as Northstar, P-105 or Emblem, spreads and fills in any voids/damage created by activity but this is all dependent on proper irrigation and feeding. Failure to irrigate will only give you a straw field in summer, which the dogs will tear up in an instant. Then when it rains, they will be romping around in mud. It can be done, even with a small yard - especially with a female.

At our house, the word is 'ball'. Means almost anything appropriate to chew. (Toys.) That said, Jack has been taught by Isabelle that keep away is the best game ever. But a Bulldog plays easy, has no stamina and a Lab puppy turns the game into Chess. It took months for him to learn how to communicate with our bulldog but he has mastered the skill. Jack scores something he knows is important to the other members of the family and waves the such score in your face, demonstrating how he has mastered the game. It is keep away, full on. He could have my $80.00 slipper in his mouth, a remote control, Isabelle's favorite ball or even a telephone. It is 'Game on'. This is how she taught him to communicate with her. He gets her ball several times a day so I have to corner him as she is old, has mobility issues and I worry she will over heat. (She will chase him holding her ball until she dies.) He loves every second of the game but I worry she has taught him some very bad habits. Her way of playing has never bothered us but Jack has taken it to a whole new level. I get cold cloths to put on her belly to cool her off. Is your Frenchie getting her vitamins? What are you feeding her/him? I've heard (but don't know for sure) that some dog foods can create pooper scooper dogs... Talk to your Vet.

Serenade does not affect the fungi. It's adding more of a bacteria that's in soil anyway. Did you watch that video on Serenade's mode of action? I'll look it up: Serenade I get the impression that farmers and nurseries use it mainly because it makes the other fungicides they use more effective and resistance doesn't build up. In relation to turfgrass, I've read about it as a preventative rather an a curative. But if it lists rust on its label, maybe there is some curative effect. It should at least help prevent further outbreaks if you keep using it. The video mentioned 10 days of coverage and I've heard to apply it every couple of weeks. As for my brown patch, I have some but it's not as bad as some years and grass is growing back. I think, for me, it's just helping make a stronger grass plant. I refuse to use fungicides. If the grass dies, I'll replant in the fall. J4C11 says dead grass isn't helping the mycorrhizae. But not all the grass is dying from brown patch and I want the mycorrhizae around to help the grass that does survive. If you do use synthetic fungicide, look for one that is less harmful to mycorrhizae (I have a post on this, maybe on the other forum or I may have put it on this one too).