Town of Waynesville will conduct its bi-annual cemetery cleanup, beginning Nov. 9.

Items not collected by that date will be removed by Town staff and stored for 60 days.

Any article not contained in an approved memorial box, or that is deemed to be a safety hazard will be tagged and removed.

Such items include any trinket, toy, shells, sand, artificial material or object not permanently affixed to the headstone; glass jars, tin cans or glass vases; any border, fence, railing trellis, shepherds crook or yard flag stand/holders; bird houses, coping, hedge shrubs, tree or any other bounding or enclosing object or material constructed or planted in or around any lot or space.

Only one solar-powered or artificial light source is permitted per burial spot; no light source shall exceed 8 x 10 inches.

For additional assistance, please contact the Public Works Office at 828-456-3706.

See more here:
Cemetery cleanup to start Nov. 9 | Briefs | themountaineer.com - The Mountaineer

Forty names, games, teams and minutiae making news in college football, where Massachusettss season began and likely ended with a 410 loss Saturday:

MORE DASH: TheUndefeateds| Big Ten Preview| Coach of Year?

How bad was Tennessee (11) Saturday? Bad enough to lose to Kentucky by 27 points, which is its largest margin of defeat against the Wildcats since a 270 loss in 1935. Last time the Volunteers lost by more than 27 to Kentucky was the first time the teams ever met, in 1893. So you could say this was a once-a-century calamity for Big Orange, but that would actually be understating it.

This was an outcome so galling that it led one Vols fan to throw a beer bottle through a window. Said fan felt compelled to call in to a postgame radio show and report his meltdown, adding that his wife left the house over it. Honey, Tennessee football done it, the man said he told his wife. I didnt do it.

Thats questionable accountability, but the beer bottle bomber isnt alone. Head coach Jeremy Pruitt (12) also found someoneother than himselfto blame, firing defensive line coach Jimmy Brumbaugh on Sunday. Brumbaugh was the scapegoat after all of four games at Tennessee, and no spring practice with his unit. (Tennessee fans had already started the Must Be Fired list, and Brumbaugh wasn't at the top of it.) The firing will cost the athletic program $830,000, according to the Knoxville News-Sentinel, though that could be mitigated if Brumbaugh gets another job.

Throwing around money is what Power 5 athletic programs do, though, and Tennessee is among the industry leaders in that area. Less than a month ago, athletic director and former coach Phillip Fulmer (13) announced a contract extension for Pruitt through 2025 that will increase his salary to $4.2 million next year. Per the release announcing the extension, Pruitt was credited with establishing a culture of toughness, a bowl appearance following a six-game winning streak and a top-10 recruiting class.

Calvin Mattheis/Pool via News Sentinel-Imagn Content Services, LLC

(According to USA Todays coaching salary database, Pruitt has not taken a pandemic-related pay cut in 2020. Many of his peers at public universities have. Given that, plus Pruitts comical inability to wear a mask correctly against Georgia, this might not be a guy who is taking the COVID-19 situation too seriously.)

At the time of the extension, Pruitts record was 1312. There is no reason to believe anyone was preparing to poach him. Today his record is 1514, with a 20 start followed by humbling losses to Georgia and the Wildcats. Butch Jones, Pruitts much-pilloried predecessor, was 1712 in his final 29 games at Tennessee. So the quick turnaround noted in the release announcing Pruitts extension has actually been a downturn to date.

Next up: Alabama. Things are fine.

The slightest glimmer of progress is over-rewarded so quickly in college football that schools often box themselves into ruinous buyouts when, stunningly, that progress turns out to be fools gold. Look around college football right now, and the landscape is rife with buyers remorse.

Syracuse (14): Yahoo Sports reported Saturday that Dino Baberss buyout is at least $17 million, which is a ton at a school that isnt raking in Big Ten or SEC-level media revenue even in the best of financial times. Baberss record at the school is 2430, just 611 since getting an enhanced contract in December 2018. His tenure at the school began with consecutive 48 seasons, then came a 103 breakthrough in 18 that earned him the new deal. It was Syracuses best season since 2001, but it was built on nonconference wins over Western Michigan, Wagner and Connecticut, plus a very weak Atlantic Coast Conference. Since then, Syracuse has regressed.

