Wow. Now I think I see where yardtractor1 got his question about the Sustain product. Sorry if I went the wrong direction on that. Classic thatch conditions. Too much water and too much fertilizer. Here are the basics of lawn care. Normally I would not post these except for someone new to lawn care, but you're "in violation" of some biggies. The result is the thatch, disease, and poor color. Basics of Lawn Care After reading numerous books and magazines on lawn care, caring for lawns at seven houses in my life, and reading numerous forums where real people write in to discuss their successes and failures, I have decided to side with the real people and dispense with the book and magazine authors. I don't know what star their planet rotates around but it's not mine. With that in mind, here is the collected wisdom of the Internet savvy homeowners and lawn care professionals summarized in a few words. If you follow the advice here you will have conquered at least 50% of all lawn problems. Once you have these three elements mastered, then you can worry about weeds (if you have any), dog spots, and striping your lawn. But if you are not doing these three things, they will be the first three things suggested for you to correct. 1. Watering Water deeply and infrequently. Deeply means at least an inch in every zone, all at once. Infrequently means monthly during the cool months and no more than weekly during the hottest part of summer. Do not spread this out and water for 10 minutes every day. If your grass looks dry before the month/week is up, water longer next time. If that does not work, then you might have to water more than once per week during the summer's hottest period. 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. You will have to learn to judge when to water your own lawn. If you live in El Paso your watering will be different than if you live in Vermont. Adjust your watering to your type of grass, temperature, humidity, wind, and soil type. It is worth noting that this technique is used successfully by professionals in Phoenix, so...just sayin.' The other factors make a difference. If you normally water 1 inch per week and you get 1/2 inch of rain, then adjust and water only 1/2 inch that week. 2. Mowing Every week mulch mow at the highest setting on your mower. Most grasses are the most dense when mowed tall. However, bermuda, centipede, and bent grasses will become the most dense when they are mowed at the lowest setting on your mower. In fact there are special mowers that can mow these grasses down to 1/16 inch. Dense grass shades out weeds, keeps the soil cooler, and uses less water than thin grass. Tall grass can feed the deep roots you developed in #1 above. Tall grass does not grow faster than short grass nor does it look shaggy sooner. Once all your grass is at the same height, tall grass just looks plush. 3. Fertilizing 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. Follow the directions on the bag and do not overdo it (unless you use organics in which case you may overdo it without fear of hurting anything). At this point you do not have to worry about weed and feed products - remember at this point you are just trying to grow grass, not perfect it. Besides once you are doing these three things correctly, your weed problems should go away without herbicide. So for right now I would stop watering and let the soil dry out. For the thatch I would spray it with liquid molasses at the rate of 1 gallon per acre (3 ounces per 1,000 square feet). Molasses will feed the bacteria and fungi that decompose thatch so that they multiply and, hopefully, take care of the thatch without the machine. If that does not work, then you can still use the machine in the fall. You should be able to buy molasses at wholesale rates at a farm and ranch co-op (not a normal feed store). The co-ops sell products by the pound. Molasses fluctuates but runs about 10 cents per pound. A gallon is a little more than 10 pounds. Bring your own container (milk jug or liquid laundry detergent bottle is fine). Here's something else I just wrote about watering. Watering: Deep and infrequent is the mantra for watering. This is for all turf grass all over the place. Deep means 1 inch all at one time. Put some cat food or tuna cans around the yard, and time how long it takes your sprinkler(s) to fill all the cans. Memorize that time. That will be the time you water from now on. My hose, sprinkler and water pressure takes 8 full hours to fill the cans. Your time will likely be less. I like gentle watering. As for watering frequency, that depends on the temperature. With temps in the 90s, deep water once per week. With temps in the 80s, deep water once every 2 weeks. With temps in the 70s, deep water once every 3 weeks. With temps below 70, deep water once a month. Note that you have to keep up with quickly changing temps in the spring and fall. This deep and infrequent schedule works in Phoenix and in Vermont, so it should work for you. The reason for deep and infrequent is to grow deeper, more drought resistant roots and to allow the soil to dry completely at the surface for several days before watering again. If it rains, reset your calendar to account for the rainfall. I think you'll see a big improvement just fixing the water. The Sustain product is not a great organic, in my opinion. I'm assuming you use the one with turkey litter and feathers. Since you have so much room to play with, you might do a test to compare that product with something like alfalfa pellets (rabbit chow or chinchilla if you can get it). The application rate is 15 pounds per 1,000 square feet. Put them down side by side with some sort of marker to be sure which is which. Give them both a month to work and see which you like. If you want to get rid of the fungal spots, try ordinary corn meal, not corn gluten meal. Call your local feed stores or co-op. It comes in 50-pound bags and should cost well under $10 per bag. The application rate is 20 pounds per 1,000. Corn meal is also an organic fertilizer, so expect to see some greening where you use the corn. Corn works by attracting a beneficial, predatory fungus which decomposes the disease fungus. You should see improvement in 3 weeks. You can apply any and all of these materials on the same day, rain or shine, if you like. If you have questions about what I've written and/or where I conflict with other things you've read or heard about organics, please write back. I have reasons for my opinions...and I'm always willing to listen and learn.

