I think the weed killer in the fertilizer may interfere with the grass germinating. It's generally safe to use on lawns, but only after they're established. It's kind of late to try to seed a lawn, anyway, so maybe your best recourse is to try to get the weeds under control between now and when the temperatures start to drop and reseed then. The best time to reseed is probably sometime between August 15 and September 15.

Well, I think that is your cue - that fact that the area that the landscaper took care of is healthy. Just a guess, but I wouldn't be surprised if he's done more things differently then you have done, then just those little white balls. My understanding is that you can't seed St. Augustine, so I'm not sure how that worked for you. I would recommend talking to your landscaper to see what his recommendation is for you. If we are to help figure out why your lawn is dying, I'm thinking we will need pictures, and information about all the applications that you have done. Maybe your landscaper could tell you information such as both of the types of grass that you have, how you should fertilize, etc.

Okay--reporting back the results, so far, of my extreme measures taken in eradicating 'Southern Blight' on several of my hosta! The one-eyed crown I removed from the 'Golden Sculpture', unearthed and removed all leaves, cutting the crown back severely, and soaked in a bleach solution for an hour and then changed off the water every two days--is doing great! The remaining eyes, in the original pot show no evidence of the 'blight', with that eye removed! I did spritz full-strength bleach on the soil surface of those left in the pot, as well. So far, the one-eyed crown is producing 5 additional eyes and three of them are already sending up leaves. So far there is no sign of the 'blight' on this one, (these eyes) either! Now--the 'American Icon' that I also dealt with severely, and did not unpot, but in this case I just sprayed straight bleach on the base of the petioles, and surrounding soil, and left it on for a couple of mins. before pouring on a good amount of water--so far, so good! I've also sprinkled corn meal on the soil surface and watered it in well! The 'S&S' and 'Titanic' I treated in the same way and also have added corn-meal fairly heavily and watered in--so far, so good! Lost almost all the petioles and eyes on those, but one eye (that was decimated) is sending up a small leaf! They did get repeated straight bleach sprayings after pouring on the 10% solution seemed to not be working! The 'Alex Summers' planted in a raised bed--I removed on Thursday and also removed all the soil and soaked over-night in a 10% bleach solution--I have rinsed and soaked a couple of hours in plain water and potted them up, divided with cornmeal also heavily applied. Every leaf is turning a bright orange! On the one pot of 3 eyes I have just, today, cut the petioles back severely. I've left them planted to see what comes of it! The other two eyes are potted and I'm letting them play out the dying off of the leaves, in hopes they will also reflush! I started out with one eye of this one, from Hosta Direct, and had 5 eyes this year--3 summers later!!! I really am not very hopeful about those two! The roots looked so fragile when I removed them from the bleach water!! I've also done the same thing with another hosta that has shown the nematodes--my 'Maui Buttercups'!!!! I'm just sick about that one, especially! I started out with one eye two summers ago, and now I had three this year! It was looking so good! I also dug it up yesterday--removed all the soil, all leaves (cut them to the crown) and separated all three eyes and soaked them overnight in bleach water! They, too, looked fragile this morning! I've potted them up--set them apart from all other planting areas and will keep a close eye on them for a couple of years. I did test a leaf in the water, (that was also soaked in bleach last night) as I do with any nematode infestation and there seemed to be no 'nematode' life evident, today! How far reaching was the bleach in effectiveness on the nematodes, remains to be seen. And, will the hosta in both situations, having been soaked overnight in bleach 8-10%, survive and thrive--will also remain to be seen! Oh, I got the idea to bleach for nematodes from 'Pietre'! :o) I'll keep you posted--whether you want to know or not! ;o/

Noobs generally are off by several months in timing their lawn projects. Most are off by 6 months, so you're way ahead of the game. You're just off by 2 months. There is a thing called frost seeding where you put the seed down after there is absolutely no chance of any of it germinating this season. Usually that is December of January. That seed will germinate early in the spring and give you a half a shot at having a lawn last longer than July. Most spring seeded lawns die out from the summer heat leaving behind crabgrass...and the weeds you already have. That's why darktower suggested waiting until August. You might be able to kill off your weeds with a spray using Weed-B-Gone Chickweed, Clover, and Oxalis killer. It's a stronger formula than the traditional WBG. If you have grass still in there the WBGCCO should leave it alone. Since you're a noob, here's the 1-2-3 of lawn care as I have put it together after many years reading many forums. 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.