Hou30, You have potential for a very nice lawn there. It looks like you have the most common northern lawn. Probably a mixture of unimproved KBG, unimproved tall fescue, rye, and some fine fescue. What I suggest for you is to fertilize immediately with one bag of Milorganite. You will need a spreader. Buy a good quality broadcast spreader, as you will be using it several times a year from now on. In preparation for overseeding, reduce your cutting height down to one inch. On Labor day weekend, overseed using a rented slit seeder or you could rent a core aerator and go over the lawn North South then East  West, a couple times and then spread your seed with a broadcast spreader, again N  S then E  W. My preference would be to use the core aerator. Fertilize again with Milorganite and then keep your lawn damp until the new grass is established. Avoid cutting the lawn until it is very tall then mow it at the highest setting on your mower. Carefully remove fallen leaves from your lawn, many of which can be mulch mowed back into your lawn being careful not to smother it. Next spring  Spread pre-emergent crabgrass/weed preventer when the forsythia is in bloom. And then maintain your lawn using proper cultural practices as often mentioned on this forum. Milorganite is an organic fertilizer and will not burn your lawn at normal spreading rates. Be very careful with chemical fertilizers not to burn or stripe your lawn. Sweep fertilizers and seeds off your pavement and sidewalks, Nice brick walk by the way. Good luck with you new home, lawn and gardens. Bill Hill

Bill,

Thanks for the feedback! Speaking of Milorganite - I just back home with a bag of it as well as a broadcast spreader!

Do you have any suggestions as far as seed blend/brand etc?
As far as fertilizing with Milorganite after overseeding, is that something that I want to do immediately after (ie. same day)?

One additional issue: got my soil results back and the lawn is definitely in need of lime. How would you fit that into the overall plan?

Thanks again!
David

David,
For you I would suggest Galaxy blend of KBG for your overseeding. It is available in a 10 pound package which is exactly the amount you need. As far as fertilizing. You can do it the same day, or a few days later as long as seed has not germinated. I actually mix my seed with milorganite and spread it all at the same time. If you are going to lime, Do it right away. 50 pounds on your lawn now and if necessary another 50 next June 1. Resist the temptation to go cheap with your grass seed. Hardware and big box stores DO NOT have quality seeds worthy of your lawn. Water your lawn every day until the new growth is established. An alternative to overseeding would be a complete kill and renovate with elite cultivers of KBG. This could provide the highest level of lawn performance. Bill Hill

Congrats on the new home and welcome to the board.

As far as the lawn goes, it is looking pretty good already. The dead blades you see there aren't "thatch," they are just dead blades of grass. Basically, that is what happens if you have a hot summer and don't water enough to keep it all green. No biggy though - when the temps drop and rains come it will green back up.

As far as where to go from here, you could overseed if you want. I think you will be surprised at how much it will improve if you just fertilize, rake it up and let the temps drop a little though. August is basically the worst your lawn is going to look for the year.

David, I want a test patch. Something out of the way, and from your picture, between the shrub and the tree with the orange tie on it would be perfect. Lay it out with those cheap tent stakes from the sporting goods section if you have to, but give me a patch 10' by 10', mostly square.

Fertilize that square first. Just that square. A hand held whirley spreader (you're going to need one, so go buy one, they're nine bucks) will be fine. Nice and even, but just that square.

Now fertilize the whole lawn (and I'm sure one bag of Milorganite isn't enough, for what we see in the picture. Two bags minimum, and if there's more lawn that doesn't show, add more.) and fertilize right over that test square, just as if you hadn't fertilized it at all. Nice and even. Straight rows.

Sure enough, you have now fertilized your lawn, with what you think is enough, and one small section, that test square, has more fertilizer than the rest of it. Compare the two in thirty days. Also, compare the two in 45 days, because the main area may be fading, and the test area not yet fading. But my guess is that you're still learning about fertilizer rates for your particular lawn, and the test square will surely help. If that test square looks significantly better at three weeks, fertilize the WHOLE lawn again, including that test square. Now, (you math major, you) you will note that the test square has three applications, to the rest of the lawn's two applications. Compare, again, three weeks later. If there is a difference, if that test square looks more 'maximized' than the whole of the lawn, you're just not putting down what needs to be put down yet. It's a learning process. You are going to be putting down the neccessary fertilizer to maximize the performance from that lawn. And if you overseed with elite cultivars of KBG, those cultivars need (yes they do) MORE fertilizer than a regular lawn, at least for the first two years.

But at least the guy who sold you the house didn't kill the lawn. It could be much worse. (Look at Scott504's post, titled 'Lawn Renovation Advice'). But the guy who sold you the house is a Suburbanite.

A Suburbanite is a guy who's going to fertilize the lawn. Once. Because he heard that you're supposed to. (And, in your case, he probably only did it because the home was going up for sale). So a Suburbanite may fertilize once in the fall, or he may not do it until spring arrives, he doesn't care. And he doesn't care if he gets the right amount down. But he's sure he's going to cut it back a tad, because he doesn't want to 'burn' the lawn. And believe me, he won't. Neither get the right amount down, nor burn the lawn.

And the lawn will not thrive. The little grass plants will just barely be hanging on. And look a lot like what you have now.

