First, you didn't flunk Lawn 101. You got a B in 2006, a C in 2007 (for late seeding) and an A so far in 2008. Nothing you did was wrong, but the timing for seeding was off a bit. 1) Round Up. We hesitate to mention specific chemical names for companies. The generic glyphosate works just fine and it's essentially the same stuff. Also, so many of us are organic and the R word stuff isn't. 2) Compost and peat moss will both decay away in about five years, so the soil is going to settle. Certainly you can mix either lightly (say, an inch or so every ten inches of soil), or skip it and use organic feeding methods. If your soil is really bad, I'd mix it. You can usually get compost from your local garden store, big box store, or delivered bulk from a supplier. The other option is to use 1/4" as a topdress for your seeding. Over time, the decay products work into the soil and enrichen it, plus you kill two birds with one stone and don't need to otherwise mulch the seed. Plus, the worms like it. :-) 3) Go right ahead and use it. If it was stored in a cold garage, it's completely fine. If stored in a warm house, you lose some germination but it's not that significant over six months. You can't wait too much longer for a spring seeding (and might want to consider using Siduron or Tupersan as a pre-emergent when seeding). So you probably don't have time to wait for the soil results. That's OK, you can work on correcting those issues afterward. Right now, get it sprouted--the seed has all the resources it needs for the first few weeks of its life. Once you get that test back you'll know what to add.

Given your location, it seems the maple should do quite well but the plumeria will need to be brought in for winter :-) There is often a lot of misinformation about the correct naming of Japanese maples. All named forms - cultivars - of Japanese maples are propagated asexually, either by grafting (most common) or by cuttings (less common). All seed grown Japanese maples are just referred to as generic Acer palmatum - no cultivar name - regardless of what the parent plant was. Cultivar names are registered and all reputable growers will propagate correctly with the approved and correctly labeled stock plants. But there are many less reputable sources that will produce maples under other, non-registered names or even by seed. 'Bloodgood is perhaps the most widely propagated Japanese maple on the market and you will often find seed-grown so-called Bloodgoods on the market. They may very well look like Bloodgood but they are not. You may find "dwarf" Bloodgoods included in this somewhat suspicious grouping. Bloodgood is a pretty good sized JM. The typical mature size is often quoted as 20'x20' but Vertrees (THE JM authority) reports a mature height of upto 30 feet. As I stated previously, there is NO dwarf Bloodgood but a good number of smaller growing Bloodgood look-alikes, several of which were sports or brooms from a known Bloodgood. But they are known by different names if properly registered cultivars. Enjoy whatever tree you actually have :-)) I've yet to meet any Japanese maple I didn't like!

Oh, that's wonderful Summerfield! I wish I could just build that almost as you have drawn it! Unfortunately, I've got some restrictions I have to work within due to the lot I have and city setbacks. I've been reading "The Not So Big House" book (loving it, thanks for the recommendation minneapolisite) and was looking at some new ideas from my original layout. **This is pretty rough** and there's a bunch I really don't like on it just yet, but I wanted to give an update. What I like most about my latest update is more windows in the main living area on the south side of the house and all three living areas having direct windows instead of the dining room being sandwiched into the middle of the house. I also like the shared entry so that the 'nice' entry doesn't end up being for guests only. I hate the way I have the pantry laid out, but I do like the idea of a good sized pantry with room for the chest freezer (currently in the basement in our house today). Also, this opens up the living room for a bit more space. My favorite things about the plan you've drawn, Summerfield, are both of the bathrooms, laundry and master closet. Those are the areas I'm struggling the most with. (as well as the whole bedrooms side of the house...) We may have a small television in the kitchen, and temporarily in the living room, but once the basement is finished we would only have the kitchen tv. So no need to build a dedicated spot for it on the first floor. Site Plan:

The concrete pillar things are weird... would it be possible to paint them same color as the brick (the mid red tone) to help them blend in to the background? And yes with the grey door and roof I think the brass looks out of place and silver tones will look better. And I think I'd go with black trim!