Sorry I lost track of this discussion. My preference for fertilizer is plain alfalfa pellets (rabbit chow). No mixing, no fuss. Apply at 20 pounds per 1,000 square feet. MorpheusPA likes Milorganite and soybean meal. Those are very good, too. I like alfalfa because I can find it locally and it is less expensive in South Texas. You can mix them or not. The application rate for any mixed grains is still 20 pounds per 1,000. This watering schedule you're on is only for this year and only because you seeded in the spring. This is an attempt to nurse your new seeded grass through the heat of summer. Eventually, deep and infrequent watering will mean that you water a full inch of water, once every week or two depending on heat. Next summer if it gets into the 90s then you should water once a week. Otherwise every other week should be fine. Nutgrass hates this watering schedule, so it must be good. The way you measure one inch of water is to set out some cat food or tuna cans. Turn on the sprinkler and time how long it takes to fill the cans. That will be your target time for watering once the summer heat breaks (next month). When the heat breaks and you know your watering time, water for that time and set your calendar. Watch the grass to tell you when to water next. As soon as you see any part of it drying out (the grass, not the soil surface), water again immediately. Remember the days and reset your calendar. Eventually watering like this will stretch out the calendar and you'll be watering every other week or less. If you do this, you should not need to worry about weeds. Weed seed needs much more water than this to germinate. If you are not germinating weed seeds, then you won't get new weeds. As for current weeds, the broad leaf weeds can be killed with something like Weed-b-gone spray. Spot spray individual weeds if you only have a few. For weeds over a broad area I would still use weed b gone spray. For grassy weeds you'll have to use something else. Someone else can help you with the various chemicals for grasses. After you get rid of current weeds, then you're relying on grass density and infrequent watering to keep the weeds out. With Kentucky bluegrass in full sun, grass density will not be a problem. With anything else in the shade, you will have to overseed in the fall to keep it dense. Good news is most weeds like full sun, too, so the shade helps. Watch the sloped area carefully for runoff. An inch of water can take hours and hours to apply with an oscillator sprinkler. That is actually a good thing because it allows the water to seep in slowly.

Yesterday morning (August 10th) on my way to my desert research area I was amazed to see numerous crop fields, roads, and unfortunately homesites flooded along US 95 btwn San Luis and Yuma. This afternoon (August 11) storm clouds are building southwest of the Shilo Inn in Yuma. I suspect more rain tonight. Noticed a few herbaceous plants sprouting the last few days in the desert. Hopefully by the time I depart to Baton Rouge end of next week I can see something in the desert other than dingy cresotebush and dead Plantago ovata, Allonia incarnata, Oenotheras, and invasive grasses. I've always chuckled when Arizona locals complain about "high humidity". The last few days it has felt like the Louisiana sauna I am all too familiar with. The humidity combined with 108 degrees F in the blazing sun is pretty uncomfortable. At least no mosquitos, fire ants, and redbugs!!

We, in the Madison, WI area have also been getting rain; about 4" or so for the month of April. About 95% of my hostas have eyes poking up and Sagae went from nothing less than a week ago to 4" tall! "Our time of idleness is over" - Connie Connie, is THAT the truth! So much to do I can't believe it! Now that we have sunshine in the forecast for the next solid week, I gotta get out there and spray the burdock (nasty weeds) before they get any bigger, fertilize, spray the ammonia solution for the slugs and finish preparing two new beds I started six weeks ago! Today we're going to the Farmers' Market in Madison (sure hope Deb Sharpee, our local "Hosta Lady" is there!). On the way home, gotta talk my DH into stopping somewhere for bags of potting soil! And oh yeah, I forgot to mention that yesterday I went with our local garden club to some Amish greenhouses and got about 7 flats of plants! At $10.50/flat and 80 cents for a WAVE petunia...I couldn't help myself! I gotta go take my vitamins and eat my Wheaties!... Char

More great photos. I used to have Zephyranthes but left them at my last place, they were hard to keep under control but are very pretty after the rain. Aggies always put on a great display, mine are just finishing so time for their heads to come off. Gerberas always put on a good display but mine don't seem to be doing as well at the moment, probably too much humidity. I bet the birds love the grevilleas and the rose is pretty too.