South Carolina (15): After going 94 in 2017 and beating Michigan in the Outback Bowl, Will Muschamp got a $1 million-a-year raise to $4.2 million. A year later, he got an extension through 2024 (11 days after that deal was announced, the Gamecocks lost the Belk Bowl 340 to Virginia to finish 76). Since then, South Carolina is 610 with two notable wins: upsetting Georgia last year and holding off Auburn Saturday. The nine-win season that got South Carolina administrators so excited came four seasons after Steve Spurrier competed a third straight 11-win campaign. Muschamps buyout currently stands at $13.2 million.

Nebraska (16): Last December, flush with the thrill of 48 and 57 seasons, the school extended the contract of Scott Frost through 2026. Frost was paid $5 million a year to come back to his alma mater after big success at UCF. His victories to date at Nebraska: Minnesota, Bethune-Cookman, Illinois twice, Michigan State, South Alabama, Northern Illinois, Northwestern and Maryland. His record against ranked opponents: 07. His buyout will be just north of $25 million as of Dec. 1. Since awarding that deal, athletic director Bill Moos has complained about how unfair it is that the Cornhuskers must open this season at Ohio State on Saturday. Maybe hell pay Frost another million or two for having to take on such a burden.

USC (17): After winning the Pac-12 in 2017 and finishing 113, Clay Helton received a 40% raise from then athletic director Lynn Swann to $4.5 million. Since then Helton has gone 1312, clinging to his job. Last we saw of the Trojans, they were being run out of the Holiday Bowl by Iowa, 4924.

LSU (18): Hey, if you go 150 and win the national championship, youre entitled to get paid. That said, what LSU gave Ed Orgeron is pretty amazing: at $8.9 million this season, the only coach earning more is Nick Saban. That more than doubled his previous salary. Without Joe Burrow, Joe Brady, Dave Aranda and many others, Orgeron thus far has delivered a 12 record while serving up the only wins of the season to both Mississippi State and Missouri. The one-hit wonder comparisons to Gene Chizik (19) may be premature, but Coach O hasnt done anything yet to dispel them.

Is Indiana (20) next? Well see. The Hoosiers gave coach Tom Allen a seven-year, $27.3 million deal last December after an 84 regular season, more than doubling his salary from $1.7 to $3.9 million. His overall record is 1820, and he lost ace offensive coordinator Kalen DeBoer. Four weeks after his new contract was announced, Allen's Hoosiers blew a 229 lead in the final five minutes to Tennesseewhich, in turn, helped Jeremy Pruitt get paid. People helping people, the college football way.

MORE DASH: The Undefeateds | Big Ten Preview| Coach of Year?

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Forde-Yard Dash: Think Twice Before Handing Out That Contract Extension - Sports Illustrated

Dock and yard management system streamlines the complexity of dock and yard operations, it includes warehouse management systems (WMS) and transportation management systems (TMS). This management system helps to reduce the typical and expensive logistics problems which anticipating in the growth of the dock and yard management system market. Advancements in technology, increasing digitalization, and growing focus on improving the efficiency of the supply chain are accelerating the growth of the dock and yard management system market.

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Leading Players in the Dock and Yard Management System Market: 4Front Engineered Solutions, C3 Solutions, Descartes Systems Group, Epicor Software Corporation, HighJump Software, Manhattan Associates, Oracle Corporation, ProAct International Ltd, Royal 4 Systems, Zebra Technologies Corp.

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Dock and Yard Management System Market Trends, Size, Share, Status, Analysis and Forecast to 2027 With Leading Players 4Front Engineered Solutions, C3...

Fitter and Faster Swim Camps is the proud sponsor of SwimSwams College Recruiting Channel and all commitment news. For many, swimming in college is a lifelong dream that is pursued with dedication and determination. Fitter and Faster is proud to honor these athletes and those who supported them on their journey.

Evan Petty, who has been one of the hottest names in the early returns to racing after the coronavirus pandemic, has verbally committed to the defending NCAA Champion Cal Golden Bears.

