OK, quick situation rundown and then my questions:

1. I have an irrigated 40,000sq foot (approx) lawn which is a 33%ea KBG/Fescue/Rye blend. This was hydroseeded in May. I applied a starter fertilizer at the end of June and again at the end of July. I have a LOT of crabgrass - particularly on the hilly portions of the lawn where the grass is much thinner. I have been pulling as much as I can but I think I am on the backend of this battled. I have mowed the lawn a total of five times so far. I mow it at the highest setting my riding mower allows - which is 4". All clippings are mulched. I try to stick to the 1/3 rule but I did have more than that once and I ended up with clumps on the faster-growingareas which I picked up and tossed. I was watering daily but have recently cut down to every other day. I still need to put out some cans or something to help me measure the actual water. I think my soil is mainly clay..ish. Its very rocky under the topsoil.

My question here is what do I need to do this fall? My goal is for next year to have a nice, thick, lawn; with minimum crabgrass. I do have quite a few bare spots as well from the sprinkler system install (stupidly, I did this post-hydroseeding - I thought I could handle watering that size lawn with a hose. BAD idea.

Here is what i gathered so far: Comments are appreciated:

1. I should rent a slit-seeder (do they have them at home depot?) to do overseeding in the fall. Questions: when in the fall? Are we talking late August, or early October?

2. My lawn is very sunny for the most part - I wanted to overseed with KBG from what I have read the look of that is a lot better than the mix I have right now. I think if I overseed with KBG I will end up with a nice mixture between the combo I have now.

3. What about the crabgrass? Have they already seeded the lawn? (Its mid-July here) If so, do I need to do anything in the fall to prevent the CB from being there next year?

4. As a first-year lawn, I really don't see any thatch yet, and I am assuming this is not a problem. (i.e. no dethatching required)

5. Aeration - should I aerate the lawn the first year? I am assuming "no", because the grass is so new.

6. I haven't sent my soil for testing, but I did check the pH, I think it was somewhat low. I spread a bag of lime around but I don't know that that really did much of anything. The lime really sucks coming out of the spreader - I think I put a single bag on 40000 square feet.

7. Do you need to top-dress the yard with anything after slit seeding? (e.g. peat moss or something?)

8. What happens when you seed in the fall? Will the seeds actually germinate and then go dormant right before the winter?

Thanks for all the help !