yardmartyr, If I were to do it over I wouldn't use the weed killer. Both the Bayer Advanced and the Weed B Gone have the same active ingredients. One of which, 2,4-D seems to be pretty bad. Some areas have already banned, or are trying to ban 2,4-D. There's an independent film coming out about a doctor in Hudson, Quebec that fought to get a ban on pesticides and 2,4-D was one of the reasons. Since then, all of Quebec has put a ban on synthetic pesticides for aesthetic reasons. You can also see what the EPA has to say about 2,4-D. In one of the areas where I had pretty heavy clover, I now seem to have a fungus, you can see pics in this thread. It's been like that since the clover disappeared. Not saying the weed killer caused it, but that area had more grass than clover and I'm having a difficult time fixing it or reseeding it. There's some other weed there that I'm slowly hand pulling for now but it was much worse. The clover was the big thing I wanted to get rid of. I wasn't even sure there was ANY grass in some areas. So if I had to make the choice again of green lawn with clover or brownish lawn without clover, I'd probably go with the clover. From a distance, you don't see clover leaves, just the white flowers, so if you mow more frequently you can get rid of that. I don't think that just fertilizing will help get rid of it. It might choke it out over a few years, but I don't think you want to wait and find out. If I were doing it again, I'd try to manually remove as much as I could, mow the grass high and frequently and overseed with some good grass seed in the fall. You probably feel like I did at the time. The reason I started caring about my lawn was because I was so fed up with the clover. Fed up probably isn't strong enough. I was disgusted with it. I would mow the lawn and in some areas it just seemed pointless as there didn't seem to be much of any grass, just clover.

Well, dang. I spent Saturday watching my husband dig out the roses I'd grown from cuttings started last fall, and rummaging around in my pot ghetto pulling out more roses and irises to give to friends I was going to visit. I encouraged my husband with the idea of how many roses we were going to be free of, how much smaller the pot ghetto would be, how much more garden area we'd for for, ah, rose cuttings that I want to start this fall. The pots filled the car, leaving just room for the driver. Away I went. Back I came with--surprise!--two or three flats of baby perennials and shrubs and two bags of various pieces of plants, and even a new rose. Well! This is how it happens. I'm the happiest gardener in the world, except for you, of course. Melissa

wow, this is unbelievable! I was looking for help finding some form of natural or herbal HRT. I am 54, done with all the horrible symptoms that come with the end of periods. I have Crohn's disease and had surgery to remove the last of my colon last September. Since my surgery I dehydrate very easily, my skin is very dry and I drink mostly water and lots of it. I thought all of this was the cause of the dryness problem with my vaginal area internally and externally. I am married and sex has become so painful and sometimes not even possible. My GYN put me on Premarin creme and I do not always remember to use it right before bed, every other night. I know you would think I would remember THAT right? The problem is 1st I am kinda scared of the whole "hormone treatment" thing because of cancer. My immune system is practically non-exsistent. 2ndly my Crohn's keeps me busy with medicating myself to prevent constant diarrhea, bloating, etc. The wrong combination of prevention meds or the wrong diet choice and I am constipated and bloated or having to run to the bathroom constently. Talk about having too much on your plate...the LAST thing I want or need is for my sex life to be screwed up! My poor Husband has enought to deal with just being married to me all these years. He is Amazing, always supportive, loving, understanding and eqivalent to a private nurse when I am "sick" AGAIN. He deserves some serious consideration, lol. Anyway, I get in this site and see the "vaginal Atrophy" comment and think...could it be? I find out it is NOT just me or my dehydration issues, I am having the same problems you are all. The Premarin creme has softened things up some and sex is sometimes possible but I am going to call my GYN tomorrow and ask about the ESTRING. I have been using moisterizing lotions and cremes on the external vaginal area just to relieve the dry, itchy, painful skin so I can walk and not cry all the time from the misery of it. Seriously. Thank God I stumbled in here, Thank you all for opening up and discussing this issue so I could find out not only What is wrong but maybe What to do about it! And Thank God for the good things the internet makes possible.

I've got some plastic flowers you can stick in the soil ;) Anything else is a potential target! I've had snails attack every plant list by various people here (except the Gaillardia and Musa which I've never grown). Anything that grows in moist shady spots is obviously at risk but they will also attack the succulents in the driest stoniest spots in my garden. Marigolds have to be their favourites, they are guaranteed to be stripped bare within 48 hours of planting without protection. I'm curious about the yellow Meconopsis, which one is that? M. (=Cathcartia) villosa? Or something rarer. I find the slugs love the fresh spring growth on Meconopsis but tend to leave them alone later. You'd think those bristly leaves would not be palatable. This year they've kept munching right through summer though. My main approach has been to grow plants which are vigorous enough to outgrow the attacks, anything else will ultimately succumb. A few more idea for you though. Lamb's Ears and similar grey hairy plants don't seem to be attacked too badly. Brunnera gets munched a little but not eaten down to ground level. Snails love to hide in my Holly, Lavatera, Buddleia, and Berberis bushes but don't do them a lot of damage. Daphne are barely touched, too toxic? Euonymus don't appear to be eaten but might just be growing too fast to notice! Native Geraniums the same, either not much damage or they outgrow it before I notice. Last but not least, Saxifrages, maybe too much like eating eggshells?