The dethatcher will work fine for removing debree and clearing to soil surface for better seed to soil contact, but don't expect to use it to slit seed, it will tear the seed up and if you try to drop it low enough to till the soil, you'll break the rines which gets very expensive. Best route after RoundUp proceedure you discribed: 1. Scalp the lawn (as low as you can set your mower without hitting dirt) 2. Rake or power rake to remove debree and expose the soil for seed/soil contact. 3.Seed. 4. Spred a starter fertilizer at a rate of 1# phosphorous per 1000 sq ft. ( or per starter fertilizer bag recommended spreader setting. 5. Topdress (no more than 1/4" thick. (recommend you use peat moss--one 3-4 cu ft bag will cover about 500 sq ft or more--make sure peat moss is dry when you buy it or let it dry on a tarp in the garage--use a dust pan to slowly sprinkle it on turf, you get the hang of it quickly so that you are spreading 1/4" consistently) 6.MOST IMPORTANT; Water the peat moss untill it breaks hydrophobia and accepts water, thenkeep soil moist, not wet--water 3-4 times a day for about 5 - ten minutes each time--do not water until it pools. 7. Once seed germinates (good germination), water 2 times a day for half and hour. About a week later you can drop to watering about 3 times a week (depending on weather) and after the first mow, go to once a week for an inch of water.

Ilene, I am going to start with the ants, because they a huge problem in and of themselves. I am assuming the ants we are discussing are fire ants? I try to garden as organically as possible, but controlling fire ants has been one of the areas for which the organic community has had lots of 'possible' solutions......and none of them worked well for me in the past. I've tried everything from beneficial nematodes to orange oil sprays (Citrex Fire Ant killer), corn meal, grits, garlic-pepper sprays, cedar oil, cedar mulch, mint tea, dried mint leaves, etc. I have FINALLY found an organic product that works for me in terms of removing fire ants from the raised beds in the veggie garden. The active ingredient is called Serenade and it is effective not only on fire ants but also is very effective when sprayed on tomato plants to reduce foliar fungal and bacterial diseases. The Serenade I use on the tomato plants comes in a spray bottle. The Seremade I use on fire ants comes in a granular formation. I buy the one made by Safer and I think it is called Safer Fire Ant Killer. I have used it this year in my raised beds and it has worked for me. In the yard area, away from any place that we grow veggies, tree nuts or fruits, I use Over 'N Out. It is amazing. I only have to use it once every 3 or 4 years. I don't like using chemicals, but will use them if needed and IF they provide the desired results. Over 'N Out does work but you cannot use it near anything edible, and it has a long half-life in the soil, so you can't use it in any area where you will eventually grow something edible. Now, as to the strawberry issues. I think the best plan is to start over with a new bed so that you can begin with NO grass in it. The problem with bermuda grass is that if you leave any stolon that is at least 1/4" long, it will grow and spread and RAPIDLY at that. That is why no amount of digging will get it all....there is always that tiny stray piece here and there that will regrow. If it were me, I would spray the area where the new bed will be with Round-Up or a similar glyphosate and give it time to work. I would lay down either cardboard or several layers of newspaper to help smother any grass that tried to regrow and lay down the good-quality heavy-duty weedblock fabric on top of that. I would build the bed on top of that. You DO need to have the fabric extend outside the edging of the bed or grass will creep up INSIDE between the fabric and bed edging. If it were me, I would extend the fabric out a foot or two from the bed, cover it with mulch, and maintain it as a pathway around the raised bed. At the edge of the fabric, I would use that metal green landscape edging to keep grass from creeping into the mulched path AND to help keep the mower from hitting the edge of the fabric or the mulch. It is a lot of extra work, but as you already know, it is easier to prevent bermuda grass than it is to remove it once it infiltrates an area. As far as holding the strawberries over in the fridge or freezer, I don't know how long they can be held in cold storage, but I think it is possible to hold them for months, although perhaps not desirable. I made the decision years ago (after growing strawberries) that growing strawberries in our climate required more time and effort than I was willing to give them in light of the fact that I have a huge veggie garden, fruit trees, nut trees and lots of acreage to maintain. You may want to consider whether strawberries are worth the time and money you will have to invest in them in comparison to the size of the harvest you get. On the other hand, if growing your own gives you great joy, then go for it! Dawn

We kept all of our soil (sort of) from an 850 sq. foot excavation. I don't know what the regulations are in your area, but since you are from the state of Oregon--I am going to assume you have some lofty (or lefty) over-regulation going on in the state with regard to soil transfer & movement. This can cause costs to your builder or landscaper to have the soil tested and then sent to a state or local approved location for a fee. Expect delays if this is the case. Again--I'm assuming you can't get away with just dumping it at a local farm site, etc. even if you have a lot of "nowhere" in your area without your contractor risking being fined. This is pretty much like the regulations we have in our part of the state although things are a lot "looser" elsewhere in neighboring counties or states. Here's what we did. First, when the topsoil was removed from the dig there we were able to haul this smaller amount ourselves by truck loads to be used on a neighboring property where they wanted to build a berm. (Shush . . .) Also, we had a LOT of rocks (maybe as much as 20%) in our soil of various sizes. We used the larger ones to build several different rock walls and incorporated them into the naturalized landscaping. I refused to buy the $6K worth of rocks as estimated on our plan just to get news ones hauled in by a landscaper. You can't plant a bulb with out hitting the free ones we have around here! The walls were not really stacked rock walls for the most part, but natural boulder walls using the excavated larger rocks --some moved by machine others small enough to place by hand with one or two people doing the work. We worked around the sizes and shapes that nature and circumstances gave us. This also eliminated the need for concrete retaining block-type walls anywhere in the yard (so we didn't have to buy additional material. We also planned to have the pool set-up just slightly above the highest level of the grade and even just a few inches used up quite a bit of soil around the pool for the base under the pavers and what will be the surrounding planting beds. Lastly, we also had a yard that sloped quite a bit in several areas. The remaining soil was used to even the grade without affecting the good drainage slope--which would have set off more alarms for regulatory concerns! And now, it's all gone! In fact, we actually have had to buy good rich topsoil to put on top to do our landscape planting and to seed for grass. We couldn't have used our own topsoil as easily since it was better suited for a berm than for spreading with all the grass and such mixed-in after it was ripped-up for the dig. Also, we needed it gone before we had machines moving rocks around and doing the grading of the more compacted soil underneath. Check-into your own local regulations and don't assume your pool builder or landscaper will know if they don't do a lot of work in your town. This approach may not work for you or meet your esthetic preference, but maybe some of the ideas will apply. Good luck with your planning.

PK, I pulled it up as soon as I saw the first leaves emerge. When I pull up an invasive, I don't merely tug and yank, I get my hand weeder (or shovel) and go down deep to get the roots. Merely pulling the plant up usually leaves too much root behind. Even in places where I could not get rid of every bit of root, I just made sure that I cut off every leaf that sprouted, which insured the death of the plant trying to emerge. Diligently removing emerging foliage on pesky invasives (such as alstromeria) worked well for me because the little brittle roots were impossible to dig up. Molly