caseyc3 - you'll be fine...go ahead and reseed. With the constant rain we're having and the every other day watering schedule is enough to get that seed germinated. The soil is getting cool enough now that it's almost the perfect time to seed. You don't have to water 3-4 times a day to provide enough moisture in the soil for germination. I'm in south Raleigh and I just did it twice in 2 weeks, Labor day and last weekend to fill in the missed spots. It's coming in great. The grass you have now though doesn't sound like turf-type fescue, but rather the wide-leaved clumpy K-31 fescue...which is a completely different animal from tttf fescue. But, you should know what you have. I have tttf fescue AND KBG mixed, and it provides an excellent looking dark green lawn. If you have K-31, I'd Round-up it and a couple of days later cut it to 2.5", aerate, and reseed, but be sure it's K-31 before you tear up your lawn.

I hear every word you are saying and feel your pain ms minnamouse! I too am thinking of by-passing planting this year. I also have them in my house. We killed hundreds and still kill at least one, almost daily. They walked right in through ac window units in upstairs bedrooms. Really gross creatures! Contrary to what other have said, dogs don't eat them. I have 2...neither eats them. In fact, they leave the room when one buzzes. NOTHING eats them, no matter what people try to tell you. I may mass plant marigold since I believe or HOPE they won't ATTRACT even more of what we already have. It's good to hear that research is being done but it won't help fast enough. I think they are predicting Millions upon Millions of them this year. (Gloucester County Times reported it.)We are planning to buy a case of caulking and sealing up what we could find AFTER whats left in our house leaves this spring. (We don't want to seal what's here...in) We are hoping they don't find a NEW way back in, after we caulk and seal every crevice and crack we can find. We will be installing central ac which will cost us a fortune -since we live in an old house with baseboard heat. :( We will seal carefully ourselves around the new install. We are dreading this coming autumn. There is a stink bug board out there where people are saying that a certain chemical works BUT it's poison to humans and all wildlife/insects. These wasps can't come fast enough but am wondering what the cost will be to our beneficials. No matter what...something needs to be done! I'm sure you know this but, I'll say it for those that don't..We found that dish washing liquid and water works best (it smothers them) but we can't spray our walls or ceiling with it so we use alcohol in spray bottles. It helps knock them off of the ceiling and works without damage to our paint or furniture. It doesn't kill them as fast as soap though. We also will just get them with a tissue and flush them. We used alcohol to kill the hundreds we found in our upstairs bedrooms. It won't stop them from coming though. We had to replace a window this winter and found about 100 of them huddled under our siding...in one little area! I have cedar siding so the soap solution is no good for us out there. The alcohol damages our stain so that's out too ...we feel so screwed and helpless against these disgusting creatures. I really don't want to use poison but I can't live with hoards of them in my house either. If I had hundreds this year, I'm going to get thousands next fall. We need help NOW...not in a few years. I'm getting the creepy crawlies just talking about it. If you find any answers, please post! Youtube shows a man having so many that he scrapes them off of his door to get into his house...poor guy! google it...there are many out there facing this plague. I really feel so sorry for those that are being over run and run out of their houses by these disgusting...

tey, can I make a suggestion? instead of peat moss, a better alternative is coir peat. Peat moss becomes water repellant when it dries out, coir peat doesn't and in a hot climate, the coir will retain the moisture much better and for longer and will be much easier to re-wet. it's also very neutral in ph. I think you'll find the bin will be much less prone to drying out in summer if you use the coir instead. I dont know how readily available it is in texas but even just one or two coir bricks reconstituted with water is usually enough for an average sized bin. It doesnt break down so you dont have to keep replacing it and the worms just love it, especially in hot weather to keep them cool.

Terry, maybe you're right, and I certainly hope you are, but it has not been my experience. House sparrows are very opportunistic, and they are fierce competitors with native birds for nesting sites and food. Because they didn't evolve with the birds who are native to this ecosystem, natives are unprepared physically to compete with them. Any non-native species whether it is a plant or animal has the potential of outcompeting and outpopulating the natives. It is the natural way of it. This is seen across the country with plants, fish, etc. Some examples are the uproar over kudzu or snakehead fish. House sparrows (and starlings for that matter) will kill other birds and destroy their eggs and nestlings. They will also build right on top of their dead bodies. I am not trying to be graphic here. I am speaking from experience and would not want anyone else to have to find such a thing. I wish someone had warned me! I know that house sparrows are doing what is natural to them. It is because of this that I don't find house sparrows annoying, I just don't want them becoming the only species in my yard. Left unchecked, I know that is what they will do. They tend to nest earlier than most natives claiming nesting sites before natives have a chance. From the sialis website cited above "HOSP [house sparrows] are prolific breeders. They may raise 2-5 (average of 3) clutches of 3-7 (very seldom less than 4) chicks each breeding season, (averaging 20 chicks per season). One pair can theoretically quintuple the population in one year. Using some conservative assumptions, one pair could increase to 1,250 birds in 5 years. Eggs are incubated for 10-16 days, and nestlings are fully feathered in 15-17 days." Pigeons, starlings and house sparrows have become the only birds that you see in cities. That is because of human sprawl, but also because they outcompete the natives. Lack of species diversity is an indication of an unhealthy ecosystem. Each species within the system has a job to do and so is an integral cog in the wheel. Good luck to you. I hope you find that you are right. Please keep us posted as your garden progresses.