Europeans get a lot of moss in their yards for some reason, hence the verticutting & scarification. We Bermuda owners know that bare dirt is the key to getting Bermuda to spread. For other grass types like you probably have, that may be a different story. If you're seeding I believe bare dirt is required for proper seed-soil contact.

Heed the wisdom. It is sort of ironic that Scott's wants to sell you more product but they put that warning on one of them. Seed should be put down in the fall. You missed your chance last year. I realize they sell seed now, but now is a bad time to put it down. Tomorrow is worse and it gets worse and worse until fall. Now is a great time to prevent crabgrass, though. There is a lot more to the conflict between spring seeding and weed control, but the best thing you can do at this point is take good care of what you have. That alone should minimize the weeds. 2) No. You don't need to dethatch. Dead grass below the live grass is normal. There is also the possibility that you have Kentucky bluegrass which is still dormant. So it might look dead but it will come back. Let's all cross our fingers for that. That would mean you don't need more seed, because KBG spreads to fill thin spots without reseeding. Fescue and rye grass do not do that. 3a) Watering: Deep and infrequent is the mantra for watering. This is for all turf grass all over the place. Deep means 1 inch all at one time. Put some cat food or tuna cans around the yard, and time how long it takes your sprinkler(s) to fill all the cans. Memorize that time. That will be the time you water from now on. My hose, sprinkler and water pressure takes 8 full hours to fill the cans. Your time will likely be less. I like gentle watering. As for watering frequency, that depends on the daytime air temperature. With temps in the 90s, deep water once per week. With temps in the 80s, deep water once every 2 weeks. With temps in the 70s, deep water once every 3 weeks. With temps below 70, deep water once a month. Note that you have to keep up with quickly changing temps in the spring and fall. This deep and infrequent schedule works in Phoenix and in Vermont, so it should work for you. The reason for deep and infrequent is to grow deeper, more drought resistant roots and to allow the soil to dry completely at the surface for several days before watering again. If it rains, reset your calendar to account for the rainfall. 3b) Mulch mow at your mower's highest setting. 3c) Fertilize on Memorial Day, Labor Day, and Thanksgivingish. Once a year I would use an organic fertilizer in addition to, or instead of, the first two applications. I went completely organic after trying it once, so you might have the same experience. 3d) Spot spray weeds in mid April. Use something like Weed-b-Gon or Weed-b-Gon Chickweed, Clover, and Oxalis Killer. Don't use a granulated herbicide as it is a waste of herbicide and a soil contaminant. 3e) Don't use an insecticide unless you have insect damage on your lawn. Just because your neighbors use a preventive insecticide every June, don't fall for that. 3f) Get ready to reseed if you need to in August. Then do the reseeding in September (in NJ). That gives the grass time to come in and for you to evaluate whether you need more seed. 3g) The last fertilizer application of the year is a winterizer. It should be a high N, fast release product. Wait until the grass has stopped growing but before it goes totally dormant. The idea is to push nutrients to the roots without stimulating new growth, so the grass has to have stopped growing for the year. Then next spring your lawn should be one of the first to awaken. 3h) If you have hard soil when it is moist spray with shampoo at a rate of 3 ounces per 1,000 square feet. Any clear shampoo will work. Follow that with 1/2 to 1 inch of water to get it down into the soil. After 3 weeks you should see the soil getting softer after it rains or when you water. 3i) Don't get tempted to topdress with soil or sand. That will change your drainage in ways you don't want. 3j) Proper watering (3a, above) is the single most important thing on this list. If you don't get that right you will run in circles with this product or that and with aeration and dethatching when you don't need it.

