just replying so this one will drop away. I replied to your other message.

First, you didn't flunk Lawn 101. You got a B in 2006, a C in 2007 (for late seeding) and an A so far in 2008. Nothing you did was wrong, but the timing for seeding was off a bit. 1) Round Up. We hesitate to mention specific chemical names for companies. The generic glyphosate works just fine and it's essentially the same stuff. Also, so many of us are organic and the R word stuff isn't. 2) Compost and peat moss will both decay away in about five years, so the soil is going to settle. Certainly you can mix either lightly (say, an inch or so every ten inches of soil), or skip it and use organic feeding methods. If your soil is really bad, I'd mix it. You can usually get compost from your local garden store, big box store, or delivered bulk from a supplier. The other option is to use 1/4" as a topdress for your seeding. Over time, the decay products work into the soil and enrichen it, plus you kill two birds with one stone and don't need to otherwise mulch the seed. Plus, the worms like it. :-) 3) Go right ahead and use it. If it was stored in a cold garage, it's completely fine. If stored in a warm house, you lose some germination but it's not that significant over six months. You can't wait too much longer for a spring seeding (and might want to consider using Siduron or Tupersan as a pre-emergent when seeding). So you probably don't have time to wait for the soil results. That's OK, you can work on correcting those issues afterward. Right now, get it sprouted--the seed has all the resources it needs for the first few weeks of its life. Once you get that test back you'll know what to add.

Wow...what a beautiful house! Well, esh and bullthistle both have great suggestions...I don't know if I can add much to them. I do, however, think that $150/month is kind of a lot for a mow/blow company. You didn't mention what all services were included, but I'm guessing they are just the standard mowing/edging. I agree that you would probably do well to get some more prices. Especially if they have not contacted you in two months. Dethatching is a good call and you can do that yourself, if you don't mind a little elbow grease. Aerating is another good call; however, the equipment is pretty hefty and a little awkward to use if you have never done it before. Anytime when it is not too hot is usually OK, I think. Spring or fall. (BTW, I just LOVE the pretty mailbox and gaslight and they go perfectly with the style of your home.) I think your porch just screams for some pretty hanging baskets (ferns maybe?) or pots of color or low window boxes for the bottoms of those front windows. Something that would peek up over or around the nice boxwood "frame". It's also a good way to indulge your inner gardener without having to water a whole lawn right now. (I know it's probably a little frustrating wanting to get out there and garden, with a water ban on.) Heuchera would be a nice choice for the shaded porch...and there are lots of great colors. Caladiums, begonias, etc. Those traditional shade plants would be just beautiful with your traditional house. I like the already mentioned ideas about top dressing and ocllecting rainwater. Also planning your beds. There is a LOT you can do right now, on paper, even during the drought (easy for me to say, right? I'm not there!) :) There are lots of great shrubs you could try if you are really ready to get rid of the boxwoods. Frankly, I like them with the house, but I can understand you wanting to do YOUR thing...not necessarily the thing of the previous owners! :) Just beware of anything that will grow up too high...you have those low windows and you don't want to cover them up. I know junipers seem sort of ho-hum to some folks, but you can't beat the variety and the drought-tolerant-ness (tolerant-ness?). Or, like esh...I agree...just try replacing the ends only with something a little taller. Maybe a mid-height conifer...maybe in a lime-ier (lime-ier?), brighter green...maybe...arbovitae? False cypress? Something not too, too tall. Then plan a curvy bed. (Make them the same on both sides since you have a symmetrical structure) out around those end shrubs. Maybe...add one other different shrub just to the inside of both conifers...to sort of bridge the height between the conifer and the remaining boxwood. Then some drought-tolerant flowers in front of the whole thing inside the matching curvy beds. Put the same flowers maybe out by your mailbox. How exciting to have just moved into your new home! Congratulations and welcome to Georgia! My husband and I are transplants also (he from Lousiana, me from Mississippi).

We have had an ongoing rescue operation with our lawn for the last 2 years. DH wanted to replace it with white gravel but I resisted and we replaced the bug eaten, salty irrigated, drought stricken St. Augustine grass with bahia last September. The bahia did great all winter (meaning it survived lol) but now we are back in a drought with relentless sun and it is dying. We cannot irrigate because our irrigation is too salty. So...since the dune sunflower I planted 2 years ago seems impervious to all the above we decided to make that our groundcover along the road and into the swale. And as soon as I can either root or buy more we will be planting it on the slope also. I have learned there are two types of dune sunflower, East Coast and West Coast. The West coast is taller and the East Coast is shorter. Since I started out with the East Coast type we continued with it for the first part. But for the slope I will buy whatever is available. Our neighbors are taking notice and inquiring as to what it is also. And we bought a couple extra for one neighbor who was impressed that it survived over the asphalt (not rooting, just growing over it). This is one tough plant. In the first photo it is growing on top of the asphalt about 6" out. We used cardboard to smother the grass but you can also pre-kill the grass with Roundup a couple days before planting the plants. Then just mulch around them for appearances sake. Denise