[StumpedTechy]

Okay here is some more information on the yard. I had never heard of the grass either and to be honest I am not overly keen on it. I lived in California all my life and the grass we had there was quite a bit different. (Not being into plants I can't even tell you the kind it was). I get the fact this area is hotter and thus different grass is needed but its not something I am totally thrilled with.

The frontyard is about 4,500 square foot this is not including the little between the sidewalk and street area which is about another 616 square feet.

The sideyard is about 750 square feet.

The backyard is about 6,000 square feet.

So I would say your looking at close to 1/4th an acre total. (you know before I started started this I really had no clue what size an acre was)

I had called a few places and was told it would be about 4-5k to remove (this was without me giving them an exact mesurement just a rather close guess), what is there, buy the sod, and have someone lay it and roll it and all that. Seriously I can't afford more than a rake and some patience so any $ I can save doing this I will.

The terrain under the soil is very sandy. We aren't near a beach or anything (in fact we are at least 50 miles away from a shoreline that isn't a lake).

You mention is is able to be seeded telecom69? Would you know where I can get these seeds to price that option as everything I read says you can't?

Our spring is coming up in a couple of months this is when everyone says you should do your work so I am asking now in preperation for it to make sure I have everything. (Though our spring is hardly cool in Florida).

As far as putting other things like concrete down or anything we don't want to do any of that because 1) were both not "gardners" so any beds with flowers will die I am sure. 2) Gardens are out because we can't seem to grow things and it will be nothing left there. 3) I really can't afford material costs so whatever goes in has to be cheap (and I am assuming labor intensive). We don't want more concrete because our house is L shaped but the slab was poured as a rectangle so we have a ton of area that has a concrete.

Both yards are rectangular box shaped (front and back) so their pretty plain.

I can provide pictures if needed but I don't think they are going to show more than what I have described. Thank you all for your replies. I am very intent on cleaning this up. We had to renovate the interior of this house (it was built in the 70s and never remodled) and now thats done so the outside looks like the eyesore now.

[oil painter]

StumpTechy---If you want grass to grow you really need to amend sandy soil.
I thought of something that would do that and still maintain a nice looking yard. My son has sandy soil and he put in a cover crop of clover after rototilling the whole lawn. Now I don't know how it would do in California but I'm sure you could find something else that is similar. Look at what farmers in your area grow for cover crops and talk to some of their suppliers. You should be able to find them in your phone book, you may be able to buy grass seed there too. Clover is fast growing and will choke out some of the weeds that survive the rototilling.

Next year till under the clover and sow grass seed. You can find grass seed at most places where you find flower seeds--hardware or garden center or look on line.

Cost--I'm giving you Canadian prices yours will probably be cheaper. A tiller rental here is $95 a day.

The grass seed is about 15 to 20 dallars for a 2 K bag (4.4 pounds) and will do 100 square feet. Now that's the smaller bags but you might be able to buy in bulk a lot cheaper. The clover will probably be cheaper. Anyway you can see if getting a load of topsoil is cheaper or if you want to go with the cover crop.

When you are looking at grass seed look for a variety that is drought tollerant and for sandy soil.

Seeding is far more cost effective than sod and your 4 or 5 thousand for removing your existing lawn. Removing it won't get rid of all the weeds anyway so you can treat it with your weed and feed next year or pull the weeds by hand. My husband has a neat little dandilion puller that he uses because that is the weed most likely to pop up in our lawn.

Hope this helps. Let us know how it turns out.

[oil painter]

StumpedTechy check out this site

www.seedsuperstore.com/

[StumpedTechy]

amend sandy soil

Are you saying I have to get something else to put in with what is already here on top of just the grass?

I'm getting confused... BTW I was in CA growing up I am now in Florida so the climate is quie different.

I have been to that site and a number of others - so far all sites I visit on St.Augustine say the same thing....

St. Augustinegrass
St. Augustinegrass does not produce marketable seed and must be planted using sod or sprigs. We do not sell St. Augustinegrass seed, sod or sprigs.