A senior at Ensworth High School, Petty is expected to join the Golden Bears in the fall of 2021, and was one of the top remaining recruits in the class to commit.

As a sophomore, Petty was 4th in the 200 IM and 5th in the 100 back at the Tennessee High School State Championship meet, but didnt swim at the state meet as a junior in February.

In 2019, he won 3 Southeastern Swimming LSC titles, topping the 50 yard back, 100 yard back, and 200 yard backstrokes. He was also a Winter Juniors East finalist in the 100 yard backstroke last December, swimming 48.79.

Petty celebrated his commitment, announced last Tuesday, with two more best times over the weekend at a Nashville Aquatic Club intrasquad. There he posted best times in the 50 yard free and 200 yard back.

Best Times in Yards:

* Best times swum since meets resumed this summer after coronavirus quarantines.

Cal had one of the best backstroke programs in the country last season, though they didnt get to see that come to fruition at the NCAA Championship meet, which was eventually canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic. The Golden Bears had two swimmers rank in the top 8 nationally in the 200 back with Daniel Carr (1:37.87 4th) andHugo Gonzalez (1:39.66 8th) both achieving that. They were the only school in the country with two swimmers in the top 8.

Carr is the cherry on top of a loaded class for the Cal men, who are likely winding down their 2021 recruiting and turning their focus to the fall of 2022. Also in the class of 2021 for the Golden Bears are the 6th-ranked recruit Jack Alexy, 14th-ranked recruit Trent Frandson, Swedish star Robin Hanson, Sean Swift, Jacob Soderlund, Kai Crews, and Gabriel Jett.

That class is loaded with backstrokers, including Crews (48.1/1:46.9) and Jett (48.4/1:44.6). That follows a 2020 class that included one of the best high school backstrokers of the last decade Destin Lasco (45.9/1:40.7).

If you have a commitment to report, please send an email with a photo (landscape, or horizontal, looks best) and a quote to [emailprotected].

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Fitter & Faster Swim Camps feature the most innovative teaching platforms for competitive swimmers of all levels. Camps are produced year-round throughout the USA and Canada. All camps are led by elite swimmers and coaches. Visitfitterandfaster.comto find or request a swim camp near you.

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Evan Petty, One of Top Remaining Recruits in Class of 2021, Commits to Cal - SwimSwam

Sourced from the Advocate

If you're planning to add trees and shrubs to your yard, now is the time to do it.

Planting in the fall gives them time to get established, and, when spring arrives, they will flourish.

This season, look beyond crepe myrtles and Bradford pear trees and pick native trees, shrubs and plants.

When you think "native," thinkplants that occur naturally in the region, state, ecosystem or habitat without direct or indirect human intervention.

Native trees like magnolias, oaks, swamp titis, yaupons, native fringe trees, Virginia willows, fetterbushes, pond cypress, swamp tupelos, native persimmons and paw paws can make your yard look great and provide crucial resources for wildlife.

Native trees have become a crucial part of the mission of Baton Rouge Green.

The 30-year-old organizations priority used to be planting trees for beautification of the city's landscape, said Christopher Cooper, a program specialist for Baton Rouge Green.

Weve made a transition from just city beautification to seeing trees as what they really are: green infrastructure and essential infrastructure," he said. "Because of this, weve been planting as many native trees as we can."

To help turn our planted landscapes into effective biological corridors, Cooper said we need to add native plants to our neighborhoods, corporate landscapes and lands bordering infrastructure even in dense cities.

Baton Rouge Green currently manages over 4,300 trees on the roadways and in community landscapes in East Baton Rouge Parish. The organization maintains the trees with pruning, fertilization, weed control, insect control and incident management through an agreement with Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development and East Baton Rouge Parish Department of Public Works.

Each year, a study showed, these 4,300 trees prevent the runoff of over 11.4 million gallons of stormwater, save the community over 466,000 kilowatt-hours of energy and store over 1.4 million pounds of carbon, among countless other ecological benefits.

