"When to fertilize? the grass is starting to green up"

If the grass is greening up, you can fertilize.

"Do you think it will come back?"

Maybe. If the grass he trampled dies, that grass won't come back, but if you have a spreading grass like KBG, it should fill in.

"Any problem with that? Or will they fill in in short order?"

The spots are from nitrogen burn. If you have a spreading grass, they'll fill in again.

"I want to use a pre-emergent but I have a couple areas that are thin. am I Ok to rely on the tillering of the grass to fill those in? That isnt affected by the preemergent right?"

Check the label to make sure the grass is mature enough to use a pre emergent. I think the recommendation is to wait until you've mowed three times before using a pre-m. If the grass spreads through tillering and not through rhizomes, it isn't likely to fill in bare spots. Grasses that tiller tend to produce clumpy lawns over time unless they are overseeded periodically.

"is it normal that some areas are just greening up quicker than others?"

It could be. Soem areas may get more sun and warm up sooner. The soil could be in better shape in some parts of the lawn, etc. I wouldn't expect it to be too pronounced, except for areas that get a lot of shade, but you could ee uneven greenup.

is it normal that some areas are just greening up quicker than others?

Sure is.

My front yard is up and green now. But my backyard (which is a monostand of Midnight II) is just as you described. Parts are awake and other parts are not. Be patient. I suspect Midnight just takes a bit longer to wake up than Moonlight and Bedazzled.

Here's a pic of part of the backyard taken Saturday.
{{gwi:85349}}

Thanks for the update. BPLawn, I think I'm getting confused. Are Rhizomes the ones that spread underground and pop up? I mowed the lawn a half-dozen times last fall, so I want to use a preemergent this year to stop the crabgrass !!

I would prefer you wait til the second week of May to fertilize, especially if you fertilized in October or November. At least let it green up completely before if itching too badly to wait a full month. LOL

A shameful reminder.....

1. Get a soil test. Call your nearest county extension service for a test kit and details. It will likely take two weeks for results. If you need to apply sulfur, lime, or any other amendment per test recommendation (that is not applied in Step 6), you can do it after seeding if you don't get results back in time.

2. Apply that "R" word stuff and again one week after the first application. You can seed the lawn one week after the second app.

3. Scalp it down
4. Rake it up
5. Core aerate (or cheat with Nitron A-35)
6. Fertilize
7. Sow seeds
8. Topdress 1/4 inch layer compost, peat moss, or clean straw (weed-free).

9. Irrigation schedule
water 15-20 minutes twice a day for two weeks
water 20-30 minutes once a day for one week
water 30-45 minutes once a day every other day for one week
water 30-45 minutes once a day twice a week for one week
move into deep irrigation, increasing the time to provide 1 inch of water all over and decreasing the frequency to just once a week.

Starting off, the schedule supplies roughly 1/4 inch of water, then increases that amount while decreasing frequency of application at the same time. Like practically everything that concerns lawn care, this schedule is a general guideline and should be modified to accommodate your specific conditions. The lengths of time should be modified if you have an automatic sprinkler system since that will not take as long to provide adequate moisture. So, decrease amount of water (time) but maintain frequency as is. The tuna cans test is recommended. If it is still especially warm, you may want to irrigate 3 times a day (10-15 minutes if necessary) for that first couple weeks. Your objective is to keep the upper 1 inch of soil moist and not let the seeds dry out.

Baby the grass for the rest of year. Once the seeds begin to sprout, don't walk on it if at all possible. First mowing is when the new grass reaches two inches.

***************

Remember that? Not to scold, but the words were to be taken literally and seriously. Just walking on it was potential damage by itself (even while dormant), but dogs don't walk like we do. They scratch, dig into, and rip whatever surface is underfoot. But the lawn was not a surface, at least not yet. While the grass had developed a root system, it was a very shallow one. I don't think it a predictable conclusion. Whether it recovers remains to be seen. If you have seeds left over, I'd get them down just to be safe. Give it a few more days first to see if it will green up.

You can use Tupersan pre-m though it is very expensive. Scotts has a Siduron and fertilizer combo.