I am pretty tempted to test out doing something in the back yard where neighbors won't notice and if I am successfull then to move to the front. its just that since I can't find seeds I am not sure how to start and which direction to go.

[oil painter]

No- No- StumpedTechy--You have to dig it up with a rototiller. A machine you push across the soil like a lawnmower but it has tines on the front that dig the dirt up. You might try killing your existing weeds and grass with round up first.

A cover crop is something you put in to put nutrients in the soil before you dig it up to plant your grass or in the case of farmers whatever crop they are going to grow. Very labor intensive and you would have to rent the tiller again too. You might be better to have some topsoil trucked in.

That site I gave you sells the seed and if you put in your zip code they will sell you a mixture for your area and climate. Though I think I would put it on thicker than they recomend. Don't get hung up on St. Augustine There are others that would suit and a mixture is best because if one doesn't do well others will take over.

Sorry about the mixup in States I thought you said you lived in California.

Doing one area is best anyway. because you won't be able to walk on it for a while.

[margaret zanoni]

Hello again to all at the Potting Shed......sorry to have been away so long but my hands have been swollen and I haven't been able to get my fingers working until a couple of days ago - now however they are almost down to a normal size and I can start catching up on things.

May I add my welcome to the new friends who have joined the Potting Shed and wish them well with their gardening.

I don't know if you can hire a machine to spike your grass - there is one with thick spikes which removes round plugs of your existing grass and you can then fill the holes with a mixture of topsoil and grass seed. We did this when we lived in Italy and it was the only way we could get a decent lawn at a price we could afford. If you can get the moisture retaining pellets over there it would be a good idea to mix them in with the topsoil so there is less likelyhood of the earth drying out. Just an idea....

Nice to know we are not alone in the snow Penny and Bob - very pretty when you are inside looking out but our feathered friends are not too impressed! The water in the birdbath has been frozen solid most of the time so we have hung another smaller one outside the kitchen window so we can lean out and pour warm water onto it - the snow is too deep to trudge round the back at the moment.

I know my hellebores are alive and well because the neighbours cat has uncovered some of them whilst digging a hole (you know what for)! It will be interesting to see which of the plants I put in last autumn survive this cold winter and which give up the struggle.

I hope you are coping in the tremendous heat Yvonne - sometimes nature just seems to delight in giving us gardeners more extreme conditions just to test our resolve - or perhaps to remind us to plant native species!!! I have just read that central and north China are having their worst drought for years too - not that it is much consolation for you.

Well that is about it for the moment..........I am attaching a photo showing the bird feeders with their winter make-over....the suet bell looks like a Christmas tree and the others have got white hats on.....

Kind regards to everyone..........Margaret

[oil painter]

Hi Margaret--I'm Myrna

Yes --your plug planting is a very good idea. It amends the soil by introducing new soil as well as new seed varieties and aerates the existing lawn. He would however have to tackle most of the weeds beforehand. St. Augustine may not be the best grass for that area since it died out so much. My husband likes a mixture of grass seed because if one doesn't do well others will take over. This gets him a new lawn very cheaply and it should work.

StumpedTechy--See if you can rent the machine or have some one come in and do it, or you can just dig out patches and transplant. If you do it with machine and cant plant all at once keep the plugs in the shade and covered with a wet cloth and wet it occasionally to keep it moist..

[oil painter]

Bob---
I think I've found your plant--it's called Kalanchoe-- check it out on line and see if I'm right. There are several different varieties. Some are flowers are smaller than others but all have fleshy leaves.

[telecom69]

Originally Posted by Tuppence2

Bob's little creature was a robin, Yvonne.

While it was most likely the resident Robin,because that the part of the garden he hangs out in,it could have also been a rat, I can guess where he came from because next door but one keeps birds, in outside sheds,and if you keep birds you also keep mice and rats,well know fact,they come for the seed and unfortunately stay,because its an easy source of food,especially in the winter....I saw one once last year also and had the council pest control officer put down some bait,which did the trick because later I found the rat dead in my shed,betrayed by the awful smell and never saw another again till this week,he's after the bread I put out for the birds obviously,so looks like another visit from pest control is necessary ...

