Bestlawn, no offense taken. I'm kind of playing it by ear. While at first I was out to prove that KBG can survive here, My big thing is that I believe in reasonable amounts of maintenance and not wasting money and not wasting time and not driving an hour away to get some professional product during business hours. There is a correlation between the performance of the grass and how much time/money I will spend on it. The minute performance goes down, the minute I leave it alone and go do something else. I don't have it in me to force the entire yard to stay green in full sun and heat in a drought when we get maybe one or two showers a month. Some people can. The golf course manage to do it. But I don't. I'm trying to simulate reasonable amounts of care to see if the grass will grow with average care. I basically follow the UGA lawn calendar for tall fescue on all the cool season grass that I have except the bentgrass which I mow much shorter. And the only reason I put so much effort into the bentgrass is because it performs. It's reasonable IMO. Auteck, please send me an email. Click on my page. I also grew up in So.Fl. and we seem to have the same tastes in flora. I can tell you about what I'm growing. It's apparent we are both allergic to tropical plants and swamp grasses. I can't stand palm trees and bananas. Some people here try to plant them. Douglas fir is a more out-westy tree. If you want to prove you're not in Miami anymore, get some balam firs, red spruce and fraser firs going. The latter two are native to the mts of western NC. I saw some this past saturday when I drove up there. I have a couple of balsam firs in my yard. also have 3 white pines. White pines are native to my area but not all that common this far to the south. You might also try out some of the cool climate birches, Betula lenta (sweet birch) and B. papyrifera (paper birch) Don't forget quaking aspen and lilac and blue spruce. These are just a handful of things people insist do not grow here. I say they're wrong. It's called reverse zone denial.

Since you're in Cumming Ga, I thought you might want to check out one of the better landscaping companies in the State, who just happens to be right down the road from you. I'm not affiliated, but just wanted to pass them on as they do excellent work. As for your soil, it is typical of GA soil in that it has a very low exchange capacity. This means that it won't hold nutrients very well, which can be offset by using slow-release fertilizers, or by improving the soil with the addition of compost. My soil supplier is on the south side of Atlanta, but I'm sure SEL could recommend someone local if you're doing the work yourself. Also, it's been a closely held belief for years that Centipede doesn't perform well in a pH above 6 (I shared this opinion for 15 years). Texas A&M shed some new light on this a few years back with a mass-cultivar study in which they grew every cultivar of Centipede at a pH of 8.0. The trick was that they supplemented with chelated iron, otherwise the grass would have lost all color. The study proved that the issue was that iron tends to be less exchangeable as the pH increases, this leads to chlorosis (iron loss), which Centipede is very sensitive to. However the root systems in the higher pH levels grew much deeper. The lessen there was that with a pH that's just slightly acidic, like yours, you can actually have a more drought tolerant stand, but you will need to supplement with iron during the growing season (part of a normal centipede program anyway). The ideal pH recommended by most extension agents (Texas A&M included) is still 5 to 6, but again that is based on iron uptake. Here is a link that might be useful: South Eastern Landscape Contractors

Well, I live in E. Central GA but sadly, I just have my three pots of VFTs, I could hardly be considered a CP grower...

Rosajoe, I did some searching on the web and this was the best information that I could find. In our area, our plants are threatened with frost and freezing temperatures. When this happens, outside Bromeliads will have to be protected. This can be done by covering them with plastic, a cold frame or a frost cloth. The downside to this is covering plants gets old after a while and you may not always be available to do it in time. In addition, and more importantly, with this method of protection, there will probably be some leaf damage. All Bromeliad lovers know that leaf damage really takes away from the beauty of the plant. The site's suggestion for those who want the plants outside in their landscapes, was this: (1) Plant the Bromeliads in pots; (2) Dig a hole in the desired area and plant the pots in the ground; (3) When there's a threat of frost or freezing temperatures, pull the pots out of the ground and place them in a garage or other protected area until the treat passes. This protected area should provide some light during the day. After the temps are above freezing with no more frost threats ahead, the Bromeliads can be returned to their in-ground spot outside. Mulch can be used to disguise the pot rims and give them a true, in-the-ground appearance. This summer, I'm going to plant one of my pups outside just to see how it goes. I hope this helps. I've also included the link to the, 'Growing Bromeliads Outdoors Overview' below (if it shows up). Hope this helps a little! Bon Here is a link that might be useful: Growing Bromeliads Outdoors Overview