seven i feel your pain - I am going through this very issue right now. We call them the "dirt police" and I hate them. In my county, we had to post a bond for erosion and sediment control. I have been in the house for 4 months - still don't have the bond back. But I think i am close to getting it back thanks to this forum. In order for us to get the CO - we had to have seed and straw down. That was done last fall - but we were coming off a horrible drought. Some of the grass took - but we had a lot of bald spots. The dirt police allowed us to occupy - but kept the bond until we met their standards (which they do not have written down anywhere - very frustrating). 3 weeks ago, i aerated and seeded with a fescue & perrenial rye mix. I also seeded with annual rye in places where we were having erosion "issues" as they saw it - minor runoff the way i saw it (I live on the side of a mountain - water has to run downhill). The annual rye pops up very quickly with just a little water. It is cheap seed - I bought 50 pounds at Lesco for 30 dollars. In all the spots where the dirt police were picking on, I put down quite a bit of the AR. It has filled in nicely and in a few weeks I will call the DP's back and hopefully that will be the end of them. The dirt police recommended that we use Kentucky 31 grass which they like for controlling erosion (the sell it at home depot). It grows very fast and is drought resistant. I opted to not use it since it is an unattractive grass, I would have to kill it before replanting, and I had some fescue grass growing already so I did not want a hodge podge. However, if you need a lawn fast and your dirt police won't accept all rye grass you might want to think about the Kentucky 31. Our dirt police told us that they will allow a mix of rye and other grasses but will flunk us if we only have rye growing. They know it will die (after all - they are the dirt police!) I recommend calling your local DP department and make sure that they will accept all rye grass. If yes, then go with the rye since it is cheap and fast. If not, think about the kentucky 31 as an alternative and only use the minimum required to get in. Then start over in the fall. For those who don't have to deal with dirt police, consider yourself lucky. It is a horrible feeling when all you want to do is move on and these gestapo have so much control over your life. It is added pressure when you need to create a lawn and you have limited funds and time to do so. Good luck.

Well... what you need is some sort of grassy looking warm season annual that loves HOT weather... something that will sprout fast and really only live through the summer... I am in a similar dilemma.... The local feed and seed store recommended Brown millet... What they said is that you seed it right now, and then keep it cut -- It looks more or less like grass for the summer.... It also only has a 60-90 day growing season -- right through the hottest part of the summer... then it dies out all on its own... just in time for Fall grass planting season... I decided to try it out... Spread seed about 1 weeks ago, and my yard is a soft green carpet 1" tall.... Thick and healthy and lush and green and soft... Color is apple green -- kinda like Centipede. I have no idea what it will look like in a month... probably kinda like what Wheat looks like if you keep it mowed...... but right now -- it is Beautiful! So.. If this sounds like a good idea... Talk with your local Country type feed and seed store... buy a 50 lb bag of millet and plant it out about 2-weeks before your guests arrive. Set it out with starter fertilizer.. just like you would for grass... Keep it watered -- and it should grow up into a beautiful lawn looking carpet of green that will keep the kids from turning solid Orange when they run around.... It should be lush and beauiful and look like a real lawn for Wedding time... and you are totally off the hook.... The stuff I bought was pretty cheap -- like $25.00 for a 50 lb sack -- so not a big cash outlay. Or... you could drop $200.00 on sod... Thanks John

The best time to seed is usually in the fall. Sometimes that can't be done for a variety of reasons. If you seed in the spring, you're likely to lose a lot of grass during the heat of the summer. Dormant seeding is waiting until it is too cold for the grass to germinate and spreading the seed. The freeze/thaw cycles and snow melt bring the seed into contact with the soil. When it warms up enough and the ground is moist, the seed sprouts. You will probably lose some seed to birds, some to germination followed by a cold snap, and maybe some to runoff if the snow melts quickly or there are heavy rains. But you may have better results than with a spring seeding because the seed in a dormant seeding will sprout sooner than a spring seeding.

Sometimes you need to know the exact weed before you can kill it. In this case, whatever it is, it should be treatable with a broadleaf weed killer like Ortho Weed-B-Gone. WBG will leave your grass alone and only kill the broadleaf plants. Watch your overspray because most of the plants in your yard are broadleaf. You only need to mist the leaves of the weeds. WBG is not a soil drench. Some weeds take a little time to die. The Weed-B-Gone works by hyperactivating the growth hormone in the plant. It dies by exhausting it's energy reserves. So it will look healthy for several days...and then it's dead. Unfortunately it is too late to seed for this year in your area. Once the weeds are gone, you will be left with bare soil which will attract more weeds. This is especially true if you seed in the spring. You might try dormant seeding to help 'densify' the turf. With dormant seeding you seed in the winter hoping that the seed will sprout early before the weed seeds are sprouting.