Lawn, turf, it's all the same... or is it?

Last September, I changed the name of my lawn to "turf." Why? It's a psychological thing. When I think of lawn, I think of darts, slippery slides and dogs rolling around in the grass. When I think of turf, I think golf. Beautiful green turf, pristine from weeds, manicured -- not cut. People in the neighborhood were starting to find out that I was a Master Gardener. So I had to turn my lawn into turf.

It took a good year, and stronger chemicals than I could buy at the store. We hired a guy. Neighborhood fella who promised to blast the violets out of the front lawn. To fertilize with stuff that would turn Barney from purple to green.

As organic as I like to be, the front lawn needed warfare. We aerated in September, fertilized in October, kept watering. Then spring came and we did the pre-emergent, then the killer, more chemicals and more chemicals. But guess what. We have really thick grass right now.

But I'm not going to sit on my laurels. That quack grass will NOT invade my corner again. So what do I do between now and when the snow falls (October 31).

Fertilize now with 1 pound of nitrogen per 1000 square feet of turf

Water, water, water. At least 1 inch of water per week. (We need more for our 2 beautiful maple trees.)

Overseed in s pots that may need a little extra push in the Spring.

I have a friend, Mike, who would rather have turf than vegetables. He took the giant leap of planting a tomato this year; it was only right that I take the plunge and turn my lawn into turf. He is enjoying a BLT and I'm enjoying a lush lawn -- I mean turf.