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Native Trees, Like Oaks and Yaupons, are Good for Our Environment and Our Health - Living Architecture Monitor magazine

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Award-winning Dubai-based landscape architect Will Bennett launches WILDEN Design, a new sustainable landscaping boutique to encourage people to foster and stimulate natural habitats that can thrive in the UAE, by offering clients inspiring, contemporary gardens created using landscaping practices that have a lower environmental impact.

There is a huge movement globally to live sustainably and to regenerate landscapes for our shared benefit, and this has really inspired the ethos behind WILDEN Design, says founder Will Bennett. My mission extends beyond designing beautiful gardens I want to inspire people to connect to the nature that is on their doorstep in the most meaningful way that I can, by understanding the environment around us and by nurturing it. If we all start to take care of the little piece of the planet that we call home, this behaviour will snowball into helping to conserve and improve the wider world around us.

WILDEN Designs landscaping practices focus on using locally-sourced and manufactured materials, and plant and grass species that are indigenous to the GCC or from similar arid climates. Such practices help to minimise resources used in construction and maintenance, whilst generating strong, flourishing ecosystems in residential gardens across the Emirates.

Catering to a growing demand for online consultation, WILDEN Design provides clients with a seamless digital design experience through its website http://www.wildendesign.com, which employs innovative technologies to map out a clients plot. Customers receive a bespoke landscape design according to their brief and budget or they can choose from a range of pre-designed thematic gardens that are customised to suit the required plot.

Every garden, yard, patio and even balcony in the UAE has the potential to generate a thriving natural habitat for people to enjoy and cherish, says Will. It doesnt matter what the scale is whether its ten people or ten thousand if someone hears my message and is inspired to create a beautiful garden that encourages biodiversity, reduces waste and has a positive climate change impact, then thats my goal achieved.

Read the rest here:
Dubai-based landscape architect Will Bennett launches WILDEN... - Construction Business News

Put aside worries about Google Street Views surveillance capability, and its HD cameras will open up myriad strange and wonderfully immersive views into landscapes both out-of-the-way and under-the-radar. Theres a privacy and an intimacy in clicking through those public, panoptic street scenes, as disembodied visitors form their impressions of a place based on a strangers documentation.

The immersive format works especially well at sites like Philadelphias Graffiti Pier, a disused coal bridge on the Delaware River that in recent years has gained notoriety as a mecca for aerosol art. Thanks to Street View user Mark Henninger, who documented the alle, as well as more than 14,000 Instagram tags, I can stroll under the piers concrete arches to admire the colorful cartoon characters and writhing arabesques in high-res.

A place like Graffiti Pier is both an open-air gallery and a living monument to changing economics. The site was once part of the giant Port Richmond rail yard, a busy inland exchange where ships were loaded up with Pennsylvania anthracite for distribution along the Eastern Seaboard and on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. Freight company and current owner Conrail bought the industrial area in the mid-1970s, at the nadir of the states coal output, and all but abandoned the southern portion of the waterfront in 1991a decision that de facto opened the pier to street artists. Now, thanks to a nonprofit that stewards the citys waterfront, and a coalition between the New York-based landscape firm Studio Zewde and the Philly taggers who have made it into a destination, Graffiti Pier is slated for yet another transformation.

The proposal from Studio Zewde walks a tightrope: Make the area accessible to a wider public and protect it from climate change, but dont erase the piers offbeat spirit in the process. The design moves that were proposing are really an act of preservation, explained Studio Zewde principal Sara Zewde. But in order to keep the space feeling the same way, you have to change it.

Renderings of the six-acre site depict interventions so minimal as to be indistinguishable from the photos on Google and social media. In one image, a stylish woman in a pinstripe dress and a young boy sit on top of a rail bridge covered in wildflowers (see up top), while in others the yawning coal bridge trellis stretches out toward the river in both directions.

Despite its newfound online exposure, the pier isnt easy to findsomething that Studio Zewdes plan seeks to address. Currently, visitors arriving at the pier from nearby neighborhoods Port Richmond and Olde Richmond must traverse the barren undercroft of Interstate 95 or the rail yards overgrown industrial flatlands. A big goal is to make a more legible entrance to the future park and to improve the paths alongside and beneath the coal bridge for ease of use. Access means little, however, if the pier is underwater, a real likelihood with fiercer storms and higher tides in the coming years. To mitigate potential ruin, Studio Zewde is considering seeding intertidal wetlands both to control flooding and to add a visual barrier between the pier and a massive townhouse development underway in Port Richmond.

