I notice the worms in my garden soil are usually gray in color - although not always. The purchased worms are red worms - the kind usually used by fishermen. These are great for use in worm bins and will multiply easily, if the bins are kept healthy. I like the idea of having a nice well-working worm bin handy near my kitchen, to catch all of the table scraps. The most recent one was situated under a macadamia tree and that tree produced a large amount of nuts for several years. Then, unfortunately, I neglected the bin and the tree has not produced as well since. I figured the lechate which exuded from the bottom tray - had fertilized that tree - producing a bountiful crop - honest! Anyway, I intend to start another red worm bin - the original was a 2-story affair made out of tote bins - one on top of the other. Holes were made in the bottoms of both bins for drainage, and to allow the worms to find one or the other bin more favorable to them. Too much garbage will kill them. Too little - will starve them. I started the bedding with shredded newspaper, added lots of coffee grounds, ground up larger pieces of left over veggies - a sort of slurry, to get them started. Once they had multiplied enough - I reversed the bins - putting new shreddings in the top bin, adding a scoop of stuff from the bottom one with worms - then adding stuff as in the first bin. This process worked well for 2 years. Once the bins became full - usually bottom - use the compost in the garden. This will attract worms in and around your vegetables - so long as they are interested in the food available. As the above posts remark - if the soil is dry, they will go deeper in the ground, but return and you will note more during the rainy season. Just my 2 c's. Bejay

Hot Lips has wintered over very well for the last three years in my Shoreline garden. As for soil, large pieces in the mix. In the spring and summer don't water unless soil is really dry - about half way down the pot. Fast drainage is the key - even more important than full day sun. Fortunately, the plant is not very expensive so if it does freeze buy a new one in the spring. You can grow lots of different salvias if you consider them annuals. The hummers will thank you and give you hours of joy watching them. You could also try Grevilleas and fuschias.

As long as those soil samples have been kept dry they should be okay. Contact your local office of the University of Missouri Cooperative Extension Service and they can advise you better. I think you will find the UMCES people of more help than a commercial lab. When mowing, if the grass clippings tend to clump you are trying to mow too fast, especially if you are mulch mowing, and/or cutting too much grass at one time. Cut more often, if possible, and maybe raise the mower deck and cut less grass off. Some simple soil test you can do that may be of some help. 1) Soil test for organic material. From that soil sample put enough of the rest to make a 4 inch level in a clear 1 quart jar, with a tight fitting lid. Fill that jar with water and replace the lid, tightly. Shake the jar vigorously and then let it stand for 24 hours. Your soil will settle out according to soil particle size and weight. For example, a good loam will have about 1-3/4 inch (about 45%) of sand on the bottom. about 1 inch (about 25%) of silt next, about 1 inch (25%) of clay above that, and about 1/4 inch (about 5%) of organic matter on the top. 2) Drainage. Dig a hole 1 foot square and 1 foot deep and fill that with water. After that water drains away refill the hole with more water and time how long it takes that to drain away. Anything less than 2 hours and your soil drains’ too quickly and needs more organic matter to slow that drainage down. Anything over 6 hours and the soil drains too slowly and needs lots of organic matter to speed it up. 3) Tilth. Take a handful of your slightly damp soil and squeeze it tightly. When the pressure is released the soil should hold together in that clump, but when poked with a finger that clump should fall apart. 4) Smell. What does your soil smell like? A pleasant, rich earthy odor? Putrid, offensive, repugnant odor? The more organic matter in your soil the more active the soil bacteria will be and the nicer your soil will smell, to a point. Too much organic matter can be bad as well. 5) Life. How many earthworms per shovel full were there? 5 or more indicates a pretty healthy soil. Fewer than 5, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service, indicates a soil that is not healthy. kimmq is kimmsr

