Wow. Just...wow. See - when most people say "my yard is infested!" and then we see a picture - there's usually a respectable amount of grass, and some obvious weeds that just need to be pulled or sprayed. You, my friend, were being modest when you said "heavily weed and bermuda infested yard"! I'm going to take the liberty of extending sincere condolences to you from every member of this forum. :-) But before you get too depressed - I'm sure others on this board have seen worse (well, I haven't, but I'm sure others have - right? [insert chorus of agreement here]) To answer a few of your questions: Rolling seed - Once you spread your seed around (use a broadcast / rotary spreader - don't do it by hand, it won't be even [voice of experience speaking!]), a roller is just what it sounds like - think mini-ashpalt roller you push by hand that you first fill (probably no more than 1/2 way) with water. This ensures good seed-to-soil contact, prevents run-off when watering, and is theoretically more important than covering the seed with any sort of topsoil / mulch (the reasoning being that when nature drops seeds, they don't wait for a nice fluffy layer of 1/8" peatmoss or hay to sprout). I rented one for $20 a day from the local rental center. Weed-b-gon is a selective herbicide. The main active ingredient (2,4-D) kills just about everything EXCEPT the grass. Round-up (RU)is a non-selective herbicide. The main active ingredient, glysophate, kills pretty much everything. The exception, of course - is dormant bermuda (could be dormant anything, but in your case, we're just talking bermuda). While dormant, the bermuda isn't sucking up any water or nutrients from the surrounding soil or off its leaves. Thus, it doesn't suck up the RU either. Which, as you've probably already figured out, is why spraying the BG NOW will do nothing to kill it. Having now seen the pictures, I agree with you - you don't need WBG, as there's no grass you're trying to save. Before I go further, I wanted to address your one comment of "why weed-b-gone vs a strong batch of roundup". I may be reading too much into that - but please please please don't over apply any chemicals to your lawn. The mixing instructions (if using a concentrate) are EXTREMELY accurate - please don't play backyard chemist and double the dosage - you'd just waste the chemicals, and introduce more into your yard then is necessary. Plus - a stronger dose may actually keep the plant alive. A higher concentration may work too quickly - you may kill the top 3 inches of a weed within a day, but b/c the section shriveled and dried up so quickly, the RU was never transported to the roots of the plant, so it's free to keep growing and invading your yard. This is why labels say "repeat applications may be necessary" - the first will significantly weaken the plant - the 2nd and 3rd doses, 1-2 weeks apart - will kill it. For what you have, I'm pretty sure one application of normal strength RU is all that's needed. Unless you're going after poison ivy or similar weeds, you won't need the "extra-strength" version. For compost, IIRC, the amounts suggested by dchall should provide a 1/4" layer across the whole lawn. Fling it around, brush it in with a push broom (or landscape rake, as you're not going to be concerned about smothering anything), lightly water, and let the microbes do their magic. I suggested aerating b/c that would allow the compost and seeds to penetrate deeper into the soil. Many forum members have also had good success with renting a slit-seeder, but that may be overkill for a yard your size (a slit-seeder deposits the seeds in a mini-trench it scrapes into the ground, providing that seed-to-soil contact I mentioned before). As far as pH, I believe compost helps return it to neutral, regardless of whether your soil is acidic or alkaline, but I'm out of my comfort zone here, so I'm willing to be corrected. So here's my revised suggestion: 1. RU the yard now - this will kill whatever's growing. The other benefit of RU is that it goes "inert" pretty quick - you can overseed within a few days - WBG forces you to wait at least a week or more. 2. Take a de-thatching rake, and go to town on the dormant bermuda - no - it won't kill it, but it will thin it out significantly. This will also scratch up and loosen the top layer of soil, not as good as aerating, but it could be good enough for now if you want to save the heavy machinery for the fall. 3. Spread compost (side note - sometimes, a predominance of a single type of weed also signifies a particular pH level - so adjusting pH may help with future weed issues) 4. Seed with Perr. Rye (PR) 5. Keep mowing high throughout the summer - the PR won't "crowd out" the BG, but should co-exist for the first few months or so. If you fertilize, do it before the BG starts growing - this will help the PR, but not the BG. 6. In June/July, start using Bayer BG Control, or wait until late Sept / Oct to RU the whole yard again, then proceed with a full-scale reseed in the fall. Related to the last point - Tiemco was suggesting a complete reseed come fall, as it's easier to start from "scratch" than to have any existing lawn compete with the seeds for water and nutrients, plus having extra-long grass (having been watered 3x a day) that you can't mow b/c the seedlings aren't high enough yet. Thanks for the afternoon diversion - I better shut up and start looking productive.

