If you've got the time (to sprinkle the seeds and seedlings), go ahead and re seed now, with more KBG. You're going to lose a few seedlings, to the summer heat. Can't be helped. But obviously, more will survive than die.

Fertilize again (make it about every thirty days), with Milorganite. That will keep the KBG spreading outward, growing like crazy. But at this time of the year, the poa annua is dying, and the crabgrass is becoming visible, big, and large, and becoming a perfect target for one well-placed shot of RoundUp (from the squeeze bottle).

Use Milorganite through the summer. But don't use Milorganite in the fall: there are certainly cheaper ways to get a big amount of Nitrogen onto that lawn. In the fall (October, and then again in November, for you and me: I'm in mid-Michigan) we want a big-number fertilizer. 30-1-2, or 28-2-4, (notice that big first number? 30, or 22, or 25, compared to Milorganite's measly "6"?) BIG first number means BIG nitrogen. I am NOT going to put down five applications of nitrogen just to get up to thirty on the first number of nitrogen.

But in the fall, you want BIG nitrogen. In the fall, Milorganite ain't it. I love that stuff for June, July, and August. But not for the fall fertilizing.

Good luck with it.

Thanks Philes for the differentiation between Milorganite and other fertilizers. I am glad I asked. That is exactly what I needed to know. Thanks also for explaining the fertilizer numbers. I knew it had something to do with chemical makeup but I still didn't know what I need to use when.

I have been reseeding the bare spots. Now that its been narrowed down to just a few areas in the yard I can more easily make sure they are watered regularly.

You are right...we have lots of crabgrass. What is poa annua??

Jennie

Poa annua= annual bluegrass

It is a nasty, light green, clumpy, annual weed that produces enough seeds to choke a mule.

"BIG first number means BIG nitrogen. I am NOT going to put down five applications of nitrogen just to get up to thirty on the first number of nitrogen."

I'd like to expand the above comment. The three numbers on fertilizer bags represent the percentages of N-P-K by weight. For example, a 20 lb bag of 30-1-2 contains 6 lbs of nitrogen (20 lbs x 30%). 100 lbs of Milorganite 6-2-0 also contains 6 lbs of nitrogen (100 lbs x 6%). Normally, I try to apply 1 lb of N per 1000 sq ft per application in the fall.

Synthetic fertilizers are less expensive than organic fertilizers on a per lb of N basis. For example, I purchased a 50 lb bag of urea 46-0-0 last year for $12. That's 23 lbs of nitrogen for $12. You would need about 385 lbs of Milorganite for an equivalent amount of N.

I can buy Milorganite on sale for about $7 per 40 lb bag. Working out the math, the comaparison is $12 using urea or $70 using Milorganite. Both will yeild 23 lbs of N (enough for a 1/2 acre lawn).

-Deerslayer