Investments like these in Graffiti Pier, said Zewde, were the only way it could survive, essence intact, amid a changing environment and development pressures. A lot of the new development is sleek, clean, and sterile, and people said they didnt want an aesthetic that relates to a lot of the new development. And so our approach to designing something gritty, and that feels found, is a challenge to that aesthetic.

Consensus around the approach, Zewde added, mobilized artists and community groups to get involved in the planning process. The project teamwhich, apart from Studio Zewde, includes the nonprofit Delaware River Waterfront Corporation (DRWC) and the public space advocacy firm Amber Art and Designexpressly avoided the conventional box-checking approach to community outreach, in which public meetings are a rubber stamp to move projects along the pipeline. DRWC in particular hopes the relationships it has forged with Philadelphians through its decade of greening the waterfront have built goodwill and buy-in for the pier transformation.

Every project we do is for the city, not just for people who live nearby, said Karen Thompson, DRWCs director of planning. This project really has these three audiencesnear neighbors, people interested in art, and people who make art.

Shortly after winning its contract in September 2019, the team convened an advisory council with an even split among seats for community development corporations and higher-profile artists, who helped provide connections to underground street artists, who are harder to reach. Occasionally these smaller groups met in bars, because some of the street artistsowing to the illicit nature of their work and negative public perceptions of graffitiprefer a level of anonymity that would be hard to maintain at a larger public event.

Zewde and Thompson both shared some insight into the on-the-ground process: At one of the first public meetings, Thompson said, the team asked artists what they thought was the best thing that could happen at the pier (How do we keep this a place that feels found?) and the worst thing that could happen (accelerating gentrification). The G-word came up often, but she noticed it was invoked around the fear of losing a place that feels secret and undiscovered amid new development in the neighborhood.

For Zewde, being on the other side of these exercises is what got her interested in urban planning and landscape architecture in the first place. She grew up in Louisiana and, as a college sophomore, started going to community planning meetings after Hurricane Katrina hit. I was frustrated by the gap between what I knew the place to be and what the designers were saying, she recalled. That was what made me feel like I should learn what they learned and see why theres this huge gap [in understanding].

It all ties into a holistic approach toward shaping space. My research and practice are really held together by a central inquiry, an expanded mode of what landscape architecture can be, Zewde explained. It is designing places and building places that make people feel like they belong in this world.

See more here:
Thanks to a design coalition with community ties, Philadelphia's Graffiti Pier will live on as a public park - The Architect's Newspaper

Allison Watkins, Special to the San Angelo Standard-Times Published 6:00 a.m. CT Oct. 15, 2020 | Updated 12:56 p.m. CT Oct. 17, 2020

Texas A&M's AgriLife Extension Service offers several publications to help you establish and maintain a healthy lawns.(Photo: Texas A&M AgriLife)

Fall weather has come and gone several times; summer hasnt quite wanted to be done for the year. Its hard to know what to do in the yard with such changeable conditions! Now that we are getting closer to November, days are getting shorter and temperatures are not jumping up quite so high.

The first landscape task for fall is to modify watering. Homeowners with automatic irrigation systems should adjust the timers if they have not been changed for fall yet. While there have been plenty of hot days recently, landscapes are needing less water than during the extreme summer climate. The website WaterMyYard.org is a great tool to help know how long to run the irrigation system each week based on local weather.

There have been questions about a weedy grass popping up in yards KR bluestem is an invasive, aggressive perennial grass that pops up in late summer and has gone to seed this time of year. It thrives most in yards that are stressed, and not as much in healthy, vigorously growing yards. So the main recommendation for control is to mow frequently, fertilize properly and irrigate regularly through the growing season to allow the turfgrass to thrive and resist weed invasion. Pre-emergent will not provide good control since KR bluestem is a perennial plant. Keep an eye out and catch it early dig up clumps of the grass by hand before it gets out of control.

