Wow! Big difference with the photos! I agree, this forum lacks some features. Your lawn actually looks really nice, and it looks like it took the summer pretty decent other then the couple of dead spots. Those really shouldn't be a big deal to fix. Fertilizer from the seed super store is expensive. For your situation, almost anything will do. You could have the soil tested but it doesn't look worth it. To clarify on the aeration, I would recommend renting an aerator, and running it over the yard 3-4 times before overseeding, especially focusing on the dead areas. Before you do that cut the grass super short at roughly 1"-1.5" and bag it as well (this is part of the overseeding). Let me caution you that those aerators are extremely heavy and awkward. After seeing the larger pictures, don't till the dead patches up, there's enough good grass to save. If you really don't want to do the short mowing and aeration, I think you can probably skip it, and try it without. However, I think you will have best results if you do. You're right about the small lawn! That's smaller then I thought. 10lbs. would be an ample supply to you and your neighbor. :) Honestly, after seeing the larger pictures, every picture I see looks like you have fescue. It's too thick bladed for bluegrass. It is a short cut for fescue. Having it cut taller may help the water problems next year. Your yard looks like it's in pretty good condition. You can make seeding just as complicated or as simple as you please. It doesn't look to me like it needs tons of help to catch back up. If it were me, I would cut it short, aerate (I have an aerator, which makes it easier for me), seed (fescue), fertilize, then water, of course. Should take a morning, or less. Stick with it!

The longevity of seeds greatly depends on how they were dried and stored. Bill Cullina, author of "Growing and Propogating Native flowers of North America" says that seeds should be dried for several weeks after collection until the moisture content is 3-10%. One would assume that commercial seed companies have thoroughly dried their seeds before selling them. Regarding storage, he writes "The other way to slow down the aging process of the your seed is to refrigerate it. Metabolism involves chemical reactions that are greatly slowed as the temperatures are lowered to near freezing, and air-dried seed stored in paper envelopes in the refrigerator will stay viable FIVE TO TEN times as long as seed kept at room temperature." I have had great success germinating seeds that are 10 years old or older, by storing seeds in open ziploc baggies in a drawer in the refrigerator, with dessicants thrown in the baggies and the drawer.

Many people on this list use more than one year old seed. I have seen posts claiming 7+ year seed germination. I think someone posted a while back that they found a partial packet of pepper seeds in a drawer that were at least that old an they germinated fine. The key is to make sure they are good and dry before storing them. They are commonly stored in small envelopes at room temp. Some refrigerate them. But I think the biggest issue is ensuring they stay dry or you might experience a mold problem or them may try to germinate while in storage. I have used two year old seed with no problems at all but I have only been growing peppers for a few years. I started out storing mine in small envelopes but now I store mine in capped test tubes with a small pack of desiccant to control moisture. I then keep them in the dark at room temp or slightly cooler temps. I am sure others will be able to provide their experiences as well. But you should be able to store seed for several years with little effort. Bruce

Hi, Shelf life is dependent on the species, seed collection(making sure seed is completely ripe before harvesting,) and storage(cool, dark, and dry.) Most seeds will have a high percent of germination for a few years(many in the 5 year range)if they were good to begin with. Some seeds can last quite a long time before the seeds begin to degrade in quality. There's a few types of seeds that do not last or must be stored in a specific way to keep viable. Woodland spring ephemerals. Many of these need to be sown immediately or kept moist in a cool environment until ready to sow. Fruit seeds like of apples or pears need to be kept in the fruit and then winter sown. Citrus fruit needs to be sown immediately after removal from the fruit. Some plants are often said to have a shelf life of a year like onion seed, but I've sown seed in the onion family that is a couple years old a few times now and been successful. I'm betting viability drops a lot after the 3rd year. For really long term storage, freezing is an option. A few things must be done to be successful with freezing. First seed must be really dry so leaving out for a few weeks before packaging to freeze is important. Then when removing from the freezer, you need to let the container come to room temperature before opening, or you will kill the seed. Remy