Like most other people here, I agree that using an actual lawn aerator is the way to go. Lawn aerators are going to pull out much better plugs and nice deep plugs help get the water, air, and nutrients down to the roots of your grass. The shoes with spikes don't pull plugs and the hand held devises just don't go as deep, and it take forever to do too. I can't imagine doing a whole yard with a hand help plugger. We used to get our lawn aerated in Colorado for $30 because there were so many companies going around doing it. A lot just went door to door. Here in Austin, the going rate is more like $75. Either way though, it's well worth the investment. Helpful Info on Lawn Aeration

Brandon, before I invest time in trying to find the bits and pieces of information I've picked up over the years, such as that peaches have been shown to increase in actual size after more aggressive pruning compared to less (because of less energy invested in fruit production), I'd like you to steer me to a single piece of research based on cutting back bearing wood on mature plants at transplanting as opposed to immature plants. Not that I'd be convinced if you found the research that it holds true for all species, because I feel certain it doesn't, but it will motivate me to go to the effort. It doesn't matter if wood stores energy if it doesn't share it with the roots. Check the literature for what you do with a spur-bound apple or pear tree. You cut back the spurs (sexually mature wood) to encourage vegetative (sexually immature) growth. I have the benefit of watching the results of the removal of such wood on a regular basis and it is a routine treatment of some of the trees I manage. You remove enough of the spur wood and the trees start growing more vigorously. Trees that have been declining in size have started growing again. The reason immature fruit trees grow proportionately faster than mature trees is because juvenile wood doesn't spare energy for fruit and flowers which is very expensive and it is well known that regardless of rootstock you can greatly control the size of most species of fruit trees by accelerating the beginning of fruit production. The greatest managment risk in commercially growing fully dwarf apples is having them fruit excessively when they are too small- they often permanently runt out. Plants runt out when inadequate energy is being sent to the roots. Vegetative wood generously feeds the roots while fruiting wood is very stingy. I transplant hundreds of bearing age fruit trees on semi-dwarfing rootstock annually, and one of my biggest problems is having peaches runt out- the treatment- aggressive pruning. It is also the way to get them to avoid the problem in the first place. I know that all, and I mean all, of Carl Whitcomb's research was based on work with a few species of very young plants, so I can't go there for researched information. Show me where to go, Brandon, for some actual research on mature plants and I'll continue this discussion, but as it stands, I just have seen too many instances where pruning back has stimulated growth on mature trees. As far as blueberry plants, I'm not so sure one way or the other. When I got out of hort-school I had all the confidence as you in the research I'd been stuffing my head with (and a good thing- it helped me disguise my inexperience). Actual experience has made me much more skeptical of sweeping assumptions based on very limited research. Much more comprehensive medical research than research we are discussing here is often contradicted by subsequent research. I'm sure this would happen more with hort research if it was pursued with similar aggression and funding.

Thank you, everyone, for your kind thoughts. That's the biggest problem with pets and furry friends, they just don't get to be with us as long as we want them to be. Horses get to stay longer than dogs or cats, usually, but that just gives us extra time to become more attached before they are gone. (sigh) Of course, they don't sleep with us either. Or not usually, although I've spent more than one night sleeping in the barn. I'm betting Dawn did too... Freidajune, enjoy those slow rides. Copenhagen and I went from "yeehaw" to "let's go for a walk" together, and we both enjoyed those slow leisurely walks just checking out the scenery and stopping for that bite of something delicious that he wouldn't have noticed at full speed 10 years ago. The last couple of years were filled with laminitis and abcesses and respiratory issues, so I'd just let him lean on me and breathe in the smell of fresh hay and horses and we'd talk. He was always happy to see me and would whinny and come to meet me, shake his head "yes" when I asked him if he wanted a treat, and then I'd brush him and rub his back and tell him what a good boy he was. Sol, my friend, I'm sending hugs and warm thoughts to you, 2016 was not a good year in a lot of ways, and yours was a lot worse than mine. (sigh) But Elery got that bad knee replaced and he's recovered well and so I'm extremely thankful for that, my Mother is still going strong and we're taking her to a concert on Sunday, then out to dinner. My girls and grandkids are are upright and breathing, it seems like Bud is stablilized in his treatment and there also seems to be some glimmers of hope with Ashley's new neurologist, so I'm hopeful for 2017. I'm hopeful for yours too. Annie

Update: DH got the hose working! He is now very happily watering down in the big garden. He has heroically managed to keep a good portion of the young plants down there alive so far this year, so perhaps he can keep it up. Our helper is digging up invading elm roots. He started work at 5:30 a.m. and will keep going until 9:30, by which time it will be too hot to continue. The area where he's busy is shaded to the east, so will remain comfortable longer than if it were in full sun. My task is to load up our pots and take them down to the big garden where they can be watered, nestling them under the roses for shade. I don't know if this is a good idea, but believe we should try. Also I need to start setting up shade cloth (willpower! willpower!). Yesterday there was a forecast of possible thunderstorms tonight; this morning when I checked the weather site that possibility was gone. Any suggested chance of precipitation disappears as you approach it like a mirage. Current forecast is another full week of blazing sun and heat. I went to Piacenza city yesterday. The beds of the streams/rivers Chiavenna, Riglio, and Nure were all bone dry. Rivers do regularly go dry in the summer, but usually there's at least a trickle of water and some puddles, and it happens later. It's not even officially summer yet. Jackie, hear, hear! You and those other Californians for whom the drought has broken have my best wishes. Some surprising stars of the drought are the Hybrid Perpetuals. I bought these experimentally five years ago, might I say without high expectations. Well, they're in bloom now, not the finest flowers, but it's an accomplishment all the same. 'Sidonie', 'Reine des Violettes', a mislabelled one that I think may be 'Arillaga', and a couple of others. Their stock is rising with me. Also some of the Teas are reblooming. It's been over five hot weeks since the last rain, and none of these has gotten any extra water. kittymoonbeam, you're correct across the board; we risk losing elements of our garden, some money and work, but for our neighbors it's their livelihood. They have two hundred cows to feed and water. I wonder, if the weather continues to get hotter and drier, whether a dairy operation in the hills will continue to be feasible.