Ms Idaho, we drove through Idaho, starting at Malad ending up in Kellog. Loved CDA area, bought, checked things out later. Not a real good job market. A lot of people with degrees working for a little more than minimum wage and benefits are not that common. Your husband should be able to find work with all the construction going on. Love it here, just wish I had a better job. Should have really checked it out first, but that would be too logical. Jump in with both feet and hope you float up. Good luck with your grass. I am looking for a low-growing grass that you can throw out to keep the knapwood from taking completely over, which, is also bad in this area. Let me know when you arrive, I'll bake cookies, or something.

Hi Malia, My wife and I move into our new home 4 years ago and we put in our own sprinkler system and grass in the back yard. We went to a local seed supplier and were told to put in a mix of seeds as well. I also asked other people what they did. The guy up the street put in 100% perrenial rye grass seed and his yard looked great. So thats what we did, 100% perrenial rye and my back yard looks so much better that the front which the contractor sodded and was told the main grass is kentucky blue. By the way, Ilive in Boise and we have the same darn clay soil. I'm no expert when it comes to grass but I do love the way the grass looks.
Good luck.

i would use a mix of 80% blue and 20% perrenial rye.if you have good watering. blue is good geen lawn if watered correctly but if there is sometimes of lack of water the rye will keep it looking green.

I'm north of Coeur d'Alene, closer to Sandpoint. It's green and lush and beautiful here, all right, but the job market leaves much to be desired. Your husband can probably find a job, construction is pretty busy here, but it's starting to slow down a bit after several boom years. Wages (and benefits) are lower here; my theory is that so many people want to live here, they're willing to work for less pay just to be here. Spokane isn't far from CdA (that's the local shorthand for Coeur d'Alene) and has better job opportunities, if you're willing to commute half an hour or more ( it can be MUCH more in the winter). A lot of people around here commute to Spokane, me included. After six years of working in Spokane, my husband finally got a good job in Sandpoint at decent pay. I guess he had to pay his dues first.

The soil here is more likely to be gravel than clay, poor in nutrients, and very acidic. It needs lots of help. Short summers with cold nights are a challenge for gardeners (that might not be much different from where you are, I don't know).

Housing recently underwent several years of a building boom and major appreciation in pricing. Waterfront properties have become very expensive by local standards, and everything else has gone up also. I don't know how prices will compare to yours. The Sandpoint area used to be a real bargain but those days are gone, at least for now. The area is beautiful - Lake Pend Oreille is prettier than Coeur d'Alene, and less developed - but the job market is pitiful.

That said, I wouldn't leave here for the world. I hope to die in this house.

Jeanne

Clay soils can be really tough to work with. It sounds like you are on the right track. Getting enough organic matter worked into the soil to improve it is hard when you start talking about acres. If you can afford to wait another year, you could try growing a green manure and tilling the vegetation into the soil.

It is hard to beat local expertise, so if your seed company seems knowledgable, I would go with their recommendations. I don't see much difference between the two except that one has clover.

As the others have said, the job market up here isn't great. But I think there is always work for people in the building trades that do good work and show up when they say they will. What kind of science work do you do?

Thanks for all the info everyone! We ended up planting the mix without the clover. It came up nicely before the snow fell, although we do still have a pigweed problem but we'll be working on it this spring.

Still looking at the CDA area, just browsing real estate right now and dreaming...we had a baby girl in November so for a while I think we'll be sitting right here. I don't think we could sell right now anyways.

I am just itching for spring to come so I can be outdoors and digging in the dirt (well, clay anyways:-) Since the current ground is so unmanageable I have plans to build some raised beds for veggie gardens!
Is anyone thinking of starting seeds indoors soon? I tried this a couple years ago but they all seemed to get really tall and straggly. wonder what I did wrong?

Hope eveyone is having a nice winter.

since someone asked - I currently work with invasive plant species, primarily noxious weeds