Actually, I'm sorry to recommend tightening the purse strings in such an economy but you might recommend if she attend religious services or some type of social club to ask for someone in her neighborhood at those functions. They are liable to have simply applied too much weed killer in an area and killed the grass. As her friend monitor the service for her and help her make new arrangements if need be. Since I've been on disability I have a budget so tight that every time I need to buy something I think it over, over and over. And furthermore, before I moved into this house (by the way I save money compared to government HUD rent and will own this house in 15 years although most home buyers lucky for me scoffed at this house as it's not a new one and requires minor improvements) I lived in government HUD apartments and the government housing professional caretakers were frankly a negligent disaster. In fact the Somerset Housing Authority lost a 3 million dollar law suit after they had residents pleading to remove a large unstable tree but they ignored the pleas and the tree fell on an innocent pregnant woman and killed her. They actually have the nerve to appeal the decision but I expect they'll loose. In my time there I had to complain repeatedly about the neighbors dropping heavy things all day and night on my ceiling and infesting the apartment building with bed bugs! I also called the police on several occasions. I witnessed professional exterminators come in a spray a squirt or two of insecticide in the apartment knowing that was useless. I told them about trees and plants growing to the apartment gutters where the grounds maintenance was so negligent and a year later no change. I watched the meter readers fabricate false meter readings for both electricity and natural gas. I had to go to their office and challenge the false readings. I had to good to their office and file complaints against the exterminators. I had to go to their office and file complaints against the neighbors. I eliminated the bed bugs and roaches myself by cutting off the central heat and not using the gas stove for 3 months and washing everything multiple times, including the inside of the vents with Pine Sol. The roaches and bed bugs simply avoided the cold and Pine Sol and stayed in the neighbor's apartments that weren't killed by the Pine Sol and lack of food not that they need much. The above are 'services' from college educated professionals in service to the US government so help out your neighbors when you can. A university professional isn't smarter than you. They are simply educated in a niche that you aren't. And look at US government in Congress and the President and Wall Street and tell me you're going to listen to them and accept everything they say automatically? No way! They sound like the banal comments section on YouTube or 1/2 dozen other web sites. And these lawn service give people with no experience and often no real interest in horticulture jobs caring for lawns simply because they applied for work. Lots of times you don't get what you paid for.

OK Lou, I have an update on my grain hunt. I did a search on Google and found a feed store that stocked SBM this morning. In fact, I bought 50 lbs today for $14.23 locally. I also bought molasses (Grandma's) at Wal-mart, so tomorrow I'll apply the molasses to the entire lawn. I don't have an Ortho dial sprayer so I'll mix 2 ozs per gallon and treat 1000 sq ft, use a basic pump hand sprayer and hope for the best. None of the feed stores that I spoke with stocked CM, so I'll continue to buy the Quaker Oats brand at the local store until I find an alternative. I took a close look at the blades of grass that has the yellowing and noticed that the grass blade was green (give or take a few) except for the tips. I also noticed that the majority of the new growth if not all inspected was green. This was very encouraging since I started to wonder if the initial alfalfa treatment was contributing to the discoloring. I must admit that I'm a little lost since I've applied alfalfa, 10 lbs per 1000, CGM 10 lbs per 1000, and CM approximately 4 lbs to the problem area 150 sq give or take 50. I think I'm going to hold off on applying anymore grain until I see significant improvement on the damaged area. skoot_cat, I repositioned the sprinklers so that each one (there are 3) is shooting into the lawn. The configuration that I was using originally had 2 shooting into the lawn overlapping the one that was in the middle covering 360*. I noticed the 360* area is the same area that has the discoloration. The test on the original configuration showed that I get 1 inch of water in 2.5 hours but the center got 1 inch in 1.25 hours. The center was definitely getting over watered. The new configuration has each sprinkler covering a specific area with minimal overlapping and an inch is achieved in 2 - 2.5 hours. I'll see how this works for a while, but the coverage is actually better with minimal wasted water. skoot_cat, you're breaking my heart regarding the CGM. I'll have to drop another $31.00 plus gas. That's $62 bucks and I'm not sure if the results will be worth the money. I haven't read where you guys are truly convinced that CGM is a great pre-emergence. Thanks Biggz :)

It looks like a Stinking Robert/Stinking Bob (Geranium robertianum) to me. It's pretty invasive in the PNW. Here is a link that might be useful: Stinking Robert info

If you can find a pronged rake or hoe. I use an old 5 tined hand held tool that came with the house and a curved pitchfork like long handled tool called a potato fork/rake. The tines of the potato gaget curve down from the long handle. Both tools I run under the surface and lift. This will help with plants that have runners or fiberous roots. Another good tool is to go to a second hand store and get a used carving knife. Use it to stick in the ground and move around plants with tap roots. You can cut the tap root on many far enough below the surface that many will not return.