I can't believe he has that much information either. He's the Lawn Whisperer. If you're really going to do Option 3, I would suggest watering daily after the first app of RoundUp. That will germinate any seeds in the grass. Then the next app of RU will take those new seedlings out. If you have full sun, you can use Kentucky bluegrass. If you have some shade you can mix fescue varieties in with the KBG seed. Fescues need to be overseeded annually in the fall. That's the main reason I asked about shade. After the second app of RU, then tend to the leveling. Give the RU a day to be sure it worked and then get after the leveling. Have you searched this forum for topics on leveling? It is very easy to do wrong, so do some research. As a start, NEVER ROTOTILL to prepare for grass. That is the biggest mistake people make. All of the leveling topics were for bermuda, but if you are using RU, the process would be the same. In a nutshell you scalp or kill off the grass, apply just enough sand to fill the holes and low spots, drag a drag over top to smooth it out, water it to settle the sand, add more sand if/where needed, drag, water, add, drag, water, etc., until you are happy with it. You can make it putting green smooth like this. After you seed, roll the seed down with a water fillable roller to ensure it makes good contact with the soil. Then you do not need to cover it with anything, but many landscapers do. Certainly if you do not roll it, then you will need something. It's just easier to roll it down. If the area is small, just walk over it all to press the seed into the soil. Here is a picture of a drag mat. It looks a lot like a chain link fence. I personally use...chain link fence. My fence was not heavy enough so I put some boards on top and a bag of topsoil. Your mileage will vary. This leaves an excellent surface, though. Drag from the lowest area to the highest area for proper drainage. The drag will not move much soil, but no sense fighting against what you're trying to do. Can you post a picture of the lawn so we can see what leveling issues you might be dealing with?

You hear good and bad about all brands. There's many happy LG owners posting on this forum. There's people who have had bad luck with all brands. That's called reality. A heater isn't truly mandatory in my opionion but I think it's a good idea as long as it works on enough cycles to be functional, and raises the temperature of the water, not just maintains the temperature. The Epics have gotten a lot of good reviews, and they should, they're Whirlpools and a proven design. Samsung does not build machines for them anymore - that's old information. I understand your budget concerns and I think you're looking at good models. I do like the suggestion of the Miele though. Now $2000 for the washer is a lot, but considering the amount of laundry you do, you can justify it. However, with any of them, I would suggest you consider NOT getting a matching dryer. Save the money there and put it toward the washer. A large (7.4+) CF Whirlpool dryer can be bought for about $400-$500 or less and they're excellent dryers. I bought mine for $300 and would buy it again in an instant. If you're going HE, and especially with a heater, you need to be prepared for long cycle times. 2-3 hours worth. It takes time to heat the water and the tumbling action needs more time to clean the clothes over an agitator. You sound sold on a FL so I won't suggest looking at the HE TLs. And I haven't found anyone who can give rational reasons for steam either in the washer or dryer. I think the word is "gimmick". If you have a laundry tub next to your washer, you can run the water in the tub to get the hot water close to the washer to have it warmer going into the tub. Keep in mind the tub itself will cool the water down. That's why a good heater could be valuable. But it's not the end all be all either. Advantage sometimes? Yes. Essential? No. People have washed and sanitized clothes for years without them. And as you're looking, get figures on water temperatures in degrees, not ambiguous terms like "hot", "warm" or "cold". What's hot to you may well be cold to me.

Soooo, does anyone in zone 9a use a cold frame to grow veggies and such in the winter? I hate that we can't grow stuff year around. The winter is too cold for a lot of things that people can grow in S. FL without protection and then the summer is too hot and rains so much (Jax area) that everything get fungus and I don't spray. So we do seem to have a shorter growing season unless we use some artificial means of protection. I have been thinking of making some cold frames. I have a greenhouse for stuff but it is usually crammed with my tropical plants and no real room for seedlings and such. I came from a zone 10 (last place I lived anyways, lol) so I am a little spoiled to being able to grow more stuff in the winter. I do like having just one FL forum because everyone can provide something of value and we all learn from one another. I plan to move further south in a few years so it helps me prepare lol. I don't even care if non Floridians post here as long as they aren't trolling, heck I posted on this forum before I moved here because I am really into tropical plants and the tropicals forum is dead most of the time lol. ~SJN