On Friday, workmen were digging drainage ditches, and tractors were laying sod in the middle of the scorching, dusty open quad.

But now, across the street from where she grew up, workers are laying sod in front of 100 crisp Georgian-style town houses that replaced a forbidding housing project.

Some tombstones in the churches' graveyards are broken, and there is so much ash that it might be easier to lay sod over it than remove it.

To lay sod, remove all lumps and be certain the soil is perfectly smooth.

He was picked to go work on laying sod for a new building in the final stages of completion.

Workmen are laying lush green sod and cleaning the steps, so Barcelona will glisten Saturday on worldwide television.

After deciding that laying topsoil and sod was too costly, the Authority turned to Mr. Shillingburg for a more modest proposal.

"The biggest mistake made by homeowners is to lay sod in the spring," Mr. Leon said.

It is even spending half a million dollars to renovate the city's soccer stadium, putting in new lights and laying fresh sod.

Landscapers were laying sod and stone in the rain.