Later in the season when leaves start to fall, remember dont bag it and keep fallen leaves out of landfills. Leaves are a great source of organic matter and should be taken advantage of place in a compost pile, use as mulch in beds, or even simply mow over leaves in the grass to shred them up.

Now that its cooling down, its a great time to add some fresh bright color to the landscape with cool season annual color. Plant pansies, snapdragons, stock, dianthus, and ornamental kale for late fall and winter interest. When planting annual color, the biggest bang for the buck comes when planting in small groupings instead of spreading a few flowers out through a large bed. Plant several flowers close together in a few areas or pockets of a flower bed, or plant several close together in a container for the most color pop and impact.

Allison Watkins is the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Agent for horticulture in Tom Green County. Contact her at aewatkins@ag.tamu.edu.

Allison Watkins(Photo: San Angelo Standard-Times)

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Tips for taking care of your lawn in the fall in West Texas - Standard-Times

Marisa Y. Thompson, Southwest Yard and Garden Published 3:17 a.m. MT Oct. 18, 2020

This purple fountain grass is thriving after a single growing season, but it may not be cold hardy enough to stay alive through the winter.(Photo: Les Bender)

Question: We have a lovely purple fountain grass (planted in the spring), and I keep hearing that it will die in the winter and we would have to plant a new one each year. Others say to dig it up, pot it, cut it back, put it in the house near a window, and replant it in spring. Another view is it will be fine in winter; just cut it back in spring and it will flourish! So we are confused. I also considered purchasing a small pop-up greenhouse and putting it around the plant to fight off frost and also allow it to get sun. Any help you could give would be most appreciated.

Les Bender, northeast Rio Rancho (6,000 feet elevation)

Answer: I understand this conundrum. Conflicting horticultural advice is often an indication that theres no single correct answer. Youre right that purple fountain grass (Pennisetum setaceum 'Rubrum') is perhaps marginally hardy in your area, and is listed by several sources as being cold hardy to USDA Hardiness Zones 8 and 9, which means this species can make it through winters with temperatures reaching as low as 10 degrees Fahrenheitand still grow back in the spring.

The next step is to determine the USDA Hardiness Zones in your yard. According to https://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/, youre likely to be in USDA Hardiness Zone 7, with average annual extreme minimum temperatures (from 19762005) of 0 to 10 degrees. But its not quite that simple because 1) average temperatures have gone up, even in the past decade, and continue to do so; and 2) you may have microclimates, like up against a low west-facing wallthat get plenty of sun and stay considerably warmer than other, more exposed areas.

Marisa Y. Thompson(Photo: Courtesy)

For details on how to find and use this info in your landscape planning, check out my May 2020 column on picking the right shrub for your zone by searching my blog for the terms match maker (https://nmsudesertblooms.blogspot.com).

The rock mulch shown in your photos can also be expected to impact the microclimate by increasing daytime soil temperatures and keeping nighttime temps higher with residual heat. This may be a serious concern for our Southwest landscapes because of related urban heat island effects, continued global warming, and heat and drought stress on landscape plants. But, in terms of keeping microclimates warmer, the gravel around your ornamental grass may help it survive the winter.

I dont trust myself to keep a plant like this alive indoors over the winter. To me, the plant may be more likely to die with the combined stress of being dug up and potted, sporadic neglect while being protected inside, and being transplanted again in the spring than if I left it in place. So I cannot recommend this method. Plus, we may have an unseasonably warm winter ahead of us. Keep an eye on the weather. If a cold snap is coming, you can easily add short-term protection by covering your grass with a sheet or blanket overnight.

An important tip is to keep that beautiful foliage intact through the entire winter. This is true for other ornamental grasses as well. On top of it being pretty through the winter, the above-ground plant material provides a warming micro-microclimate (lets call it a nanoclimate) for the root zone and plant crown. In the early spring, itll be time to cut the leaf blades down close to the ground; you can simplify cleanup by tying them in a ponytail beforehand.

