You wrote: "By the way, this plant attracts a lot of ants and some kind of insects." The "some kind of insects" are aphids. Lots of them. That's why the ants are there. To obtain the sweet sticky honeydew the aphids excrete.

IMO, that looks very much like a water issue. Too much and too little can have very similar symptoms but in my experience, once they start looking like this, they don't really recover. While I am not saying that conifers don't get transplant shock - they can - it is just not all that common and like with many common conifer problems, can take some time before it shows up. Although I know Ken will cringe at the thought, a lot of planting goes on in summer here and I have rarely seen transplant shock an issue on a newly planted conifer. Water problems, yes. Root problems, yes. I'd check those first. And hoping a warranty is available also.

Hi Plllog! "That is, I know it's possible, but might not be in your budget." See, there's the crux of it. This little beverage center idea of mine was not in the original budget. (Nor, alas, were new drywall in the livingroom and halls, the gorgeous walnut top on my used cabinet island, the matching gorgeous top that will soon be on the new media cabinet and the near full gut of the bathroom.) And we're still determined to get through remodeling our ugly duckling without taking out a loan or dipping into savings. Conventional wisdom says: Wait until the coffers are full again but that's so hard to do. First off, I'm a cheapskate. Even if the goose who laid the golden egg waddled up onto my deck and built a nest, I'm not sure I would willingly pay someone to mess up the walls I just paid to fix. Second, I'm not quite cheap enough. My new kitchen is starting to look pretty good but, gosh, it would look so much better if the microwave and coffee maker didn't take up so much room on that one counter. I'm willing to spend a little bit more to change that, especially since I'm going to have a piece of countertop leftover that should be just the right size. Still, it's nice to know that it's possible. Maybe when the coffers ARE full again I'll put a tile counter outside on my deck to shade the golden goose should she happen to wander by ;) Thanks for your help!

I also struggled big time last year with my fall seeding for the reasons you mentioned - I'm in Greensboro by the way. Typically it goes a lot smoother, but Mother Nature sometimes throws a curveball. I have not yet tried seeding in February, though I may give it a shot this year due to a Poa infestation. My back yard is shaded and so that will help with the heat and also with weed control, Bermuda and Crabgrass don't thrive there. Tenacity is a selective pre-emergent in the sense that it will not affect Fescue and KBG germination, but it is also very limited in what weeds it will prevent. For example, Bermuda is not listed on the label as . You would need to use Tenacity at seeding time and every 20 days thereafter until it's safe to use a serious pre-emergent like prodiamine, typically 60 days from germination. Then apply prodiamine for the summer. If you're not seeding, then go directly to prodiamine applied in March at the 5 month rate. It's kick-ass.