Some form of nitrogen will generally help trees in average soil establish more quickly, but a quarter pound of actual N. for a small tree could be damaging to the tender roots, I'm guessing. However, I am not speaking from the experience of this particular mistake- I have only damaged more sensitive plants with surface applications of excessive N- never fruit trees. Depends in part on texture of soil, in sandy soil your are more likely to scorch the roots- especially if the tree isn't mulched. Heavy watering can leach out the fertilizer in a hurry.

yes...more simply put I was asking if you had a roll bar of sorts on your mower or if the grass naturally leans over. I did get my height down to around 1.5in before overseeding but the rest of the turf has really taken off from all the watering I've done. I'd rather wait as long as possible considering that I checked the new seedlings and although they are roughly 1-2in tall, they pull right up when I applied just a slight amount of "tug" to them. As for the rest of the lawn (the original sod was laid last spring), the blades are nearing 4in. I did purchase a reel mower which I've read helps reduce damage to seedlings but the reel mower did not come with a bag attachment and the longer I wait, the more thatch I could create with the clippings. The mower I bought also only adjusted to a max 2.25in. (the only one I could find was a "task force" reel mower and I actually plan on returning it once I'm done as I've heard these aren't the best long term) Just feels as though I'm in a catch 22 here. How do you post pics on this forum? I tried with my initial thread but typing out the image brackets b/w my url but it didn't work ( [img][/img] )

I agree with the other posters - best to get these weeds out now before they have a chance to reseed. Chickweed is not too hard to pull out now, after all the rain we've had the last few days. If you have that much of a problem suddenly, were the chickweed etc seeds 'imported' in the 17 yards of bed mix, perhaps? One year I very successfully spread chickweed around every single perennial in the yard. I had thrown chickweed on my compost pile the year before and its seeds survived the composting process..... Also, when you have cleared the weeds, it would be a good idea to mulch. Keeping down weeds is one of mulching's great benefits.

I have some clematis in containers. I try to get the largest container I can. You don't want it too big though because if you live in a cold zone you want to be able to pick it up and move it to something like an unheated garage when winter sets in. If you keep it in a room that's a litle warm the clematis will grow throughout the winter and you don't want that to happen. I did that before and it wasn't very healthy for the clematis. :) If you think things will get too cold you can insulate the container by wrapping it in bubble wrap or something similar. If you leave some room/a lip in the pot (which you should have done for watering purposes in the summer) you can also fill that empty space to the rim with the mulch of your preference. That will also help insulate your clematis. For the container mix I like to use bark chips as the main ingredient. I do this because in the past I have added too much peat type content and when you do that the soil becomes compacted rather quickly. The heavy use of bark chips makes it airy, light and the container will drain better. I also like to add some vermiculite and perlite. The other ingredient I add to the mix is a peat based mix by either Fafard or Scotts Metro Mix. Some sand can be added as well and contrary to some beliefs, it does not turn to cement! :) For a support I use both obelisks and trellis. I push them down into the pot until they are stable. During the warm months I usually water every other day and fertilize lighty a few times per month. For fertilizer I use 3 kinds. A dry All Purpose Fertilizer (6-10-10) sprinkled on top, Schultz liquid Tomato Food (9-10-15) plus micronutrients and Schultz liquid Bloom Plus (5-30-5). After winter is over, the danger of frost has passed and your clematis wakes up from it's winter nap you can spruce it up by trimming any dead stems/leaves and bring it outside. I'll leave the pruning details to the other FAQ. :) Most people will grow the smaller group 2's and some small groups 3's in containers, but I don't discourage people to experiment with any cleamtis they like. Hope this helps.