"So what." Because I say so, it's my garden. I don't need permission from anyone to kill any bug in my yard. I'm not a member of PETA, I do not worship bugs in the yard, and surely do I not leave a large larvae eating the roots of a plants. You want to live with them, move them in your yard. "This is faulty reasoning." It's not faulty reasoning, it's at least 50 percent right. But who are you to complain. You are not adding any useful information about the topic, just complaining over a dead squashed bug. Prove it with research what bug not to kill, if not, then don't complain. If you have any intention to help any beneficial bug, than at least know what they are. "Organic gardening/sustainable gardening/IPM/etc is done well and properly when the critter is identified. That is: the critter should be identified. Then if it is a pest, it can be dispatched. Otherwise you are killing either something benign or beneficial. That's how it works. Killing something benign is not organic, and killing something beneficial not only is not organic, but detrimental to the garden" Organic gardening is about using plants and non chemical efforts to rid yourself of a problem. My hands squashing the bug administered no chemical in the garden and rid myself of a bug I don't want. I don't complain about spiders, wasps, ladybugs, and any bug I see that does not interfere with the growth of my plants, but if I find a root eating maggot, I have every right to smash it first, ask questions later because damage may be done to the plant before I know how to handle the bug. I think you're a little obsessed and misinformed. Handpicking bugs and smashing works and is an organic method equal as any other organic method. A person so engulfed in organic bugs should at least know what bug he's protecting before ranting for its rights. No tears in my eyes for that large ugly maggot, not any of them, but I should have saved them for the fish to eat is the only real issue. I guess it's organic to not eat fish too, now, right? Are you a protester of that too? I vote to smash the things, feed them to the birds, use them as bait for fish, or pickle them in jars to stare at in science fairs. No problem here, with those suggestions.

HAHA, I solved the problem, those that know me KNOW what I do best, it's called constructive staring, don't laugh it works. I have come up with some of my best ideas while standing holding up a shovel and staring into space. While standing looking at the mess under the Dogwood tree I came up with this idea. Since there was nothing but masses of specie crocus and snowdrops in this spot and I didn't plan to change or add to this bed I cut a circle of very heavy landscape cloth to cover the bed, when the foliage died down I placed it around the tree covering the bed and then covered it with wood shavings. I removed the wood shavings and cloth in December to find no weeds or grass just bare earth. I top dressed with a bit of Sea Soil, the snowdrops and crocus came up minus all the weeds and grass :o). Did you know that twine and crazy glue makes a great temporary trellis, especially on trees LOL. A......

kimmsr, thanks for taking the time to reply. The soil is very compacted but honestly not wet. There's no water source (lake, creek, pond, etc..) nearby, and as far as I'm aware hasn't been watered regularly in 3 or more years. I planted a few trees in the area and have kept them watered, but not the whole area because I was planning on re-seeding later anyway. It is on a slight slope and since the water seems to run off fairly easily I put them on a drip hose and watered deeply for several hours a couple of times a week. After watering, the ground around the trees did not appear to be wet; on the contrary it was so hard and compacted I had a difficult time in places even getting a shovel in it to dig up the weeds. I would love to be able to identify and stop the conditions which favor the growth of this stuff. Not sure if it matters, but the variety of nutsedge growing is purple. It's very warm in the summers here in north Texas... I can't do much about that unfortunately. The soil is compacted (not sure if that's a contributing factor or not), but I do plan on areating to give the grass roots a better chance of grabbing hold of something. And as I said, the soil is not wet. Is there anything else I need to be aware of? Thanks again!

This is a very, very easy fix. I have used homemade compost to sow seeds in. Compost is great, it's rich in nutrients and retains moisture very well. The only drawback is that it can also contain plenty of seeds. It's actually really easy to kill those weed seeds. I fill a 5-gallon bucket halfway up with compost (or you can use whatever container you have on hand that you think is fine.) I have that bucket of compost on the patio outside my kitchen door. Inside the kitchen I've got a full kettle on to boil. When I hear the kettle whistling I take it off the flame and take it outside and pour that boiling water into the bucket of compost. Then I put a lid on the bucket....it doesn't have to be on tight, it's just to help hold the heat and steam in as long as it can. The boiling water and steam will kill the weed seeds. If you don't have a lid for the bucket then use a large piece of aluminum foil, or you can even use an old towel or blanket draped over the top. I let the bucket of compost sit overnight so it's cool when I use it the next day. I can now use the compost for sowing seeds confident that the weed seeds have been killed. Also, another benefit of the boiling water treatment is that it will kill any soilborne diseases that might exist in the compost. The method may be down-sized and used with small individual flats or cell packs. Remove the coursest pieces of compost to create a consistantly textured medium and fill seed sowing flats with it. Place a compost-filled flat in your kitchen sink and slowly and carefully drench the compost with a steady stream of boiling water from the tea kettle. Some flats are made from very cheap and thin plastic and the plastic might warp from the heat....experiment before hand to assure success. If the plastic of your flats is too susceptible to heat then place the compost first in a metal colander, scald with the water, allow it to drain and cool overnight, then fill the flats with that. Good luck with your seeds! Trudi