You need to feed that lawn 'regularly'. That means every month or so, a half-application, (every two weeks would be better, if you want to 'maximize' and behave like a sod farm. But have you looked at a sod farm lately? Compared their grass to yours?) with Milorganite, and a big dose of nitrogen in the fall. That means a big-first number fertilizer, like a 24-X-X to Milorganite's 6-2-0. Or a 28-x-x, or a 30-x-x. But that's for the fall. In spring and summer, it's gotta be Milorganite.

You're learning, and you'll get there. We'll help.

Do you use milorganite in place of fertalizer, or just as a supplement?

philes21,
So does this mean MilorGanite every two weeks @ half recommended amount for all of spring and summer and then a big Nitrogen Fertilizer like A Scotts Super Turf Builder in the fall 30-3-3 after a good aeration and overseeding?

Why is it not recommended to put down a lot of nitrogen in the spring time then? I only say this becuase Scotts Halts with Crabgrass preventer has a big Nitrogen number (30%). Should I not be using this then? Maybe just put down some Milrganite and some straight pre-emergent like Green Lights portrait weed preventer and crabgrass preventer? What should I do for springtime fertilization?

I prefer only giving the big-first-number fertilizer in the fall. I have even put down 2 applications of big-first-number in the fall, one at the end of September, and one at the end of October. But if it's a big-first-number, I only use it in the fall. When I've had to put down pre-emergent, I've just used the pre-emergent, w/o the added fertilizer.

In the spring, and summer, I use only Milorganite. But I do not put any Milorganite down in July anymore, but that's because my lawn is established. With a couple of lawns I've seen here on the forum, they need the Milorganite even in July, which is fine, Milorganite won't burn the lawn, and it will deliver a gentle nitrogen, and some iron.

I've not had much trouble with crabgrass. With the lawn up, and pushing, and spreading aggressively, crabgrass really can't keep up. An occasional plant is spotted (preferably before it's healthy enough to seed), and zapped with a carefully aimed shot of RoundUp from the hand squirter. Don't panic. Yes, it leaves a little dead area. The lawn fills that little spot in, in nothing flat.

I have had trouble with poa, every year. Some years I appear to be winning, some years the poa appears to be winning. On my prior lot, my home before we moved here, I had outstanding success with over-pre-emerging the lawn (a couple of applications in the late summer and fall, and another in the spring), because poa germinates in late summer, or fall (both) and those live seeds over-winter, and then sprout in the spring.

But the poa can't compete very well, either, with a 'maximized' KBG. The poa will be dying by July 1st each year, and be fully dead by the second week in July. That KBG is still maximized, and still pushing outward, spreading, and forming a dense dark green canopy over everything. Good luck, little poa seed, whether you germinated or not. Ha!

billl - thanks for the welcome. happy to be here and learning for you all! so you don't think I have a thatch problem huh? I see what you are saying... there are some (few) areas with thick layers but mostly it is blades of dead grass. When I rake over various areas, I can build up some piles pretty darn quick.

Would you just recommend that I do a thorough job of fertlizing, rake up whatever dead grass there is, water and wait? I'd like to have a thicker, more full lawn of grass and that was why I was thinking that overseeding maybe helpful.

David

philes21,

Wow - now thats a LOT of good info! You were absolutely right - 1 bag of Milorganite was NOT close to enough... But I do have a silly "newbie" question in regards to that. I have a Scott's Standard broadcast spreader - according to Milorganite's site, it seems like I should set it around a "13", but that did not get me very far at all with the first 20#. So I did dial it down to a 9 before doing the rest of the lawn. Part of my problem was that I didn't realize the swath was 5 feet wide!

So your suggestion would be for Milorganite, every 2 weeks for spring and summer at 50% dose. Wait till fall (Oct or so?) for a big nitrogen dose! Great.

Do you think my lawn would benefit from dethatching, aerating (neither of which has been done within the last 5 years) or overseeding (and if so, what seeds?)

Thanks again!
David

You can't, at this moment, pick out what's not going right.........because none of it's going right.

Let's give it a year. A season. "OK, everybody up, everybody at 'em. Spread, turn out dark green, crowd out some weeds, let's get busy here. Busy!" And everybody's doing the best that they can.

At that point, at that very point, you can easily pick out who's not doing their share. You can solve their problems at that time. But now? Nobody's doing their share. You can't pick out the problem areas easily.

Give it a season with high fertility. Then pick out your problem areas, if any.

it seems like I should set it around a "13",

I smile when I read that on the bag. I set mine at 5 and do two passes--east/west and again north/south. That works out to around 15 lbs per thousand square feet, or 0.9 lbs of nitrogen per thousand square feet.

That's about right for a lawn feeding every 2 months or so--my spring shot. Summer I dial down to a 3, very late summer up to a 7.

Milorganite is wonderful stuff. What it can't do is break down very well when soil temperatures go under 55 degrees (around here, that's October).

After that, for my winterization feeding, I use either synthetic winterizer or (gag) Scott's Turf Builder. All that nitrogen goes into the roots for winter survival and spring green-up.

Do that and you also don't have to feed until late May. The grass has everything it needs for the early season when you shouldn't feed it anyway.