may i be blunt.. with all due respect .. and all good intent .... AND THANK FOR YOUR SERVICE TO OUR COUNTRY ... i did this myself ... IT WAS THE WORST SUMMER OF MY GARDENING LIFE .... i spent all summer stressing over the flowers .. like i didnt have anything else to worry about with EVERYTHING ELSE about the wedding ... ever have a hail storm in august in MD??? i dont understand if you are planning on doing all the flowers.. or just some ... what i ended up doing... i found a good florist who was willing to work with me ... we ordered what we needed with the understanding that i would bring all additional flowers that i could to add to it all ... it did end up working out very well .... but that was because i had a failsafe plan ... PLEASE DO THAT FOR YOURSELF ALSO ... you cant call florists a week before the wedding and hope you can find someone to cover for what ma nature did to your garden ... i ended up taking 5 five gal pails with about 100 EXTRA roses ... it ended up being wonderful .... PRIORITIZE AND DECIDE IF THE DAY OR TWO BEFORE THE WEEDING.. YOU WANT TO SPEND IT COVERED IN DIRT IN YOUR GARDEN.. or decide whether there will be about a million other things that will be more important ... like the dress .. the food.. the hall ... the honeymoon packing.. the guests.. the rehersal dinner ... the.. the.. you get the idea ... i wish you and your daughter all the luck in the world ... ken PS: is she thinking this will save money ... or out of respect for you [from your bio i suspect it is the latter] .... the money and labor you put into it all would be better spent by you by actually buying the flowers and adding some floral goodies .... this should be about you and her and her wedding .... not about your garden ... and being about as hardcore in the garden as you seem .. i had the rehersal dinner in my garden ... after rehersal .. we all just met back at the house and had pizza and relaxed ... i got all the accolades i needed for the garden ... and it helped relax me for the big day ... i keep rambling on ... sorry .... thanks for bringing back a part of my wedding that i let slip out of my memory ... men arent supposed to well up about all this .. are they????

1. Find the Bermuda Bible on GardenWeb or search for it. 2. Follow his advice. Basically you do the following. Water ONCE a week during the hottest heat of summer, and every other week or monthly otherwise. I grew up in SoCal and there is no place, including Palm Springs, where you need to water more than once a week. One reason you might have crabgrass is because you're watering too often. Crabgrass seed needs water frequently to germinate. By letting the soil dry out for a week the weed seeds don't get the water then need. This means you'll have to water longer each time. I water from 1 to 7 hours, once a week depending on direct sun, wind, and humidity. Mulch mow weekly at the mower's lowest setting. Fertilize every month and with the products as described in the Bermuda Bible. Avoid overseeding the rye. The problem with overseeding is the shade from the rye delays the onset of the bermuda in the spring. Very hot in LA? No it isn't. LA's high temps run in the high 60s most of the year and into the 70s in the summer. I lived 3 miles from LAX for 7 years and needed a windbreaker and sweater every single day of the year. If your temps are hot, then you don't live in LA. This is why it is necessary for SoCal folks to give the name of the town they live in. There are too many zones and even the people living there don't know what the climate differences just a few miles away. But anyway, if you follow the bible you will have a good green lawn in August. Also if you could get your daughter to rethink the August date. I got married, outdoors, in San Antonio, in August - whew!!! THAT was HOT! If the weather looks like it will be really bad, keep an alternate location or an alternate ceremony in mind. We shortened ours by cutting out most of the music.

Mike, I'm sorry, but you're out of luck here. We had over 12" of rain on either April 28th or 29th, followed by more rain most days for the next two weeks, so my garden is a wreck. The zinnias, which were 4" or 5" tall when the 12" of rain fell are still 4" or 5" tall and aren't growing at all because they are so waterlogged. Most years, I'd have zinnia plants 2' tall and in full bloom by Memorial Day, but not with this year's weather. Even my poppies and larkspur are rotting and collapsing because of the wet ground. I hope folks who've had better weather can help you out and feel horrible that I can't. Good luck with the wedding. Dawn

Good point, Alisande. Watching that, I think Dad had better moves than his daughter, have to wonder how he acquired - and kept - the dance skills.