Let me provide some additional comments. I put Sedghammer on it last night to see what happens. I will take photos of the stuff this weekend.

mscottw2 I did not catch the winterizer fertilizer part so disregard my balanced fertilizer recommendation from earlier. Just out of curiosity have you done a soil test recently? That would tell you if you need anything like P, K, and PH adjustment. My advice on those is apply once a year either in Fall for the last application, or the first Spring application. OK you got me a little confused with your questions of when to start what because you mention Halts, Urea, CGM, and Blood Meal. So I will try to sort things out best as I can, but are you organic, semi-organic, or synthetic organic? I am confused. If you want to do organic get the CGM down now as it is a pre-emergence and fertilizer. If you can afford it, just use CGM all year round as a fertilizer, I do on my personal lawn. That way you do not have to worry about timing of anything. Not sure about pre-emergence timing in your area Z9, it may still be to early for chemical treatment. Do you have a means to take soil temperature? If you do you are looking for temp of 55 degrees, or if Forsythia grows in your area you can tell by it being in full bloom. So here is the deal if using chemical pre-emergence wait until the soil reaches 55 or you see Forsythia in full bloom , if using CGM it needs to go down about a week or two earlier as it takes time for it to work One last word on pre-emergence. If you go the chemical route I would suggest looking for Dimension rather than Halts. Dimension last longer and targets a larger spectrum of weeds. Regardless of which you choose, make two applications spaced 8-weeks apart. Finally a few words on fertilizers. Yes I think it is OK for you to start now. Officially there are 5 weeks of winter left, but not for your area. Its possible you might get a light frost, but doubtful. It wonÂt hurt the grass, like I said just water if you hear a cold snap is coming. Next either go organic or synthetic organic. Like I said earlier just use CGM all year round if you can afford it, and then just forget about pre-m. Or use CGM for the first two applications, then switch to Soy Bean Meal rather than Blood Meal. For synthetic organic use a slow release urea product. Either start the year off or end the year off with a balanced urea like 20-5-10, and then use straight nitrogen for the rest of the growing season. Hope that helps, but I was confused.

My experience is yes, some don't go dormant as readily...especially seedlings or newly-rooted cuttings. For the ones that retain their leaves (and even try to grow a few new ones) I give them a bit more water periodically. If it eventually drops leaves, it will still come back in the Spring. I think the more light and warmth they get over winter, the more reluctant they are to drop leaves.

I would say let them do what they want. I'd probably bring them up and put them in front of a full sun window, and give them drinks when they are thirsty. I have three out in my garage that have gone dormant, three in the yard that are dormant, and three in the house, two of which that are still putting out big beautiful leaves, and the other a cutting that is still struggling to root. When your plants are ready for sleep they will let you know, and then you can tuck them in their beds (basement) for their long winters nap. That's my two cents worth. p.s. 14 degrees! Sheeeesh! I'll stay down here in Florida. Lauri