Update 1 month OK, so Saturday night/Sunday morning 9/8-9/9 we got a vicious thunderstorm. rain gauge was over 10" per hour for about 8 minutes, wind lighting, the works. Heaviest downpour I can remember. Sunday I went out and saw most, if not all my new seed and milargonite washed out to the driveway and down into lower areas of my established lawn. I rolled that stuff in good too. The peat moss is gone as well. arg...damn rain. So anyway, the pics on the 15th, here they are, 1 month. I had to mow as many areas were over 4 iinches. The weeds are bad too.

Karen- that's a really good point. I think i may be one of those exceptions, since i started with a dracaena and cactuses! Which, granted aren't garden plants. I've always had a thing for spiky, funky colored unusual things, though- 'spose it's the art background. I think i followed the basic progression with some walks on the wild side, so to speak. :) I first noticed and played with plants as a small kid, but didn't grow anything consciously except helping mom pick and plant ageratums til i was a teen and that was mostly houseplants other than a few of the things i moved to the light from the back of the old homestead in the woods. Tried some outdoor things with little luck (annuals!). Dad had us help in the veggie garden some, but i didn't like doing that and don't really count it because i wouldn't have if i'd had the choice. I really got into outdoor plants in our first apartment where i had balcony boxes with annuals, herbs and perennials. When we bought this place i started right up with beds- yanking out and moving the foundation shrubs within a very short time. From that point on, we've been adding beds at a rate of about 1 a year til now. We started in on shrubs and trees pretty quick since i knew i wanted fruiting things and they take time. I think I was a lot more manic there for a few years than i am now- just absolutely obsessed with it. Started seeds like a madwoman, ordered lots of stuff, got starts from my mentor. Each year i spent more. I guess i've mellowed a little now since i'm running out of space (well, till we get going on the back), and certainly spend less with the swaps. Now i'm pickier and look for things that really strike me, rather than trying everything, and i'm more apt to buy 1 expensive hard to find good sized thing than 5 cheap little ones. Not that i don't love a bargain! I've migrated away from so many houseplants to more tropicals that i overwinter now, too- though i still have plenty. Also have migrated towards more natives through the years. My basic taste in what i like and don't have stayed fairly consistent, though i think it's matured. For example, I remember when i was awed at seeing scads of azaleas, and now it seems over the top to me. I guess i like a more mixed, natural and varied palette now- not expecting anything but a show garden to be all 'on' at one given point. I still enjoy the show gardens- just don't expect or want one like that of my own. Thinking on it, I guess i kind of get to do that with the fair plot now. I go into that with a very different mindset than gardening at home.

1) First cut to 2" is about right, and you don't want to cut off too much of the blade. However, ten days is a bit young to cut, so I'd wait until later in the week if you can, and Saturday if at all possible. 2) This actually looks like a more-normal sprout than the rather phenomenal rocket launching seed you got in Picture 1. I wouldn't give up on this just yet, but a light reseeding on Saturday or Sunday wouldn't be out of the normal range if you still feel it's not sprouting well at that point. With fescue, you still have time, and since you're waiting for the bluegrass anyway, the 2 week point is a good time to reseed. 3) I'd need a closeup of the white stuff, but from a distance it looks fungal. If so, immediate response is required--so if what you're seeing on it looks cobwebby, I'd react instantly. While any fungicide will work fine (damp-off fungus isn't terribly strong stuff), you can do a wide spectrum wipe of the spots by putting 2 Tbsp of baking soda (Arm and Hammer or any other brand) plus 2 tsp of any dish soap in a 2 gallon watering can, fill the rest with water, and sprinkle over those areas. Baking soda will probably kill 100% of the fungus pretty quickly, but if not, at least it buys you time to get a formal fungicide. General) All seedings go off like this, and you're having normal Seeding Panic. The more shadowed, damper areas of my lawn went off first, followed by the main areas, and the sunny, hot areas last of all. That's completely typical. Seeds sit and wait for their proper germination conditions, and very clearly the area by your garage was exactly perfect right at this instant. Cooler (and hopefully damper) weather will improve conditions in the other areas, and inevitably, some areas just don't sprout that well. They can be dormant seeded just before your first snowfall, or February, whichever comes first.

I'm having the same thoughts about the deeper soil. I know the original fill (put in November of 2013) wasn't great soil, and believe it came from a cemetery (just happened to be where the paving contractor got his fill). Coming from 6 feet down it probably is a pretty heavy mix. I thought last fall the landscape contractor had put down at least 2 " of topsoil, but who knows. He may have spread just enough to make it look good, then seeded and topped with straw before we could notice. I honestly don't think I would ever use an aerator back there. Not knowing how many tree roots, rocks or native stones there are (we have two old quarries less than a mile from us) would make me leery of using it. The chances of destroying the machine seem fairly high. Most of the stone down there is bluestone I think, but usually is in pieces no bigger than 1 foot. They didn't hit too much when they dug the fence posts, so I don't think a rock base is a huge concern. High levels of stone fragments in the fill dirt on the other hand might be a bigger issue. Should I think about slowly adding thin layers of additional soil (no more than 1/4 inch at a time) in the future? I have no worries about contour issues making drainage problems if I raise the soil level (I already have that). When do you think I should make the switch over to the less frequent watering? 1 month out? Also how long do you think I can push letting the soil dry between watering. Some areas will probably stay damp below the surface for several days, others might dry in a day or so. Only water in areas I find drying out quicker? I think I'm getting to the stage that always screws me up (i.e. leading to very thin shallow roots) so I'm trying to plan out better this time.