Oh, I hear you, and am feeling the pressure! I've been delayed in purchasing seed because I was distracted by that concrete removal project of mine. I just finished the initial grading of the new soil where the walkway was late this afternoon and started watering it (and the rest of the lawn/weeds) right away. Sure, that may promote fungus, but I am only watering it to encourage my weeds and weedy grass to grow strong to make it easier for the Roundup to take it out, so if a fungus ends up killing some of it, well thank you fungus! Yes, I did something very similar to Bestlawn's "fallowing" advice last year, and it worked well. Except I didn't use Siduron/Tupersan and won't make the same mistake this year. I mean, the annuals eventually died, and the KBG took those areas over without any trouble this spring, but FF doesn't have those same abilities. So I will be using tupersan for this project, without a doubt. The problems I am confronting are weeds and grass that need to be destroyed, uneven grade, compacted soil, and some new soil that has not settled yet, with (presumably) new weed seeds, but which also will become compacted due to how I am treating it. I'm approaching this by watering the grass and weeds and new soil to get the best results with roundup, starting tonight, trying to get the new soil as settled as possible before seeding (by watering, tamping, and walking on it), then applying the roundup, then running a power rake, with flails, over the whole area, mostly to loosen the top inch of soil enough to help me rake to grade, then liming with that JG calcium product (my pH is abysmally low) then watering again for a week, then applying another dose of roundup, then raking up the garbage, core aerating, fertilizing with starter plus tupersan, seeding with a handheld whirlygig seeder, rolling with an empty steel roller, and then setting up the sprinklers such that I can start watering 3x/day on a timer. No topdressing. The topdressing I used last year (pennmulch) IMHO did not do much of anything, and given the shade I have on this lawn I can't imagine that evaporation will be much of a problem. IMHO topdressing (which I used to do every time) is unnecessary if you can water appropriately, and that is much easier to do in shade than in full sun. What I have in mind is overkill by most standards - there is usually no reason to both power-rake and core aerate. But I am trying to solve two different problems: bumpy grade and serious compaction. And on just 1200 square feet, I can rent each machine for just a half a day with time to spare, and the cost doesn't amount to much given the benefits. Whoa, I'm sorry to go on and on like that, and I hope something in there was germane to your post. ;-) Paul

Combat Extreme is still doing pretty well in my lawn. I've also tried Lesco's Tri-Gold and Lesco's Teammates Plus. Teammates Plus was just last fall, so it's too soon to tell much. Tri-Gold has some very nice dark green. If doing a total renovation, the color would be really impressive. I overseeded, so I have some areas where the darkest varieties did better, so my color isn't all that even. (Doesn't bother me that much, but may bother you.) Combat Extreme's cultivars had a narrower blade, more like KBG. These blends all change cultivar year-to-year, or even during the season, so your mileage may vary.

What a great idea!!! I am the one who started that other thread (about alfalfa meal/pellets), and although I have found a place to buy a smaller size bag of it, I love the idea of the hand truck - since all my plants are in pots, and I do a certain amount of moving them around (searching for the perfect place that each plant will love), this sounds like the answer to my prayers. I remember that last year my sister (with whom I live now) and I discussed getting a child's wagon as a means of getting the bags of potting soil (also heavy, but only 25 Lbs.) from the car in the front yard to the garden in the back yard. But we never did it, because that still didn't get around the problem of lifting the bag into the wagon. Of course, we'd still have to lift it out of the car, but anntn chimed in here with the idea of having the store people place the bag on a tarp in the car - that would help on that score. So, sunnysideuphill, I'm clipping your post to my clippings file, because I also love all the different things you use it for. Thanks!!!

You should wait to fertilize until you've mowed the lawn at least once, or 30 days have passed since you put seed down.. Which ever comes first. Mow when it's 3 inches tall, and cut it to 2.5 inches. After that, I would not mow it until its 3.5 to 4 inches tall, and I would not cut it below 3 inches. I would only fertilize 0.5 lb of nitrogen per 1000 sq ft the first time you feed the new lawn. For example, if you have a 12.5lb bag of 32-0-10 fertilizer, there are 4 lbs of nitrogen (12.5 x .32 = 4) in the bag. If your lawn was 8000 sq ft, you could apply the entire 12.5 lb bag and achieve the desired rate of 0.5lb/1k sqft. (4lbs / 8ksqft = 0.5 lb N per 1ksqft) If your lawn was 4000 sq ft, you would apply half the 12.5lb bag and achieve the desired rate of 0.5lb/1k sqft (6.25 lbs of fertilizer * 0.32=2 lbs N.. 2 lbs nitrogen / 4ksqft = 0.5 lb N per 1ksqft) if your lawn was 2000 sqft., you would apply only a quarter of the bag --- 3.125lb. (3.125*.32=1 lb N.. 1 on N / 2k sqft = 0.5 lb N per 1k sqft) After you have mowed four times, you could think about applying a weed control product. Use a pump sprayer and spot treat. It's pointless to spray entire yard if ther weeds are only in some areas. about 4 weeks after you have fertilized at the half pound rate, you could probably doma follow up using a full pound rate.