If the plants in your garden are prone to mildew, keeping them watered will help prevent stress on the plants. Stress can make them more susceptible to disease. Humidity and poor air circulation can also make conditions favorable for mildew. If it were me I would just tug out all the weeds and toss them out. Chances are the wind is already spreading mildew spores around. If your plants are overcrowded, I would consider thinning them out so foliage has a chance to dry. Oh, and don't water the foliage of plants. Just water the soil. Keeping the foliage dry may help limit the damage by mildew. I've found that powdery mildew is more unsightly than devastating to the plants. Certain bee balms and zinnia have a tendency to get it. There are varieties that are more disease resistant, so perhaps you could replace the problem plants...depending on budget and type of plants you are having difficulty with. Here is a link that might be useful: Kim's Garden

Yes, if you are talking about hitting it up with glyphosate, then spray first. Spray, then water, then spray again 2 weeds later. Make sure you get gly that is just straight glyphosate - not persistant. Otherwise nothing will grow. If it were me, I wouldn't bother pulling it out at all. 2nd week of Sep. is fine. If it were me, I wouldn't mix the grass types like that unless the areas are divided cleanly by landscaping. It has good potential to look really odd and get clumpy etc. overtime. In fact, I strongly recommend seeding with just one straight mix - whatever it is. Fescue slowly fills in when it is established but KBG does better. However, KGB doesn't fill in as fast as it's cracked up to. Look up recommended seed cultivars for your area and find a blend that has one or even two of those that are on the list.

Thank you so much. I was afraid nobody would help in time. I'll get to it right away. They are already showing a little wilt on the bottommost leaves. I searched and searched for root propagation methods, read one where you cut two slits, read how growers use rhizopon AA for more blooms when transplanting, was going to run to the nursery, they may not have it, and we want bushes and worry about the blooms later. So I'll just do as you suggest and hope for the best. I'll try to bury them about the same level they grew. I don't think you want to put them way deep in the pot, nor too shallow either. I did a lot of reading and searching last night, and it seems fall is the best time for transplanting roses/suckers, but I think early spring should be ok, too. I would, in time like to find out the best way to do root propagation like the old rose searchers I've read about did. It sounds easier than cuttings if it works except I fear most property owners would be more reluctant to let you dig around a rose rather than just take some cuttings.

The swale looks like it was created for access or drainage. Would either be the case? Is there a gate in the fence at the end of the swale? If there's no physical reason not to proceed with your plan, it seems generally fine, but artistically in need of enhancement. One way to make islands look bad is to have the trees end up at their edge. Conversely, to make them look good is that the bed extends some degree beyond the tree grouping. In your drawing the looping dip into the space seems extreme. It should be more subtle in order not to end up looking forced and contrived. An example... In the long run it becomes tiresome to add mulch to large beds over the years. I would consider -- once the islands are WEED FREE -- of adding a groundcover so that there would come an end to mulching. You would need to manage the groundcover, but if you start weed free and keep it that way through establishment, it's a fairly easy task. Also, if one plans ahead, it's fairly easy to propagate most groundcovers so that the expense of acquiring large amounts of them is relatively low. Not exactly sure what you mean by "hand weeded," but with a property of this size, I would be heavily mulching the island(s), and spot spraying weeds with herbicide in a back-pack (only) sprayer. If you are against using herbicide, then still, the heavy mulch and diligent weed removal/control by hand (uuugh!) Diligent!