I am in the "confused by the difference between wildflowers and weeds" camp. I grow a lot of things on purpose that other people call weeds, and I call wildflowers. On the other hand, I have so much goldenrod in my yard that I always pull it out of my gardens, and I thus consider it a weed. Technically it is also a wildflower. Anyway, I have a LOT of it that is stunted, because it is a favorite target of whatever it is that goes around to plants and puts a milky colored frothy sticky substance with some kind of baby bug in it. The baby bug then eats at the plant while maturing. I have found this goop on a wide variety of plants but there is more on the goldenrod than anything else put together. Hence I have significant insect damage on a native weed/wildflower. But not knowing if you call that a weed or not, I am not sure if I invalidate your theory or not. I have even seen creeping charlie with some sort of big lumps in the stem that suggested a creature had attacked it and laid eggs. Certainly creeping charlie is a weed. Alas, it did not spread enough to wipe out my creeping charlie. But it was really freaky looking. Marcia

Beneficial Nemetodes are the way to go. Beneficial Nematodes - Organic Insect Control Beneficial nematodes are underground pest hunters that control over 250 different species of insects that spend some part of their lives underground. They are a very efficient organic insect control method and kill most insects before they become adults. This includes lots of common lawn and garden pests such as grubs, fleas, mole crickets, japanese beetles and weevils. Beneficial Nematodes - Just what are they? The beneficial nematode is a small microsopic worm that lives below the soil. The picture seen here is of a juvenile nematode called a scarp. It is generally clear or white in color and has no segments like earthworms do. There are over 20,000 different kinds of nematodes that live in the soil and a small handful of dirt will generally contain thousands of them. Nematodes are considered parasites and can affect a number of different plants and animals. Some species of nematodes are considered pests, but these are not the same species of beneficial nematodes used to control insects. We recommend that a combination of beneficial nematodes be applied for organic insect control (Steinernema and Heterorhabditis), these are actually two different strains of beneficial nematodes which are parasites to other insects and spend their lives hunting and killing them. These nematodes will not control or kill other types of nematodes already in the soil. How effective are nematodes as natural predators? When a beneficial nematode attacks an insect larvae or grub it enters the body of its host. Generally within 48 hours that host insect will either die, be physically altered or unable to produce. The Steinernema and Heterorhabditis strains of nematode carry a bacteria that generally kills its host insect in quick fashion. The beneficial nematode then moves onto another host. What sort of conditions does it require? Beneficial nematodes live in almost any soil, but they prefer moist soil

Wow! They've really upped the Trycloper in WBG! It used to be you had to get Brush-B-Gone to get that much horsepower. That is the stuff you need. Your basic problem was to be expected with a spring-seeded lawn. New grass cannot deal with summer heat so it dies. But you needed to do something so...you learned something. Now let's get going to fix things. Applying a grub killer now is a waste of time and money. They are going to sleep now. The time to apply grub killer is when you see the June bugs attacking your porch light in May or June. Get the best seed you can afford. It should have a guaranteed analysis that shows 0.00% Other Crop and 0.00% weed seed. Otherwise you are planting new weeds into your yard. These bags are usually not available at the big box stores or Walmart. Look at a garden center - an expensive garden center.

I only use soapy water for aphids,and i check for them every other day or so. Anyone have any tried and true remedies for skunks?? About 5 years ago we had new sod laid in the backyard and it has done real well til this year.This year the skunks have destroyed it.We put down stuff for grubs and that been over a week ago and they are still digging everynight.The yard looks like HE** We've been in this house over forty years and this is the first time we've had this problem. I"ve been over to the lawn forums as well and think i also posted there, Kathi