Due to the colder weather setting in a little early I put the straw down pretty thick. I'm a little worried about the seedlings getting enough light. They seem to be coming up with a slight yellowish hue. This is fresh composted topsoil I trucked in. I haven't actually tested it but, it should have a PH above 6.5. I uncovered a small patch and will do a comparison between it and the grass still covered in straw when I get home on Friday. If there's no difference, I'll leave it covered. One other thought though. Wouldn't mulching it into the grass for it to decompose cause a drain on the nitrogen levels in the soil at a time when the young grass needs it most? I honestly don't know if it would make an impact or not. If I clear it off, it will just go into my compost pile which will become next years top dressing. One way or another, that straw is gonna be on that lawn lol

Hi transplant, I think you may be confusing mulch and compost. Mulch is a substance, organic or inorganic, that lies on top of the soil and whose main purposes are to regulate the soil temp, preserve moisture and help prevent weed growth. In your case, the rocks are your mulch. As far as feeding your plants, I'm just going to speak in broad generalizations here. Many xeriscape plants don't like rich soils or a lot of fertilizer; however a light feeding of most of them once a year is usually a good thing. Don't use a fertilizer high in nitrogen at this time of the year - nitrogen stimulates green growth. I use a liquid, organic formula that can be either sprayed on foliage or poured onto the soil. This works well for rock mulched beds. Again, this is just a generalization and you might want to do some research about the individual needs of your plants. Hope this helps.

Dear BT33 Thank you very much for your inquiry. I suggest you buy a product called Acclaim extra (fenoxaprop-ethyl). It will take out crabgrass easily, and with repeat applications 2-3 weeks apart will knockout the bermudagrass. You will need to go to a turf specialty/supply store (like Lesco) to get this product, I believe. Seeds and stems do travel via vehicles and water. There is little to do to prevent it. It has been happening in nature since the beginning. Again, thanks for the question and let me know if you have more. Respectfully Trey Rogers, The Briggs & Stratton Yard Doctor, YardDoctor.com

I'm fine with the manual labor, just trying to save the embarrassment if I hack away for hours just to see it retaliate with force this summer. lol My neighbor has some hedge trimmers and a chainsaw he said I could use. I might see if he has any ideas for tackling it... And I totally agree about the understanding of plant maturity prior to planting. The blueberry bush I planted yesterday has 4 feet of space on both sides, and room to grow 8 feet+ tall. My wife said it looks "empty" right now and wanted to fill in the gaps with more iris, but I told her how big the blueberry bush is supposed to get and that the iris rhizome would just take off in a few years. It would be a mess to deal with later. It definitely looks "empty" for now, but that's what a good mulch job is for! It looks clean, and neat. In a few seasons we should have some decent fill in there.