chefjbs, tiemco probably referred to that because warm season grasses typically are cut lower and more frequent then cool season grasses, and as such the type of mower (reel) for warm season is usually recommended (but also more expensive). If you were to not have the tree debris and didn't mind exercise the Fiskars 6201 push reel mower (ie non-powered) is a great mower at around $200 (can be occasionally found on sale for ~$150). For your price-range maximum and the tiny lawn (about the same size as mine) there is no need to go crazy on the price/features. I have a Murray mower powered by a 6.5hp Briggs and Straton engine I got 10 years ago for $150 and it is still running great. Yeah it's heavy, and it's not self-propelled, but it gets the job done reliably. For mulching you don't want to skimp on engine size (or risk stalling the engine/getting unclean cuts), but unless you can't deal with the weight of the mower there really are no other reasons to spend up (IMO of course). Save money on the mower, and spend a couple bucks on some good replacement mulching mower BLADES (I personally use Gator mulching blades but there are many different types), and you will be quite happy. Just keep up on proper maintenance, as no matter how much you spend, leaving gas in over the winter, never changing the oil/air filter, using dull blades,etc. will make any mower choke prematurely. HTH

Hi dozerboy, let me see if I can help a little. First things first, don't panic, and don't start fertilizing and all just yet. My advice would be to find your local county agent office, or your local university agricultural extension service, which generally have a branch dealing with helping homeowners with their landscape concerns and veggie/fruit growing. If you read a Scott's lawn book, or even talk to a local garden center, in my opinion, they will try to sell you a product or a system, not necessarily out of a malicious intent, but feeling the customer wants a quick fix. I'm not sure exactly where you are and what zone, and your climatic conditions, becoz Texas is a BIG state, but in lots of the south, the grass is winding down now and should not be fertilized. Sometimes it is a good idea to "winterize" your lawn to get it ready for the cold season, and I beleive it helps the roots, but not a fertilizer for top growth. Your county agent will know this and the exact time for you to do this. And when to fertilize next season, and probably several times in the growing part of the season. Actually your lawn doesn't look real bad to me. You sort of have to decide if you are going to do a program of lawn care with these winterizers, fertilizers, and herbicides for weed control, or go organic (which is what I recommend). Visit the other forums like lawn/turf and organic lawn. Don't be in a hurry. As to the oak trees, they are very young and look good to me. The white stuff is probably lichen and is probably not a problem, the little balls are probably galls and probably ok too, the tumbleweed stuff looks like spanish moss to me, not a problem at all, and usually desirable and attractive on oaks in the south, but you could have mistletoe which is not a good thing, a definite parasite. I would again recommend you share the pics with a county agent type person familiar with your area of Texas. You may want to remove the tree rings and just use some mulch, and realize that most lawns will not grow well in shade, as the trees mature. You will most likely need to grow a ground cover or other shade plant under there in years to come, again not something to worry about right now. May I suggest visiting the Renegade Gardener website (just do a search) and he has some funny and helpful landscape tips. Ok, the shrubs look like ligustrum (the large ones), maybe some little hollies or boxwood and liriope (the grassy one). I would just remove the yellowing leaves. I would water when there hasn't been a good rain in a week, I would deep water at the roots. I would watch the drainage, does it drain well or stay wet. I would go organic, adding compost, and keeping it mulched. I am not an horticulturist, botanist, or expert by any means, just a gardener x 26 years. Hope some of this is helpful to you. Laurie in north Mississippi, formerly New Orleans

I would match the same shade of white as the kitchen and use it throughout the living areas. I would move the loveseat out of the dining area. I would put an upholstered dining chair at both ends of the table. I would paint the portion of the fireplace wall that stands out in an accent color: perhaps a dramatic gray or a rich blue, or matching a color from the upholstery in the chairs at the ends of the dining table.

Frankly your home is gorgeous and fits into the landscape nicely already, so no need to "guild the lily" and right now what you have is relatively low maintenance. The low fence is a little primitive, but could be replaced by something similar only nicer. I imagine that is to guide cars into the driveway? Otherwise not really needed. And I will add my voice to "no" on the white stones. Why call attention to gravel with such a high contrast color? If you want white, a gorgeous white flowering dogwood that you put a deer fence around until it is grown up enough to take it, or spray religiously with "Deer Off" as Marymd suggested.