Looks like I asked a bunch of questions and didn't wait for the answers. As for Lisa, she has a northern lawn, so no, dethatching for her would not go well in the summer. I think bermuda in northern AL makes sense. Some may say that is the transition zone, but with the Earth warming, you are going to like having the bermuda. Lawn care is usually as easy as watering, mowing, and fertilizing. Sounds simple but if you do it wrong it can look bad and cost you a lot to fix. You have to water and mow anyway, so you may as well do it right. Here's your kick toward becoming a bermuda expert. Generally watering is done deeply and infrequently. That approach works like magic in many ways. One is that it keeps the soil cooler down deeper into the soil and helps to slow evaporation from a hotter soil. So the moisture will remain available to the grass roots for a longer time. It also stimulates deeper root growth by putting the moisture down deeper. It also creates the perfect temperature and moisture environment for the soil microbes which help keep your grass green and thriving. And the last benefit that comes to me right now is that infrequent watering helps prevent spring weeds by not keeping the weed seeds moist all the time. Deep watering means 1 inch all at one time, not spread out over the week. You can test your sprinklers by placing cat food or tuna cans around the yard and timing how long it takes your sprinklers to fill the cans. Memorize that time and that is your new watering time for every time you water. Infrequent watering differs depending on a lot of factors. The dominant factor is the air temperature followed by humidity. In the summer with temps in the 90s, the grass should do well when watered deeply once a week. In the early spring with temps in the 60s, you can water once per month. Early spring is a critical time for weed seed germination. This is especially a problem with crabgrass in the South. Crabgrass and bermuda enjoy identical care, so you don't want the crab to get started. Seeds need continual moisture to germinate, so if you are only watering once a month, they will never get enough water to sprout. Of course Mother Nature usually has a say in what She wants to germinate, but that does not mean you have to help the weeds along. If you can be assured by your weatherman that a good spring rain is coming, you should use a preemergent herbicide before the rain event. These events usually affect most of the US with a huge band of storms stretching from Canada to Texas, so just watch the weather and you'll know. You should use a preemergent when the forsythia starts to bloom in your neighborhood, so the rainstorm app would supplement the forsythia app. If you happen to get a few weeds, then April is the time to spot spray those with something like Celsius. Celsius is an expensive herbicide, but a little goes a very long way. If you want to have a really nice bermuda lawn, then just get it. I'm in the low mowing camp for bermuda. If you want it to get a little taller in the summer, fine. Just don't raise your mower all the way up. Taller bermuda seems to be thinner (less dense) and allows weeds an opportunity to enter. Mulch mow. If the clippings seem to be collecting on the surface, go over it again until they are mulched fine enough to drop into the turf. This will not cause thatch but will help fertilize the grass. As for fertilizer, bermuda can take all you can give it. You can start in the spring after you have mowed real grass (not weeds) for the second time. Fertilizing before that is a waste of money, because the roots are not ready. But after that you can fertilize with a high N fertilizer every 4-6 weeks throughout the growing season. This will keep the lawn dense, deep green, and growing fast enough to mow once or twice a week. If you want to back off in the spring you might not need to mow 3 times per week. I like organics for all the time, but if you go with chemical fertilizers all the time, I would strongly recommend you use an organic fertilizer at least once per year. This could replace a chem fert or go in addition to the chems. Organic fertilizer works completely differently from chemical fertilizers, and will help to keep your soil working well with the chemical fertilizers. If you want to use organics all the time, there are people having success using soybean meal or alfalfa pellets on a monthly basis at 15-20 pounds per 1,000 square feet. You cannot overdo organic fertilizers, especially on bermuda. As for dethatching, bermuda likes to have the stolons sliced, and spring is a good time to do that. Any time the bermuda is growing fast is a good time, so all summer long is fine, but spring is the fastest. The slicing stimulates spreading and improves density. The slicing also happens to bring up lots of chaff that resembles/replaces dethatching. You can blow that stuff away with a leaf blower. As for core aerating, I would never core aerate bermuda. Golf courses will tine aerate, but they have very specific disease issues they are dealing with when they do that. Cores are ugly, and I believe if you are watering correctly, you don't need to core aerate. There's no point in it. The soil should be soft to walk on after you irrigate and firm up by the time it needs to be watered again. If you have soft soil like that, then aerating is unnecessary. If your soil does not soften after watering, then you might spray it with shampoo (3 ounces per 1,000 square feet) and give it 3 weeks to soften up. This goes hand in hand with deep watering to encourage the soil biology population. It is the beneficial fungi in the soil which soften it for you. You can repeat the If you are tempted to overseed your bermuda in the winter with annual rye to keep a green lawn, please dismiss that idea. The winter grass seriously delays the awakening of the bermuda. I have seen bermuda set back for an entire growing season because they could not stop the rye in the spring. Golf courses and sports complexes overseed their bermuda, but they have access to herbicides that home owners cannot get to kill the rye in March. Spray it green if you must, but don't overseed. If you have a hybrid bermuda like Tiff 419, a very common "builder grade" bermuda sod, then do not overseed with any bermuda. Tiff 419 is one of the best turfgrasses you can get. The reason it is builder grade is that the grass farmers realized in the 1960s that it was going to be popular. It can be had anywhere for $50 per pallet. The hybrid bermudas are a mutant type of bermuda. They do not get seed heads like common bemuda does. The seeded varieties of bermuda are all the common types and will give you seed heads in about 5 days after mowing. If bermuda thins out, that is almost always due to not getting enough sunlight, and no amount of overseeding will help that. If the grass thins out, it is likely you need to remove the bermuda and put in a shade tolerant flower bed. Do this successfully for a few years and you will be the expert.