I wish I would have come across this forum last August BEFORE I placed an order with Ty-ty. I ordered a bunch of stuff... all said "fall shipment"...fall came and went and no trees... I had called several times where I was given the run around and finally told that they only ship when trees were dormant and I would get my order in Jan-Feb. Although I felt like this was false advertisement since everything said fall shipment, it did make sense to me, so I patiently awaited my order in January. Already not feeling quite right, I stayed on top of it and they heard from me at least once a week from the beginning of January. Persistence pays off... to a point. I was able to diseminate from the different calls, they really are just a middle man (false advertising again). They got different parts of my order from different sources... which wouldn't be so bad if they used really reliable sources, but I think they probably just use the cheapest to make the most money. I finally did receive my order... in full... not a single thing missing out of an over $650 order. In that order I had three larger blueberry bushes. Who ever their supplier is for those is pretty decent. They look pretty good and had a good bareroot base on them. As for pretty much everything else in my order, it appeard that someone had taken a good yank on the tree trunk and pulled it up by hand without any digging as most trees had very little to no roots left... the pecan trees I ordered must have been harder to yank out of the ground due to their tap root, so it appears that some Sherlock decided to take a shovel and chop the offending tap root off so they could finish yanking said tree out. Obviously, these trees won't survive... The blueberry bushes look to be very promising, and I'm glad that at least something I got seems to be worth while, but everything else either looks like it definately will not survive or would shock me if it did. I will not be ordering from them again... wish I knew who their supplier was for the blueberry bushes though... I'd definately order from them!! =)

Oh my! I hate to say this but your lawn guy is better at negotiating and getting out of work than he is at lawn care. Anyone who is unwilling to learn the simple (and I emphasize SIMPLE) elements and methods to his chosen profession should not be coddled. He needs to be cut loose. And if you think he does not understand you now, he will really not understand you when you try to fire him. You need to find someone who can fire him in Spanish so that he understands to never mow your lawn or touch your water again and he will never again be paid by you. Usted no puede trabajar aqu ¿entiende, señor? And he should be nodding his head. When he asks you why, the only answer that will work is to tell him you are going to do all the work yourself (Voy a hacer todo el trabajo yo mismo). If you don't tell him that he will beg and plead and promise to do exactly what you want, but you have already seen that he does not keep his word (about the seeding for example). But if you tell him you are going to do it, he should understand you want to save the money. By letting him go you have bought yourself some time to learn to do it yourself (it is embarrassingly easy) or find someone more in tune with you and your ability to communicate. Here is the combined wisdom of the lawn forum accumulated over the years. There are lots of other things to discuss, but hardly anyone disagrees with these simple principles. Water deeply and infrequently. Deeply means at least an hour in every zone, all at once. Infrequently means monthly during the cool months and no more than weekly during the hottest part of summer. If your grass looks dry before the month/week is up, water longer next time. Deep watering grows deep, drought resistant roots. Infrequent watering allows the top layer of soil to dry completely which kills off many shallow rooted weeds. Not only does this apply in Phoenix, it happens that I learned it from a Phoenix based lawn professional on this very forum many years ago. Mulch mow at the highest setting on your mower. Most grasses are the most dense when mowed tall. However, Bermuda, centipede, and bent grasses are the most dense when mowed at the lowest setting on your mower. Dense grass shades out weeds and uses less water when tall. Dense grass feeds the deep roots you're developing in 1 above. Fertilize regularly. I fertilize 5 times per year using organic fertilizer. Which fertilizer you use is much less important than numbers 1 and 2 above. Now to contradict myself, I would suggest mowing the rye short toward the end of March. Your bermuda needs all the sunlight it can get and tall ryegrass will provide too much shade. Next year see if you can get through the winter without ryegrass. Just because the neighbors do it does not make it right. Believe it or not in Iowa many people burn their grass every year - doesn't make it right. Your lawn guy broke several rules. He mowed too short at one time taking more than 1/3 of the grass down. If your bermuda was tall, it should have been brought down gradually with multiple mowings during the week. He should know how to do that but apparently not. He waters WAAAAAAAAY to frequently. That water schedule is okay for getting new seeds to sprout but as soon as they establish roots, watering needs to be cut back. And I'm going to say that seeding rye over bermuda in the winter is a rule he broke. Sure everyone does it, but it's not good for the bermuda. Oh and weed-b-gone spray is the classic way to get rid of the weeds you have and not hurt the grass. Round-Up must advertise on all the sports channels or something. I hate that stuff.

hi there. knowing nothing about yucca trees, here is what i would do---i'd dig out a seedling and see how extensive the root system is. next, i would dig around another one, being careful to do so at the distance where i would not disturb the roots. the idea is so that the plant will not notice it has been moved at all. then plop it into an appropriately sized pot, soil and all. or, dig a hole in your yard and move it there--it's generally the same environment and presumably the same (or similar) soil. I have only ever done this to poppies which are notoriously sensitive to being uprooted and replanted. But as long as i dug around far and deep enough to avoid disturbing the roots, all of them transplanted successfully. i would have had a gorgeous bed of poppies. but they were no match for woodchucks who had a salad fiesta as soon as the flower buds appeared. Hmmph. if there are lots of seedlings, try and get the oldest one. maybe getting more than one is a good idea too, one of them is bound to take. they might have more specific information for you in the cactus and succulents forum, though! i hope this helps somewhat. Pagan

Well I could go into the Freudian nuances of scapes, bulbs and men, but the audience, I feel, is not ready for such levity. I do have to say, though, that despite their odd form of product marketing, they do in fact have us here talking about them. Successful adverts? Depends on how you look at it. It reminds me of Volkswagon's adverts, which I detest, in that they are awfully weird yet get people to talk about them. Whether or not they result in sales is another story. I don't really care for Freud. He was a bit of a nutcase himself-- though I do recognize his contribution to the psychological field. No one psych theory holds true-- each, though, adds what seem to be pieces of how things actually work. I much prefer Maslow and his hierarchy of needs. And if this is an old lady who runs this TyTy site, then perhaps she's living vicariously through her young models *shudder* which is creepy but I think Freud's theory would best explain this sites strange behavior. Then again, maybe this is all a conduit for this old lady's self-actualization! Is anyone else really disturbed by this seemingly homicidal deer, and the fact that its eat blueberries high off the ground and in what looks like winter? Global change, people...its here and the deer are mad.