CrawDude

I’ve had the vaccine and as I recall I was a little achy for a day or 2 after the second injection but no other issues. If you had chickenpox as a kid you carry the dormant virus that causes shingles.

My maternal grandfather had shingles in old age and it was extremely painful for him.

Yes

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The Southern Sugar Maple is recommended by LSU Ag for planting in Louisiana. Any idea where to find these and some that have some size? I'm striking out.

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Doug Young Nursery in Forest Hill has Southern Sugar Maple listed in their catalog. Best to call first as in my experience on occasion they don’t have materials listed in their catalog in stock.
DYN Price Catalog page 23

One of the few wholesale nurseries that sell to the public, wholesale price plus sales tax.

Also, many large retail garden centers can order it for you, their suppliers will put it on the truck with their next delivery to the store - just speak to a manager.

Perfectly fine and how I vegetable garden, but why are you thinking of sealing the inside with caulk?

I just replaced my boards This past spring, I think I got 6 or 7 years out of the old boards. I used 2 x 12 treated lumber, though you don’t have to go that high. 3 feet is a good width as you can reach the middle of the bed from either side without crawling into the bed.

Your next question might be what should you use as a planting mix. Something similar to this is what I use, but the bulk of the planting mix is what the retail garden centers call “garden soil or garden mix” which is composted forestry products with added sand to help with drainage.

Won’t work. Your choice - either winter rye grass lawn or winter weeds…..lol.

Well, you could plant rye grass now, and perhaps after several weeks after all the rye grass seed has germinated and grown a bit, apply Dimension, but not the other way around. Won’t help with cool season weed seeds that germinate while you are waiting to apply Dimension.

Both, the active ingredients in bioadvanced fungus control (propiconazole) and Scott’s Diease EX (azoxystrobin) are effective fungicides for gray leaf spot. But fungal diseases routinely come back when environmental conditions are suitable.

Just be sure you are applying at the recommended labeled rates and frequency of re-applications as stated on the containers’s label (directions).

Obviously, maintain a healthy lawn to the best of your ability, don’t over-fertilize particularly with nitrogen (like adding gasoline to a fire), cut grass at recommended height, etc.

Gray Leaf Spot - LSU AgCenter

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So far I've had one AC guy quote me on a Goodman 3.5 ton unit to replace the 3 ton ($8,500). The house is 1879 sq ft in south LA, so it does appear that a 3.5 ton is the recommended size. He seems to think the same duct work can be used (it's all in good shape), but I've read that the ductwork for 3 ton and 3.5 ton is not interchangeable and can put a strain on the system and be less efficient. Thoughts on Goodman brand (single stage unit, 14SEER) at that price? And thoughts on using existing ductwork while increasing to 3.5 ton unit?

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What was his rationale for quoting 3.5 ton unit vs 3 ton unit? Older R-22 units did provide their rated BTU capacity, i.e., 3 ton unit produced 36,000 BTU cooling capacity, but today’s units do produce slight less cooling capacity than their stated amount - that might have been his rationale for upsizing.

Duct work size is matched to the size of the unit. Technically a 3.5 ton unit will only provide 3 tons of cooling capacity if the duct work is sized for a 3 ton unit - but a 1/2 ton difference is not dramatic and could be compensated for by adjusting the furnace-air handler speed. The major Issue on undersized duct work is that it increases the total external static pressure (TESP, resistance to airflow) which reduces airflow, increases the amount of energy the blower motor uses to move air and in time decreases the life of the motor - newer EMC blower motors are much more expensive than older PSC motors. This would be a bigger concern if you were upsizing to a 4, 4.5, or 5 ton unit on duct work sized for a 3 ton unit.

The quality of the install is more important than the brand name on the equipment. I also agree with another who states have the return air duct sizing checked by whoever gives you quotes - it’s not uncommon to be undersized and a change out is a good time to address that if it’s an issue.

I had a change out 2 1/2 years ago and my return air duct was a 1/3 undersized - I had the installers put in another return air duct on the opposite side of the house to match supply air volume and it has improved cooling on that side of the house.

$8,600 is not a bad price for a new system using existing ducts, but as other have recommended get several quotes.

Doveweed is an annual summer weed it will die with winter. You can kill it post-emergent with Celsius herbicide but it will return next year as the seeds are there. To mitigate its proliferation you need to apply Specticle pre-emergent herbicide next spring, around mid- to late April before the seeds germinate at a soil temperture near 70 F. With a wet summer a second application might be required in late July-early August. Dimension or Prodiamine pre-emergent herbicides will not work with Doveweed.

Specticle Flo is expensive upfront, near $300 for a 18 oz bottle. But it should last 3 or 4 years for 10,000 square foot lawn with 2 or 3 applications per year when applied at the labeled rate. Cost should equate to about $3 per 1000 sq ft or $30 for 10,000 sq ft of lawn - which in the grand scheme is not terribly expensive.

Doveweed Fact Sheet - LSU AgCenter

Sounds like you are aware of boxwood blight issues. I seriously doubt it’s a soil issue as the plants have been in the ground only a few months - soil issues likely wouldn’t be manifested that quickly.

You say you water regularly. You sure your aren’t overwatering? Root rot of shrubs from over watering is not uncommon in heavy clay soil if the shrubs are not elevated slightly above soil grade and would be manifested over a few months.

Why don’t you send some photos to Dr. Raj Singh, head of the Plant Diagnostics Lab with the LSU AgCenter and get his opinion. LINK. He has fact sheets on boxwood diseases.

Boxwood Dieback

Boxwood Blight

This should answer your questions on watering your lawn

Irrigating Louisiana Lawns & Turf

TLDR: 1 to 1.5 inch of water weekly in summer-early fall in the absence of rain.

What vegetable plants are you wanting to plant now?

Here is the LSU AgCenter’s vegetable planting guide for seeds & transplants, for both South & North Louisiana

Louisiana Vegetable Planting Guide - LSU AgCenter