Scott, I've seen this too and it only tends to be noticeable with certain varieties. It seems especially common with my red grape tomatoes and the Bumblebee series. Those are also the same varieties that are quick to regrow suckers from the same joints, often in multiples. So I'd attribute the problem to variety differences, possibly stimulated by initial pruning. Naturally since the leaf cannot easily support the extra fruit weight and it leads to a very dense foliage canopy I try to remove all that I see.

Do not feel any guilt ridding your yard of this maple: it is a cultivar of the Norway maple, which is considered an invasive pest species. Here's a quote from the Western Oregon University: "The Norway Maple is an invasive pest that should be discouraged from growth." The purple form is commonly planted in suburban yards, and escapes by seeding itself all over. You would be helping the local environment by "discouraging" it from growth. Yes, the ginko and european beech are also not native, however, they are not known to reseed themselves wantonly around a neighborhood, county or state. Although beeches have very thirsty roots too, just thirst is not the point here; when it comes to competition for the entire environment , the Norway Maple can out-compete almost any other tree (there are other tree thugs too that share this infamy). Sunny

Last summer, this was my lawn using alfalfa and Milorganite. I was stoked to have that lawn. Then, the below happened over the winter and now into spring time. What had happened and what do I do about it? Ride it out and keep on keeping on? Call a pro? Weed killer? I have close ups of the different weeds - I can count at least five different kinds...

The normal time is early in the morning and I don't see a reason to change that here. So whenever convenient that doesn't interfere with your normal shower and water usage times and whenever your local authorities allow, if they have any restrictions. Normal amounts are to target an inch per week. There are reasons to change that here but...initially, let's target that. If you know what your system puts down per hour, figure out how long to water to target one inch of water on the lawn per week and then observe. At those temperatures, you may notice the remaining green grasses require a little to considerably more. If so, increase it. That will depend on the temperature, winds, grass types, and so on. If you don't know, set the system to run for a reasonable period of time (if it currently runs for an hour, say, leave it there). Put empty tuna cans out on the lawn to catch the water (or just one, moving it around) to see how much water goes down and measure the amount in the can. That'll give you a guide as to how much your system puts down in each area, then set the times accordingly. That every other day is only temporary; in about three weeks as the lawn begins to recover and the existing grasses regrow roots, see if your remaining lawn can tolerate every third day. Maybe it can. Maybe it can't. I don't have much experience with temperatures that high and don't know what soil type you have. At that point, it's also time to think of a wide-spectrum fungicide to clear the field for re-seeding, although I'm going to see if David comes along and sees this. He's more familiar with desert grasses and reseeding in those locales than I am and will give far better advice. On the other side of the fence (pardon the pun), if your system was only running for a very short amount of time, putting down only a few tenths of an inch per week, and the photo was slightly fuzzy, I could be miscalling the whole thing and this could be burned-out grasses from underwatering. :-) But I don't think so. In either case, it's smart to know how much water your system is putting out and to water as rarely as possible and as little as possible anyway. The grasses prefer that and it's easier on your wallet.