Here is your post with the pictures... Hello! I'm looking for some assistance, but there is some back-story and I'm afraid it is lengthy (sorry!). I moved into our home here outside of Charlotte, NC a few years ago having never owned a single family home. I had always lived in condos or apartments with landscapers hired through the HOA to do all the outside work. Short story is - I love our home and I love working outside chopping wood, mowing grass, and all of that stuff. Some I'm not adverse to spending time and effort on something. Being a new home owner, I had to buy all the lawncare stuff from a riding mower, to aerator, dethatcher, etc.. Again, I really enjoy doing all the work. When we first moved in, the law was terrible. We have two acres of property, of which about one acre is lawn/grass. Upon moving in, much of the lawn was just red clay. The soil is fairly rocky with a lot of large rocks too. The only section of grass that was consistently good was where the pool filter backwash drained into the lawn combined with the septic drain field. So - I worked hard that first year or so and got the lawn looking pretty darn good. Here is a pic of part of it last winter: So then in the spring I had a really bad outbreak of what I believe is dalisgrass. At first I started pulling it to get it from the root, and I pulled a ton of it out of the yard, but I couldn't keep up with it. I did some research and found out that my local store was still carrying a product with MSMA in it. Bought a tow behind sprayer and coated the lawn and it really damaged my lawn. Turns out I had mixed it wrong, using a tablespoon per 5 gallons instead of a teaspoon. Coupled with the summer heat - it really did a number on my lawn. Most of the grass survived, but despite the double dose the dalisgrass didn't really seem to be hurt as much as the lawn (tall fescue). It was painful to see the relatively lush grass go bad. Perhaps due to the damaged state, another problem reared its head - at the downslope part of my lawn another type of grass started to spread and work its way up the slope. It appears to be Bermuda grass I would guess. It has long stringy runners that can go for four or five feet and no matter how many I pulled up by hand, they just kept marching on. It was smothering out the remaining fescue. * Note - I have learned in my rapid lawn education that I had been cutting my lawn too short. I now cut at 4" to promote taller grass and drown out the weeds at the dirt level. So by early this fall, I felt I had to do something because nearly half of the lawn was being taken over by the Bermuda. I went with the nuclear option and it does seem to have worked. I took my dethatcher, and basically tore out all of the lawn section where the Bermuda was growing. I can't tell you how satisfying it was to rip all of that out and I had a mountain of Bermuda grass as tall as me off in the woods when I was done. So that left basically red clay, although I know that Bermuda (rhizomes?) are probably still down there lurking and waiting to spring back up this spring. Here is a photo of the area after I had dethatched it down to the dirt and reseeded it with tall fescue: I was happy to get the seed growing and the grass is probably about two inches long now before it went semi-dormant for the winter. I say "semi dormant" because it has been unseasonably warm here in Charlotte this winter (it was 74 today!). So here is where I need some advice. I have this relatively new grass down there that is looking pretty good, then last week I noticed Henbit (purple flowers) starting to grow down there. And some spotty clover. This is what the lawn looks like today (Jan 12): And this is the Henbit poking through: Can I spray something down there or lay down some fertilizer this early to help control that? I worry that the new grass isn't tough enough to take it though. I do see we have some sub-freezing temperatures in line, and I'm sure we have many more weeks of that lined up and this warm stretch won't last. On the plus side - the winter garden (another project we started last year) is going great! My second question - I do know that I still have Bermuda down there on the fringes of where I tore out the stuff this late fall. I can see it and it even has a few green shoots here and there: Here is a broader view of that segment of lawn. You can see the "furrows" where I had last drug the dethatcher and where the fescue really seeded well. The whitish stuff is the skeletons of the remaining Bermuda: At what point this winter or spring can I treat the Bermuda - and is there a product I can spray on it that will kill the Bermuda, but not harm the relatively new fescue? Interestingly - a few of the seeds that had not sprouted late in the fall recently decided to sprout in some other areas of the property..although I doubt they will survive coming freezes: And this is the critter that started it all - the dalisgrass that is still around in the grass, although the MSMA did seem to put a bit of a damper on it. This stuff is obnoxious and I'd love to get rid of it (without having to pull it all). I have tried using a weed stick with Round Up in it to dab on little clumps of it, and it works OK, but 1 acre is a lot of work if I chase it down that way. Is there such a product that will attack clover, dalisgrass, and stuff like Henbit yet leave the fescue relatively unscathed? If so - how early can I apply it? I *really* want to try to win this war this year. I love having a great looking lawn, and I don't mind working for it, but I feel like I've been throwing money at a problem that is consistently outfoxing me and draining my wallet at the same time. I've even called lawn professionals in the area, but the ones around here must not need the business because they NEVER return phonecalls or come to take a look and give me an estimate on what it would take to professionally weed control. (I'd still want to do the mowing and stuff..but if someone could treat this acre and make a real difference, I'd love it). So there is my sad, sad story . I hope I can get some help - and I'll be very happy to share what has and hasn't worked with others here on the forum. Regards, BeachAV8R This post was edited by dchall_san_antonio on Wed, Jan 16, 13 at 15:46