I love all wild life but rats are an exception,the only good rat is a dead one!! they have their uses I suppose on this earth in that they will eat all waste discarded by humans,but that is offset by the diseases they carry ...


Nice to see you back Margaret not good to have swollen hands is it pretty well incapacitates you,do you have Arthritis?


Looks like it is a Kalanchoe Myrna, thanks for that detective work,not an outstanding plant,but the flowers are very pretty,some one gave it to us last year so I kept it going, would imagine its going to grow quite big,so might have to take some cuttings later,its future is yet to be decided

The weather continues to improve in that the slow thaw continues,and I can now see parts of the lawn appearing from under the blanket of snow that has covered it for a week ....

[Tuppence2]

Hello everyone. Nice to see you again, Margaret.

Bob, is your mystery plant a succulent? I attach a photo taken from a plant encyclopaedia I have, of "Kalanchoe blossfeldiana". It states that it makes an excellent houseplant and needs a minimum temperature of 50 F. Is your plant outdoors?

Details from the book read "Bushy, perrenial succulent with oval to oblong, toothed, glossy, green leaves. Produced clusters of yellow, orange, pink, red or purple flowers, year-round."

What do you think?

[oil painter]

Hi All

Great minds think alike Penny.

No trouble Bob. I knew I had seen that plant somewhere. I just had to remember where.
We have had mider weather here too, but I don't imagine it is anything like yours, but the at this time of year when it goes above 0 it's mild.

Margaret--If you have Arthritis have you ever tried Glucosamine and Chronodin--I'm not sure the last is spelled right--but you buy them togetherin the same pill.5 years ago I broke my left hip and couldn't put any weight on it for 6 weeks Consequently I developed Arthritis in my right knee. I started taking the above--3 pills a day-- and within a month the pain went away. The glucosimine plumps up the cartilage that is there and the other is supposed to build cartilidge. It sure works for me, but I've heard others say it didn't for them. Maybe so or maybe they didn't take the right dose.

Yvonne: I hope you are out of the path of the fires. stay safe.

[oil painter]

Margaret I looked on my pill bottle and got the proper spelling of that herbal suppliment, it"s Glucosamine and Chondrotin.

[ymfoster]

Hi Penny, Bob, Myrna, StumpedTechy & Margaret,


Nice to see you back Margaret,
hope the hands are a lot better now & not too painful.


Good luck with the lawn StumpedTechy,


Thanks Myrna,

I'm a fair way from the fires, but we did get the smoke haze.
It was 120 F here with hot scorching winds & a lot of my shrubs are scorched & burnt & some have died, but we are fortunate compared to those who lost everything in the fires

[telecom69]

Hi Yvonne, Glad you are not near those fires, quite a bit of tv coverage about them this morning ...lots of sunshine are not always good news as in your case over there, felt so sad for the people most affected I wouldnt mind in the least if you could let us have just half of those temps over here right now Rain storms turning to heavy snow forecast for later this afternoon,so no end in sight just yet ...take care both of you

[telecom69]

Originally Posted by Tuppence2

Hello everyone. Nice to see you again, Margaret.

Bob, is your mystery plant a succulent? I attach a photo taken from a plant encyclopaedia I have, of "Kalanchoe blossfeldiana". It states that it makes an excellent houseplant and needs a minimum temperature of 50 F. Is your plant outdoors?

Details from the book read "Bushy, perrenial succulent with oval to oblong, toothed, glossy, green leaves. Produced clusters of yellow, orange, pink, red or purple flowers, year-round."

What do you think?

Thanks for the photo Penny,yes thats what it is alright,didnt know it was a succulent although its leaves are slightly thicker than normal,should root cutting ok then .....no its not outside its standing on the front window ledge,its a year old now but getting a bit too big ...so cuttings it will be when/if the weather warms up heavy rain/snowstorms forecast this way for later this afternoon