Mallory knows more about good fertilizing schedules than I, so I would listen to her and wait a bit before fertilizing.

Tillers are very short underground shoots that basically sprout a new grass plant right next to the existing plant. So the plant spreads outward, but very slowly. Most fescue and rye grasses tiller.

Rhizomes spread horizontally from the plant before sending up one or more shoots to form new plants. KBG is an example of a grass that spreads via rhizomes.

Stolons are similar to rhizomes, but stolons are above ground. Also, I think Rhizomes continue spreading and may have multiple plants sprout from a single rhizome, but a stolon produces a single plant at the end. Strawberries have stolons. Buffalo grass is an example of a grass that spreads via stolons.

The watering schedule Mallory is suggesting is not necessary. The seeds and the soil just needs to be moist not drenched. The seeds can easely washed away as well. You don't want the water to puddle, just keep it moist.

I always do it by hand 2 to 3 times a day during the fall, I don't seed in the spring.

Compost will be best for top dressing, weed-free straw in very hard to find at best. I will stay away from peat moss because it's very acidic in nature (about 4.5 or less) you dont want that.

As far as fertilizing, don't wait any longer. If you haven't fertilzed your lawn since October or Nov. it's got to be starving unless you have rich soil.

Organic program is the best, but leave that for the second year while you get the lawn established.

Get a soil test like Mallory said, and make sure your soil PH is at the optimal range (6.5)for KBG.

-Xavier

Bestlawn,

I remember that post well (it was my bible)

Anyway, no one walked on it until i had already done half-dozen mowings. Once the ground froze over and we had snow, that was when I stood on the front porch and tossed his frisbee across the front yard.

I'll get some pictures and you can tell me what you all think later.

I'm not sure about all this advice I'mg etting for new seed as I have a full lawn already :) I replanted all my grass last August :)

Auteck, you might not have understood the purpose of my post. The OP is not concerned about watering new seeds or keeping the soil moist.

Let the grass green up on its own. It stored carbohydrate reserves from your late season application and uses that in spring. Your grass is not hungry at all. Fertilizer isn't necessary until late spring, which is also the reason you don't want to use the combo fertilizer/pre-m product. It has to be applied early for crabgrass prevention, but that's too early for fertilizer. It is naturally emerging from dormancy right now and growing new shoots. Rhizome activity will begin when temps warm up. Fert too soon forces emergence and top growth, which causes stress to the grass plants and will impede rhizome activity. You're already wondering if it will fill in. Take my word for it.

I meant to add that Turf Toes' Midnight in his backyard is the way most lawns around here still look. Some of them haven't greened up that much yet. We are having a very late spring after a long winter with the most snowfall and the most number of snowfalls in a long time. Seems like a lot of the northern country is late. Just give it time to see.

+1 Bestlawn and Turf_toes. I'm further south than you are in PA and my lawn is considerably patchier than Turf_toes'. It'll green, but it'll take a bit of time yet. A first-year lawn isn't going to perform as well as early as an older one would, either--those roots are still thin and winter reserves weren't what they will be in 2008.

Waiting to feed is best, but if you're like me (impatient, impulsive, and durn it, it's April and you are going to feed), then use Milorganite. At least it'll tap out slowly and work with the grass a bit more, plus it won't be available for at least a week absolute minimum. Even then, it waits until temperatures are nicer.

I live in New England (Southern Maine) and found that I needed a follow-up aeration and seed in the Spring after I started the new lawn to get the lawn 100%.

I hear people say "seed in the fall" but in New England, I think that is not really the case.

If you have pine trees around, I will almost bet your yard goes acidic every year and can use a shot of lime. Mine did and I used 40#/1000 sq ft. every year and my pH was always around 6.50 to 6.80.

My first feeding was around tax day in Spring. I eradicated all crabgras and thus did not require a pre-m. By mid-summer I would hand pull the few CG plants that managed to pop-up.

Now I just need to figure out how to dial in my lawn down here in the Carolina's. I swear I can actually hear the weeds growing in my yard right now :)