Ha !- I was wondering if people were starting seeds already. I have spent the last couple of days going through seed sites on line and making lists. I have some Begonia and Lisianthus seed that arrived to late (back ordered) to sow last year, And am thinking about getting them going really early. I haven't been successful with begonias that I have tried in the past. I can get them to sprout, and most of them up to the size of a dime, and then they expire, maybe I am keeping them to wet, since I have had mold problems, also think I need a grittier mix for them. If you can find some patches of sun, Lisianthus grow well in containers - and are beauties when they bloom. (5-6 months from sowing the seed)

Treeskate, I use a microwave terra cotta press that I bought several years ago. Lee Valley microwave press Its trial and error to time the pressing right -- generally 30-60 seconds will do it. Its easy to overdo it. Sometimes I will do 15 seconds at a time and check. Then I store them in flat plastic storage containers with silica gel packs. (Start saving them when you see them with many products). I keep it all in a closet until ready to tackle the project. I'm so glad you asked about the pressing. I am excited to see that Lee Valley sells the replacement pads for the press. I need some and I couldn't find them anywhere. I didn't even know what they were made of til I just went to that link to find the press. I've been using felt (when I burnt my original pads this year) but it isn't quite as good. There is a plastic version of a microwave press too. I'm sure the old-fashioned book method is just as good, but I only used it for a few ferns that were too big for the microwave press. I also used some leftover 13" square tiles (with papertowels). Terrene, your bouquet sounds lovely but now you're getting into an area that requires skill and creativity!!! The solo foliage is soooo much easier. I think just foliage is also a more contemporary aesthetic. I would like the bouquet, but I don't think my recipients would so much. When I first got the press and started collecting flowers for it, I found them much harder to work with. Many flowers have to be "re-built" petal by petal if they have thick centers. Flowers also strained my limited creativity. Simple foliage is a no-brainer. Right up my alley! Also as far as UV protection, I checked the glue I use and it does say it is UV resistant. Unfortunately, I did not use it as a top coat over the foliage. I think I will try an experiment with coated and non-coated and put them in a sunny room and see what happens. There is also such a thing as UV resistant glass, but I didn't pursue that. ALso, when gluing the foliage on card stock, they don't always lay flat when glued, depending on the leaf substance. I put a piece of waxed paper over them and then put them in a really big book (American Hort Society Encyclopedia of Gardening) for at least a couple of hours. Then they are secure for further handling and framing.

Am getting ready to plant the twenty flats of pansies I have growing in my basement next week. Plan to back them with Redbor Kale and onions. Maybe a row of mustard too. Got to collect mulch materials and top off all the beds... Will continue to tend the fall/winter crops in the potager. I have four beds planted in several kinds of greens, broccoli, carrots, spinach, rutabagas, onions and garlic. Then there will be the holidays, tulip planting in January, seed starting and pruning time in February, and compost spreading in March. Which will bring us back to Spring planting! I love the sound of your plans, nancyjane! I have a few pottery plant tags I purchased at Craft Fairs over the years, and I love them! Your students are lucky to have you.