Courtney, consider yourself successful if you have good luck with 50% of what you plant. Like Dave said, this is how we learn. I remember planting lettuce and chard my first year, and aphids got it so bad, I won't plant it anymore. I got the heebie jeebies and couldn't wash the leaves enough to be sure I wasn't eating the bugs. I think we all start out planting what we like to eat. With experience, we learn to plant a combination of things we like to eat, and things we can grow without too much trouble or too much chemical warfare. Every year, my pole beans get attacked by cucumber beetles, but they've never killed the whole plant. Worse they do is chew holes in the leaves and put some pin holes in some of my beans. I've decided I will share as long as they don't get too greedy. I also get aphids on my zucchini, but I can hose those off the plants well enough, at least until the end of the summer when I'm tired of zucchini and want to pull the plants. Every year, something dies of a bug or fungus or just not enough attention, and often it's the thing that grew just fine the year before. That's just the way it is. Allow me to echo the others and advise you not to expect a bug-free garden. You will do more harm than good trying to throw chemicals at everything you see. Let the wise folks here help you identify what you're dealing with, then wait for the proper advice. Between them and your own experiences, your results will improve from year to year, I'm sure.

The dethatcher will work fine for removing debree and clearing to soil surface for better seed to soil contact, but don't expect to use it to slit seed, it will tear the seed up and if you try to drop it low enough to till the soil, you'll break the rines which gets very expensive. Best route after RoundUp proceedure you discribed: 1. Scalp the lawn (as low as you can set your mower without hitting dirt) 2. Rake or power rake to remove debree and expose the soil for seed/soil contact. 3.Seed. 4. Spred a starter fertilizer at a rate of 1# phosphorous per 1000 sq ft. ( or per starter fertilizer bag recommended spreader setting. 5. Topdress (no more than 1/4" thick. (recommend you use peat moss--one 3-4 cu ft bag will cover about 500 sq ft or more--make sure peat moss is dry when you buy it or let it dry on a tarp in the garage--use a dust pan to slowly sprinkle it on turf, you get the hang of it quickly so that you are spreading 1/4" consistently) 6.MOST IMPORTANT; Water the peat moss untill it breaks hydrophobia and accepts water, thenkeep soil moist, not wet--water 3-4 times a day for about 5 - ten minutes each time--do not water until it pools. 7. Once seed germinates (good germination), water 2 times a day for half and hour. About a week later you can drop to watering about 3 times a week (depending on weather) and after the first mow, go to once a week for an inch of water.

Catherine, I'm growing the A. californica, which I got last year around this time. I only have it in a pot at the moment - due to gopher issues and the fact that I'm still not sure where I want it - and a lady over on the CA forum said hers does well in a potted situation. It's still very small, and I paid about $6 for it at a small native nursery an hour north of here. It's in morning sun with dappled sun throughout the rest of the day. It probably won't bloom for me until at least next year, as someone posted, "The first year they sleep, second year they creep, third year they leap." :) I've read that if they get too out of hand, i.e., tangled and/or huge, then they can be cut to the ground before spring growth starts. As far as I know, the pipevine swallowtail, specifically, is only attracted to Aristolochia as a larval food, but swallowtail larvae in general are attracted to many different plants. Brenda

Noobs generally are off by several months in timing their lawn projects. Most are off by 6 months, so you're way ahead of the game. You're just off by 2 months. There is a thing called frost seeding where you put the seed down after there is absolutely no chance of any of it germinating this season. Usually that is December of January. That seed will germinate early in the spring and give you a half a shot at having a lawn last longer than July. Most spring seeded lawns die out from the summer heat leaving behind crabgrass...and the weeds you already have. That's why darktower suggested waiting until August. You might be able to kill off your weeds with a spray using Weed-B-Gone Chickweed, Clover, and Oxalis killer. It's a stronger formula than the traditional WBG. If you have grass still in there the WBGCCO should leave it alone. Since you're a noob, here's the 1-2-3 of lawn care as I have put it together after many years reading many forums. Basics of Lawn Care After reading numerous books and magazines on lawn care, caring for lawns at seven houses in my life, and reading numerous forums where real people write in to discuss their successes and failures, I have decided to side with the real people and dispense with the book and magazine authors. I don't know what star their planet rotates around but it's not mine. With that in mind, here is the collected wisdom of the Internet savvy homeowners and lawn care professionals summarized in a few words. If you follow the advice here you will have conquered at least 50% of all lawn problems. Once you have these three elements mastered, then you can worry about weeds (if you have any), dog spots, and striping your lawn. But if you are not doing these three things, they will be the first three things suggested for you to correct. 1. Watering Water deeply and infrequently. Deeply means at least an inch in every zone, all at once. Infrequently means monthly during the cool months and no more than weekly during the hottest part of summer. Do not spread this out and water for 10 minutes every day. If your grass looks dry before the month/week is up, water longer next time. If that does not work, then you might have to water more than once per week during the summer's hottest period. Deep watering grows deep, drought resistant roots. Infrequent watering allows the top layer of soil to dry completely which kills off many shallow rooted weeds. You will have to learn to judge when to water your own lawn. If you live in El Paso your watering will be different than if you live in Vermont. Adjust your watering to your type of grass, temperature, humidity, wind, and soil type. It is worth noting that this technique is used successfully by professionals in Phoenix, so...just sayin.' The other factors make a difference. If you normally water 1 inch per week and you get 1/2 inch of rain, then adjust and water only 1/2 inch that week. 2. Mowing Every week mulch mow at the highest setting on your mower. Most grasses are the most dense when mowed tall. However, bermuda, centipede, and bent grasses will become the most dense when they are mowed at the lowest setting on your mower. In fact there are special mowers that can mow these grasses down to 1/16 inch. Dense grass shades out weeds, keeps the soil cooler, and uses less water than thin grass. Tall grass can feed the deep roots you developed in #1 above. Tall grass does not grow faster than short grass nor does it look shaggy sooner. Once all your grass is at the same height, tall grass just looks plush. 3. Fertilizing Fertilize regularly. I fertilize 5 times per year using organic fertilizer. Which fertilizer you use is much less important than numbers 1 and 2 above. Follow the directions on the bag and do not overdo it (unless you use organics in which case you may overdo it without fear of hurting anything). At this point you do not have to worry about weed and feed products - remember at this point you are just trying to grow grass, not perfect it. Besides once you are doing these three things correctly, your weed problems should go away without herbicide.