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I think a story on a 'burn ban' is a good one, since people really don't know what that means and it differs from city to city.
Watering is definately out of the question for at least a month if not ninety days so. The best thing homeowner can do is dormant see their lawns and those gardners can safely plant anything that matures underground: IE: radishes, carrots, potatos, and some lettuce.
Winter is not over by ny means and I would have people use this dry and warm time get an early start and do the things they would normally plan on doing a month from now.
Gary B.

Hi, Gary!
In case you missed the stories... the official definition of a BURN BAN is, "No outdoor open burning of ANY kind." This DOES INCLUDE COOKING OUT!! If you are caught burning with the burn ban in place, you could be fined up to $500 and 180 days in jail! Right now, there is a burn ban in effect for Kansas City, MO until we get a good soaking rain.

And as for the watering... you nailed it on the head! The experts say to wait until the end of May to start doing heavy lawn watering. If you do it NOW... you could actually be hurting your grass in the long run. As dry as we are getting, the grass is doing its protective thing way down below. The roots are growing deeper to help it survive drought and heat. If you water it now... it will green-up on TOP... but the root growth will stall... and that could mean bad things if we continue into a dry spring/summer. The way the grass looks now is *normal*.

You DO, however, want to start watering any shrubs or newer trees in the yard!

And you must be a master gardener, bcs all the things you listed that are ok to plant are exactly what The Grass Pad tells me! :)

I will copy this into tonight's blog entry!
Thanks for writing!
Jamie