Well, first, a Rambler can be one of several garden-eating climbing roses. But a Bourbon wouldn't be a rambler, and I'd say this ain't a Bourbon. Jeri

Don't do any of those things. Let the grass that has germinated continue to grow. Cut back on the watering frequency but start increasing the volume per session. You want to slowly start transitioning to watering only once a week (and watering for a long enough time to put down 1 inch of water as measured by a rain gage or tuna can). Cut it when it's 3 inches tall to a height of 2 inches; make sure it (and the soil) is dry on that day! After the first cut, raise your mower blade height to the highest setting (ideally 3.5 to 4 inches). That is the height you want the fescue to be maintained at. Never cut off more than 1/3 off at once (so cut when it's about 5 inches tall). Because your lawn is new ... And because you made the big mistake of planting in the spring, you WILL get weed pressure. Resist the urge to apply any herbicide. Your grass will weaken as a result. Resist the urge, resist the urge, resist the urge. Fall is the ideal time to plant fescue, but what's done is done and you will be throwing money away by spraying herbicide. Resist the urge. On Memorial Day, think about putting down an application of lawn food. I wouldn't recommend any Turf Builder or other synthetic fertilizer until the fall, but organics are great. I like Milorganite personally because it's safe for kids/animals and won't burn the lawn. Give it another dose of organic lawn food on July 4th. Once the lawn your put down has established, you might be surprised how well the bare spots will fill in. (Even with fescue.) deep and infrequent watering + mowing high and often is the recipe for success. For any bare spots that you are still unhappy with come September, save yourself some trouble and just buy a jug of Scotts EZ Seed. It should match the Scotts tall fescue that you put down already. It's meant for patching and it's kind of goof proof.

Monique, curb appeal doesn't rest primarily on selecting certain plants. It rests more on bed layout, plant forms & sizes, arrangement, organization and adding the right amount of variety. The picture you've provided shows mainly the house. But landscaping -- curb appeal -- has as much more to do with responding to the SETTING as it does with just what's in front of the house. It would be good if you could return to the exact spot* where the first picture was taken and swing the camera leftward in order to show us what's over there. The picture needs to slightly overlap with the existing one. Then swing the camera to the right, slightly overlapping again, and show us what's over there. That way we can see the broad view of the entire front yard. Also, with your truck out of the way, move the camera closer in and take another picture of the front entrance portion of the house (from the garage wall to the fence.) *If you can't return to the exact spot to match the first picture, disregard it and take all new pictures that pan the scene. Any chance on widening the walk that goes to the front door? That would help with curb appeal, too.

What I read about pendamethalin says it should be safe after about 7 days, the other, Vessie, contains products that are purported to be safe when dry although I would not allow children to play on grass so treated for 7 days as well since most organic sources recommend not using grass clippings from such lawns in a compost pile for at least two cuttings. If the owner of the at fault "lawn care" company does not offer to pay your natural lawn care company for tat least the rest of the summer there is very little you can do since the mind set for most people today is that those products are generally recognized as safe even though we know they are not. The play structure can be hosed down several times to wash off any of the product that may have attached to it. kimmq is kimmsr