House was new construction this Spring. I have about 20000 sq ft of actual seeded lawn. Seeded 5/21 and had crappy results as the first week we had very warm temperatures followed by weeks of heavy rains and abnormally low temperatures. My yard was put in using 4+ inches of loam and power raked prior to being seeded. Loam bed was super smooth. I think the really cool temps made germination more difficult than the rain itself. Kentucky bluegrass will try your patience but it's worth it once you get there.

Initial soil test showed pH at 5.2. Second soil test 2.5 months later showed pH at 6.1 Lime was put down at 60 lb/1000 sq ft to get that intial result. I just limed again to get the pH over 6.5

My phosphorus was extremely low and even after using 19-19-19, my second soil test still has me below optimum. the soil test recommends 3.0lb/1000 sq ft of phosphorus to get to the optimal level. That's nuts but not uncommon in New England as I have come to find out. I've fertilized at 7 lbs/1000 square feet of nitrogent this year. I expect to be at 3.0lb N /1000 next year once my pH and phosphorus are optimal. The N this year has just been making up for the nutrient deficiencies.

My organic matter was 4.4% so after another season of mulch mowing and core aeration I expect to be over 5% which is optimal.

I core aerated & reseeded on Labor Day weekend. My front lawn is better than my rear lawn due to its slope and the heavy rain from this spring. The rain porked me but the grass thickness is coming on strong after over-seeding this fall. That will be my focus next season. I also have some annual bluegrass that I've been going after with my weedhound. I'll be using an agressive pre-emergent stratgey in spring to eradicate its return.

For seed, I used the SS5000 blend from Seedsuperstore for establishment and then used SS1100 for the overseed this fall (bedazzled, bewitched, midnight 2). I really like the blades of the kentucky bluegrass and the deep green color. Also, Dale at seedsuperstore is wealth of knowledge and actually helped me with some concerns. He gets a two-thumbs up ranking from me.

The soil was infested will ragweed this summer so I had to hit it with Weed-B-Gon Max to knock it out in early July. My allergies were going nuts. I'm sure a tiny bit of it will return given how much there was. I also hit the lawn with MSMA in early August to get on top of the crap grass that came in. The MSMA did a nice job of taking out the crabgrass but the lawn did yellow substaintially for about 2 weeks. I think this will put me ahead of the curve next season.

My "score" of the season was an end-of-season sale going on at Lowe's where bags of Sta-Green "Crab Ex" was on clearance for 37 cents a bag. No lie. I bought every bag left on the pallet (about 15 I think).

I have also put in over 300 shrubs/trees/perenials and about 150 bulbs in the ground. Landscaping was not in my contract because I wanted to do it myself. I'm a tired pup.

This is house number 4 for us, so I've had tons of experience with how to grow and kill grass and everything in between. I'm still learning. I've actually had a neighbor tell me that "life's to short" to spend so much time and effort on my yard. They don't get it.... This is a fun hobby and I get a ton of satisfaction in making my property aesthetically attractive at the same time.

This last week we've had multiple days of hard frost so the top growth is done and my lawn season is officially over *sigh*. I'll be putting down 10-10-10 fertilizer today before the rain and bring in my hose reels to seal the deal.

Hope something I posted is of value and/or interest to someone as I've gleened some good info from this site.

I picked up a landscaping book that I also want to recommend. It's titled 'Northeast Home Landacping' by Roger Holmes and Rita Buchanan. Excellent plant guide for plants in New Englad with a ton of design ideas.

I also can not speak hihgly enough about the Earthway spreader. If you have a large lawn, it's worth every penny. The big rubber wheels, higher handle, tough as nails whirly thing in the bottom are all top notch. It throws pulverized lime with easy and the product flows without having to keep banging spreader around to get it to flow. RIP to my old Scott's spreader.

Here's the house around the day of intial seeding

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And here it is about 3 weeks ago. Too lazy to take new shots.

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Read yard at seeding

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Rear Yard now

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Second shot of rear yard showing thin spots. This is a few weeks after the overseed. It was way worse before. Front and rear yards get same light exposure and have near identical soil test results. I think I may have to get more seed down next year to get it 'perfect'. We'll see.

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See the burned spot in the front? That's where I tipped over the spreader while picking something up off the lawn :) That area is REALLY lush now.

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