"I don't always enjoy the other MG's because they are rich and lazy." I almost hate saying this...but in my area this can be an issue with some volunteer groups. The "rose caretaker" MG'rs around here have an especially horrid reputation. They're "in charge" of a few gardens and maintenance around here and they are both very set in their ways and very cliquish. In the 5+ years I had to work around them I only saw 1 "new person" invade the clique and it was quite obvious many of the existing people knew this person. When I was working (not volunteering, working) for a university I got absolutely dressed down by a few of these people because I was using a bench opposite of them to pot up plants for a nearby research greenhouse. Not only was I there before them...and not using the bench they had reserved for them...which they brought FOOD and DRINK into (which is very much against the rules of the area)...they were upset some guy was in the same area they were in. They assumed I was a student volunteer or a student working on a project as far as I could tell. Either way their manner was extremely unwarranted even if I was "just as student" rather than a researcher. When I explained I was a university employee doing research all of the dressing down stopped and they wanted me to give them a tour of the research greenhouse. Not only was this not going to happen (because we have to keep it immaculate clean from possible carried contamination), it was not what they wanted to hear and they went back to dressing me down afterwards loudly complaining about having to share space and how this "never happens." Keep in mind we're talking about 30ft. of bench space...times 2...on 2 separate sides...and they weren't even using 10ft of their reserved bench (counting the food they brought)...and there were only 3 people there. Btw, I let them keep their food and didn't even bring it up. It just wasn't worth trying to deal with this because it would have turned on me as "trying to pick a fight." Plus, they weren't on my bench. That's just 1 of "too many" stories about this particular group of MG'rs who are a bit too cliquey and rather rudely self-anointed-privileged. Some of them also make some rather inappropriate rose pruning cuts, though they mostly do a good job maintaining their parts of the garden they are assigned to. I kinda feel sorry for others who are genuinely interested in rose caretaking, but don't get a chance to fill some of the volunteer positions horded by this group of people.

Buy_25, in case you didn't notice, the OP lives in Denver. The summer heat and lack of rain is just around the corner, so seeding now would be a bad idea, especially if you have any watering restrictions. If you seed now, the grass will come up in mid to late June, assuming you can water it 3 times a day for the next three weeks. Then, you'd need to water it 2x a day for a wek, then daily for a week. Since it is new grass and that would take us into July, you'd probably need to water every other day until September to keep the new grass alive. If you've got unmetered water and no restrictions, you might be able to do that, but otherwise you're looking at either extremely high water bills or certain failure. To help it through the summer, you want to discourage it from growing a lot, since that takes more water and actually stresses the grass somewhat during the hot summer months. That means don't add any fertilizer until September or so. Also, try to encourage the grass to develop deep roots. That means waiting until the lawn shows signs of stress before watering, and then watering deeply. If the water runs off before you can apply very much, you'll need to get the soil to a point where it can absorb water better. I water by cycling through my zones. I set each zone to run for 10-20 minutes (depending on the type of sprinkler head). Then after it finishes, I wait a few minutes and repeat the cycle. My sprinkler system lets me run three cycles, so I get 30 minutes to an hour of water for each zone. Doing it this way lets the water soak in much deeper than if I just ran the sprinkler until it started to run off. Another thing you can do is to set your mower on its highest setting and mulch mow rather than bag the clippings. Letting the grass grow high encourages deeper roots and also helps provide shade for the soil to help it stay cooler. The clippings are largely water, so mulch mowing helps return some of the water. It also adds organic matter to the soil, so it will absorb water better if it's clay or hold water better if it's sandy.

Hiii, Jamie!!! *waving happily* So good to see you posting! I'll bet anything your vine is skunk vine (named for the very obvious reason you described so...ummm...elegantly! Hehe!) Balsam apple gets bright orange fruit which pop open and spread big seeds around. And it has little flowers like eileen mentions. It is very easy to pull out, and very tender, too. Easily crushed. If your vine resists pulling out, has no flowers or bright orange fruits, and really, REALLY smells bad, I'm guessing skunk vine. (Balsam apple smells unpleasant, but not quite as noxious as skunk vine.) Both are very invasive and hard to get rid of. I suggest you pull and cut all you can, and then carefully apply Round Up to the rest using a paintbrush to be sure you don't spray any on your hedge. Good luck with it. There are some folks who tie sprigs of lavender and other things to float in their birdbaths to keep them clean longer, but I really believe in just rinsing and refilling daily, myself. I do it when I water the plants in the morning, and it's pretty quick. I use the jetspray setting to splash all the dirty water out, and then I refill with one of the regular, softer settings, et voila! Done in 60 seconds. Okay maybe a tiny bit longer, but not much. If I have a lot of birds, I do it twice a day, but more because they splash all the water out than because of dirty water. Don't worry about algae in the bottom of the birdbath. It doesn't cause any real problems, and frankly, I think it looks more natural than sparkling white stone, but that's an aesthetic thing. As for the real scrub it up and leave it shining cleaning, a stiff brush is usually all you need, but you don't have to worry if you want to bleach anything. Just rinse it carefully before refilling. Bleach evaporates very quickly, and doesn't leave any residue that is harmful to birds. Soap, no. Bleach, not a problem if you really need it and you rinse well. But usually a scrubbing with a brush will take care of it. (BTW, when I say I don't mind how algae looks, I just mean the darker, mossy looking type. Not that nasty, slimy string algae that you get once in a great while. THAT has to go!) Good luck with it all, and don't be such a stanger. We miss you. (And the doggies, too. My little Maks is a year old now, and so darn cute! He and Potter are real buds.) Marcia

"seriously overcrowded"? If you havent checked ammonia/nitrite/nitrate levels pls do so asap - water quality is always the first thing to look at. It can look ok but be seriously toxic. Also - what is your water turnover rate - gallons per hour - not what pump is rated for but the actual rate. Your set up should be such that the oxygenation is plentiful - no matter what the temp or whether its day or night. These would be the things to start with.