I joke that a title for this column could be Pain in the Grass, but its not the grasss fault. These are the problems associated with planting species that are marginally cold hardy. We have several other species of beautiful ornamental grasses (both native and adapted) that are plenty cold hardy in New Mexico landscapes. My personal favorites are sand lovegrass (Eragrostis trichodes), blue grama (Bouteloua gracilis), and muhly grass (Muhlenbergia capillaris). For more info, including links to recommended landscaping books and a video on selecting ornamental grasses for your yard, check out the blog version of this weeks column at https://nmsudesertblooms.blogspot.com/.

Send gardening questions to Southwest Yard and Garden - Attn: Dr. Marisa Thompson at desertblooms@nmsu.edu, or at the NM Desert Blooms Facebook page (@NMDesertBlooms) Please copy your County Extension Agent (http://aces.nmsu.edu/county/) and indicate your county of residence when you submit your question! For more gardening information, visit the NMSU Extension Horticulture page at Desert Blooms (http://desertblooms.nmsu.edu/) and the NMSU Horticulture Publications page at http://aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_h/.

Marisa Y. Thompson, PhD, is the Extension Horticulture Specialist in the Department of Extension Plant Sciences at the New Mexico State University Los Lunas Agricultural Science Center

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Pain in the grass: Protecting cold-sensitive plants - Las Cruces Sun-News

Alabama now has blown out the second-best and third-best teams in the Southeastern Conference, beating Georgia by 17 and Texas A&M by 28. Clemson has laid waste to four Atlantic Coast Conference opponents by an average margin of 34.3 points.

Thats your landslide 12, in whatever order you prefer. After that, it gets interesting.

Georgia earns the third spot in the SI Top 10 as much out of default as anything else. The Bulldogs were good before going to Tuscaloosa, and were good for a half once they got there. In the current barren landscapewhere we are not ranking anyone who hasnt yet playedthats enough.

North Carolina coughed up a giant hairball against Florida State and Notre Dame was unimpressive enough against Louisville that it seems fair to start a nationwide search for the fourth-best team. Why not BYU? The Cougars passed their biggest test of the season to date Friday night, roaring back to beat Houston.

The latter half of the Top 10 is similarly indistinguishable. A couple of one-loss SEC teams, a couple of undefeated Group of Five teams. And, wow, look what the cat dragged in: the only unbeaten Big 12 team, Oklahoma State, which hasnt played since Oct. 3.

Long story short, the Big Tens arrival this week is perfectly timed. There are plenty of high rankings available.

1. Clemson (50)

Last game: Beat Georgia Tech, 737Next game: Syracuse Saturday

The Tigers' offense dropped 52 points on Georgia Tech in the first half, the most in a half in school history against an ACC opponentand thats despite committing two turnovers. Trevor Lawrence had five touchdown passes before intermission, though he did throw his first interception since Oct. 19, 2019. Most ridiculous stat from this ridiculous Clemson offensive onslaught: 17 Tigers caught passes, including both of Dabo Swinneys sons. We are once again left wondering whether anyone in the ACC can even mildly stress Clemson. (Notre Dame or bust on Nov. 7?)

2. Alabama (40)

Last game: Beat Georgia, 4124Next game: At Tennessee Saturday

Trailing the Bulldogs at halftime, the Crimson Tide opened a can of beatdown in the third and fourth quarters. Huge plays by their peerless wide receivers on some nice deep balls from Mac Jones; the usual all-around efficiency from Najee Harris; and some big stops from a defense that had been taking a beating on the field and in the press. Maybe it would have been closer if Nick Saban had to stay home, but Bama still looked like the better team once it tightened up defensively and got after Stetson Bennett IV. A Joe Burrow supernova aside, the SEC continues to run through Tuscaloosa.

3. Georgia (31)

Last game: Lost to Alabama, 4124Next game: At Kentucky Oct. 31

The Bulldogs touted defense was shredded by Alabamas passing game, giving up 417 yards and four touchdowns through the air. Thats the most passing yards Georgia has allowed since 2000, when Hal Mumme was the coach at Kentucky and Jared Lorenzen was throwing it every down. The other glaring issue for Georgia: Stetson Bennett IV isnt good enough to win a shootout. The former walk-on has been a success story thus far, but he was exposed by Alabamacompleting just 18 of 40 passes for 269 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions. It might be time for Kirby Smart to turn to USC transfer JT Daniels.

