It is a gorgeous afternoon here in the Twin Cities - warm enough and dry enough to get a closer look at the lawn and do some light raking. I did have some snowmold along the road and driveway, where the snow got piled pretty deep and it's pretty shady. But, the overall condition looks good after the raking. Last fall, I told you that was the best time for lawn care and that's still true. However, spring is the best time to evaluate your overall landscape and establish a strategy and program for developing a healthy lawn

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Well, maybe not lions and tigers and bears, but voles, moles and gophers, at least. But, sometimes there is more than meets the eye. Spring continues to reveal more of the hidden life in your yard and landscape as the snow recedes. Take, for example, the photo at the left - look closely and you'll see the snowmold we talked about in our last post, but also a bunch of runways through the grass. This is the work of voles (a.k.a. meadow mice). During the rest of the year, you'll probably have no clue they're around, but spring uncovers their activity as they ventured out for food.

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If you're like most of us in Minnesota, you are enjoying the effects of a warm spell that has banished most of the snow in your yard. Even though we had some record snowfalls, all that is left in my yard are the remnants of the snowbanks deposited by the snowplows. And, with the change to Daylight Saving Time (note it is Saving, not Savings!), I had the opportunity to walk around the yard and see how things survived the winter, which is the best thing you can be doing right now, too.

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Start your wedding planning checklist!

There are many details you need to consider and keep track of when planning your wedding - guest lists, seating charts, caterers and bakery selections, appointments with vendors, budgets, to-do lists, photographers and musicians.

Wedding sites abound with free tools to plan your wedding - there's TheKnot, MyWedding, WeddingWire, Perfect Wedding Guide, GetMarried and OurWeddingDay. Now, there is even Google Docs!

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This is the time of year a lot of couples get engaged, so it follows that a lot of wedding fairs and bridal shows are coming up. For most newly engaged couples, this is the first time they've gone through this and they have no clue about what to do next. They do what thousands of other couples are doing - they attend bridal shows (at least the bride-to-be does, along with mom and possibly the bridesmaids). We've done a wedding, or two, and have a few suggestions for surviving what can be more confusing than helpful, if you're not prepared - the wedding fair.

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