Here in NY spring (unfortunately for last years crop) began 3-4 weeks earlier last year than this one. It isn't about specific date but days from petal fall as a main indicator. Amount of sunny days and temps are also a factors with varying affects depending on species and variety. My Seckels don't usually ripen until first week of Sept in Southern NY.

I think you're killing your lawn with kindness. I assume you have a fescue or Kentucky bluegrass lawn (or mix). It sounds like you are watering far too often. Once you get temperatures into the 90s every day, then you should be watering once per week. With temps in the 80s you should be watering once every 2 weeks. Why? Couple of reasons. One is that crabgrass seed must have continual soil moisture for several days to germinate. Without that, it cannot germinate. If you water once, deeply, the surface of the soil will become dry long before the root zone dries out. Just doing that prevents crabgrass. PREVENTS! You don't need a preemergent if you just do that. However, sometimes Mother Nature steps in to ensure there is continual moisture. That is when you might need a preemerge. The second reason is that if you water every day, the soil dries out down below and the roots only grow at the very surface. If you miss a day of watering, the soil surface can dry out and kill the grass. But if you water deeply, the grass roots will penetrate as deep as they need to to find that moisture. Growing deep roots takes time if all you have is short roots, so don't try to go cold turkey with your watering plan. You should wean the grass off of the "day and night" watering until you are watering a full inch, once per week in the summer heat. Doing that will stop most new weeds. It will not kill out the current crop of crabgrass. There are some herbicides that apparently work. I'm an organic kind of guy and have not had appreciable weed problem in a long time, so I don't keep up with herbicides. Someone else will come along and help with that. What I would do is suffer along through the summer. Then in early September (in your area) I would kill off the crabgrass, rake it up, reseed, and try to establish as dense a turf as you can before next spring. Crabgrass is an annual plant so it has to come back from seed. If you are watering correctly next year, then you can have all the seed you want but it won't sprout on the dry soil surface. Crabgrass is lighter color than most turf grasses. That might be what you see. Otherwise, have you fertilized? Usually that evens things out. If you want an absolutely hassle free fertilizer, use organic anything. My favorite is alfalfa pellets (rabbit chow). Get it at your feed store in a 50-pound bag for about $15. Apply at 20 pounds per 1,000 square feet. Since it comes in a plain bag, there are no directions to read and hassle with. Just apply at 20 per 1,000 and let Nature take Her course. In 3 weeks the grass will become much greener, more dense, and will be growing slightly faster. Here is a demonstration picture taken by mrmumbles a couple years ago. Organic is also no hassle because you cannot over apply it. If you double the dose, it just lasts longer. If you apply as much as 80 pounds per 1,000 all at one time, you do run the risk of smothering the grass - not to mention severely denting your lawn care budget.

I'd better knock on wood and say several blessings lest I jinx myself, but the numbers are way down this year. Because of all the rain and cold temps last summer, the little monsters weren't able to do their naughty little romancing (ha ha!). If none of my neighbors put up a bunch of beetle bags, we just might be OK. That's not to say that the smaller numbers haven't destroyed my roses. They have. But as long as I don't get hit in the face with swarming beetles every time I step outside, I'm happy. Good luck everyone!

Hi Kim: A couple of years ago, I asked the same question: "How do you store all your seeds? I'd like to have a system that will allow me to find what I want fast." A friend from the Wintersowing Forum described her system. I liked it, and tweaked it to meet my needs. VEGETABLE SEED Sort and store seed packets by season / soil temperature when seeds are sown (cool germinators and warm germinators) and by food type (e.g. leafy greens, root crops). I use ziplocs. "Warm TPO" holds tomato, pepper, okra, and eggplant seeds. "Warm - SBC" has seeds for squash, beans, corn, cukes, gourds, melons. "Cool - Root Crops" holds seeds for beets, radishes, turnips, carrots, onions. "Cool - Greens" has seeds for kale, collards, lettuce, peas, and other greens. These four categories correspond to the main waves of seed sowing. I store the seeds in each category in gallon ziploc bags and label each bag (Cool - Leafy Greens - kale, collards, mustard, cabbage, broccoli). For some vegetables (e.g., beans, tomatoes) and flowers (e.g., zinnias, poppies, cosmos, sunflowers), I have a ton of seed. When I have many packets (like tomatoes), I put these seeds in a separate sandwich bag, label it (stick on label or 3 x 5 card), and put it inside the large gallon ziploc. This system makes it easy to find what you need. As my seed addiction grew, the system grew with me. I started with quart ziplocs for the four categories. Now I use gallon ziplocs for the categories, and individual sandwich sized or quart ziplocs for some vegetable seeds within in a category - tomatoes, peppers, beans, peas, etc. HERBS I grow a few herbs, less than vegetables or flowers so I store all herb seeds (warm and cool germinators) in a one quart ziploc bag. FLOWER SEED If you have flower seeds, the system is similar. You store seeds by sowing time /soil temperature (warm or cool) and type (perennials, annuals). The four categories correspond to the sowing seasons. Hardy perennials (HP) are sown in cold months, may need cold stratification. Hardy annuals (HA) are sown in Feb-March (in warmer areas, we can sow hardy annuals in the fall). Tender perennials (TP) are sown after your last frost (for me, that's March, you may have a later date). Tender annuals (TA) are sown after your last frost. Inside the main category bags, you can sort things further (Tomatoes > Container" or "Tomatoes > Main season" or "Hardy Annuals > Bee food"). I doubt you will have so much seed that you need to sort in that much detail soon - it usually takes years to amass so much seed. I used to grow a lot of perennials from seed- one year, I planted seed for 2,000-3,000 perennials. That was one of my big mistakes - it's easy to plant seeds, but it's not so easy to transplant hundreds or thousands of seedlings. Last year, I was expanding the vegetable gardens. That took all my time and energy so I didn't sow any perennial seed. This year, I continue to expand the vegetable gardens but I want to grow some perennials. I may plant the young perennial seedlings in vegetable garden beds. Hope these notes help you! Pam