When did you plant the fescue seed? This should have been a good looking lawn by October if you planted the seed in September. Fall is always the best time of year to plant a cool season turf grass. Having said that, with the Earth warming, the Atlanta area is moving from the transition zone to the southern or warm zone. If you wanted to plan for the future, then going with a hybrid bermuda (not the weed-like common varieties), St Augustine, or some of the zoysias might be a better approach. Those go down as sod and can be applied any time of year. Before you spend a lot of money trying to fix the clay soil, I strongly suggest you get a really good soil test to verify the salt values and the total exchange capacity. It often happens that people believe they have clay soil because it cracks and holds moisture like you would expect modeling clay to do. But if your soil has a low TEC and high magnesium content, it will act very much like clay. The repair for clay soil is different than the repair for high magnesium, so you need to know what you have to fix it right. The $25 test from Logan Labs in Ohio is a great test to answer these questions. They will email you the results in a week. Then you can post the results here and get a read from the forum members. I would not do anything but mow the weeds until mid April. By then a new crop of summer annual weeds will have bolted, and you can spray those out. Something like Weed-b-Gon will take care of the broadleaf weeds leaving you with grass and grassy weeds. Then you can evaluate what you have left. Whatever you have left should be mowed at the mower's highest setting to encourage the fescue growth and discourage bermuda growth. If you get a chance look around at TIF 419 hybrid bermuda. It has been THE choice of contractors since the late 1960s which has caused the price to fall down to about $50 per pallet. In this case, "contractor grade" bermuda is one of the finest turfgrasses you can get. As has been mentioned it does not grow in the shade, so on the north side of buildings, fences and shrubs it will thin out and fail. But on the south side, it's great. If you decide to renovate with a southern or warm season turf, let us know for more tips on preparing the soil. These sod type southern lawns can be put down in the spring very successfully, but prepping is important. Here's one tip: NEVER rototill in preparation for grass. Here is some general lawn care advice gleaned from this and other forums over the past 19 years. This is in order of importance. Water deep and infrequently. Deep means 1 inch all at one time every time you water. Infrequently changes depending on the temperature. For the winter and until the temperature gets into the 70s, you should water no more often than once a month. If it rains then stretch out the interval. With temps steadily in the 70s, you can deep water once every 3 weeks. With temps in the 80s, move up to once every 2 weeks. With temps in the 90s, you should water once per week. The purpose of deep watering is to get water deeper into the soil which encourages the roots to grow down to get moisture and nutrients deeper in the soil. If you have been told you need to water every day, that is absolutely incorrect. Daily watering, besides encouraging short roots, also promotes weed seed germination. Mulch mow at your mower's highest setting. This also encourages the roots to grow deeper to support more foliage above the surface. Taller grass looks nicer and helps to shade out any weed seedlings that might germinate. There are three grass type exceptions to mowing high. Those are bermuda, centipede, and creeping bentgrass. Those should be mowed at the mower's lowest setting. Fertilizer: If you fertilize with chemical fertilizer, make your first application on Memorial Day. Don't get tempted by the TV commercials in February selling Scott's 5-step program. Your grass does not need any fertilizer until May. Apply again on Labor Day and again around Thanksgiving or after the grass stops growing. If you want to use an organic approach, I would apply alfalfa pellets at a rate of 15-20 pounds per 1,000 square feet 3 weeks prior to your last freeze date, then Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor Day, and Thanksgiving. If you opt for the chemical program, I would still make at least one application of organics per year to help keep your soil healthy. You could use compost, but it takes 700 pounds of compost to equal the nutritional value of 15 pounds of alfalfa. Plus the 700 pounds would smother the grass, so don't do that. As I mentioned those are listed in order of importance. Proper watering is far more important than proper mowing and much, MUCH more important than fertilizing. I would say it is 70%, 20%, and 10% if I was totaling the value of the three. Once you get the watering, mowing, and fertilizer down, most of the lawn issues will go away. If you should get a disease or insects, then write back here to help get it diagnosed and find a solution. One more consideration, if your poodle wears a path in the turf, you might consider using mulch along the path.