4. BYU (50)

Last game: Beat Houston Friday, 4326Next game: Texas State Saturday

BYU had it easy through its first four games, and then Houston made the Cougars work for this one. Trailing 2614 late in the third quarter, BYU exploded for 29 unanswered points to win going away. It was yet another showcase performance for quarterback Zach Wilson (25 for 35 for 400 yards and four touchdowns, plus 40 yards rushing), and a defense that had trouble stopping Houston much of the night rose up to make some big plays in the final quarter. The Cougars will be heavily favored in their next two games (Texas State and Western Kentucky) before facing Boise State Nov. 6. If the Cougars run the table, they will likely be the most argued-over team from a College Football Playoff perspective.

5. Notre Dame (40)

Last game: Beat Louisville, 127Next game: At Pittsburgh Saturday

The Fighting Irish struggled unexpectedly against the 14 Cardinals. Louisville came into the game surrendering 34.3 points per game, but didnt give up a touchdown until late in the third quarter. Notre Dame failed to finish drives in the Red Zone, and its passing game produced just 106 yards. There were zero plays of 20 yards or longer through the air. This is the second straight game the Irish have trailed in the second half, however briefly. After four straight at home, its now time for Notre Dame to go on the road.

6. Texas A&M (31)

Last game: Beat Mississippi State, 2814Next game: Arkansas Oct. 31

The Aggies have still been outscored on the season, thanks to a lopsided loss to Alabama. But this was a second straight impressive performanceoffensively explosive against Florida last week, and defensively tough against the Bulldogs this week. A week after losing receiver Caleb Chapman for the season, A&M showed some playmaking depth at that position with a 51-yard touchdown reception by freshman Chase Lane. But the offensive anchor continues to be running back Isaiah Spiller, who turned in his third 100-yard rushing game of the season against the Bulldogs.

7. Florida (21)

Last game: Lost to Texas A&M on Oct. 10Next game: Missouri Oct. 31

The only place where the Gators didnt suffer any embarrassment this week was on the field, since their game was postponed due to a COVID-19 outbreak. That followed coach Dan Mullens absurd stance that he wanted to Pack The Swamp with 90,000 fans after the loss last Saturday to Texas A&M. The week ended with Mullen publicly acknowledging that he, too, has the virus. Florida is such a mess from a numbers standpoint that its scheduled game for next week already has been pushed back to Halloween.

8. Cincinnati (30)

Last game: Beat USC 287 on Oct. 3Next game: at SMU Saturday

The Bearcats own COVID-19 outbreak forced postponement of their game against Tulsa, which means they will be 21 days between games when they visit undefeated SMU Saturday (assuming that game remains on the schedule). Thats a big one for the American Athletic Conference. Cincinnatis offense has been pedestrian thus far this season, with quarterback Desmond Ridder not as dynamic as hed been the previous two seasons. But Luke Fickells team remains the best defensive unit in the AAC, and that still likely makes them the team to beat in the league.

9. Oklahoma State (30)

Last game: Beat Kansas 477 on Oct. 3Next game: Iowa State Saturday

The Cowboys game against Baylor was postponed by the Bears ongoing COVID-19 issues, so they are on the same schedule as Cincinnatithree weeks between games. The next one is one that will weigh heavily in the Big 12 race, with the Cyclones also unbeaten in conference play. Oklahoma States defense leads the conference in fewest points allowed per game (9.0) and fewest yards allowed per play (4.05).

10. Marshall (40)

Last game: Beat Louisiana Tech, 35-17Next game: Florida Atlantic Saturday

Time to show some love to the Thundering Herd, which has yet to trail in a game this season. Marshall has a top-10 defense nationally, and freshman quarterback Grant Wells continues to impresshe was 19 of 24 for 227 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another score Saturday against Tech. The Herd figure to be heavily favored in each of their remaining regular-season games.

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SI's Top 10: It's Clemson, Alabama and the Rest - Sports Illustrated