We've had close to record rainfall in Indianapolis this spring, so I haven't really had to water at all yet. When I watered last year, it took about 4 hours with a sprinkler to get a tuna can full of water onto each section of the yard. With the drought last year, I watered a couple of times a week, since it was the first summer for the grass. I over-seeded last fall & again this spring, so didn't use any pre-emergents. The lawn was filling in great, with just a few bare spots. I was super excited because I have the worst soil imaginable. We're the last street in the subdivision & I think my yard contains all the back fill from all 800+ houses here! In the fall of 2011 I cleared out all the weeds & rubber mulch left by the previous owner &spread yards of a compost/topsoil mix over the existing dirt before I spread the seed. It was a miserable job, but finally having a lawn made it worthwhile. Then I came home to a yard that is half brown, dry & dying. From your reseeding comment, I'm guessing i'll have to live with it now & that's my best bet for a lawn NEXT summer. Should I dethatch it before I seed to get rid of the dead stuff? Will aerating it help? I'll try anything at this point!

rlembke, 30 days after seeding is a great time for another shot of fertilizer. Seems like the main two choices (if you are not already on a organic program) are TB with iron or starter fert. However I actually decided to use the miracle-gro lawn food. I did this on day 34 and will do it 2-3 more times, 2 weeks apart. There are a couple of reasons that I chose to go this route. 1. I want the lawn to get as thick and green as possible before winter, so I think that a fast release fertilizer is the best choice. This is a mild application, 2.5lbs of product x 36% nit. = .9 lbs. of total nit applied over the roughly 3400 sq ft area. (or roughly .265 lbs per 1000 sq ft.) You can do this every 2-3 weeks. 2. I still do not get that warm fuzzy feeling walking on the new lawn , so with this I do not have to.

Actually I a somewhat new to this growing my own lawn thing mysel and have huge prblems with weeds. A month ago I put don weed and feed at the same time as putting down new seed (all scotts brand) and here I am a month later with all kinds of new pretty grass coming up everywhere and no new weeds coming up. I pulled the majority of the weeds out first and then carefully selectivly sprayed the foxtails and crabgrass with roundup. So far this has worked for me so don't give up. Make sure the soil is always some what moist and your grass seed will still grow.

I suggest seeding in late August or early September. Do a soil test now and get recommendations on lime and any other nutrients your soil needs. You can make amendments this spring and summer to help prepare. Lime, if it's still needed, can be applied every 90 days during the growing season. You could work on killing weeds now or wait until July if you want to kill everything for a fall renovation. You may just want to do an overseeding. If you want to work on weeds now, use a pre-emergent when the forsythia blooms. Use an amount that will wear off by the time you want to seed (read the directions). Use a broadleaf weed killer later in the spring when the weeds are actively growing. If you want to work on weeds later, just mow them this spring and then use Roundup to kill everything in July. Water lightly each day to encourage weed seeds to germinate and a few weeks later kill them again. If you don't want to kill everything but just want to overseed, use selective weed killers this spring and summer as needed and pay attention to how long you must wait until you can seed (read the directions). Sow seeds and water lightly and frequently, gradually decreasing frequency and increasing the amount as the grass comes in. As far as fertilizer, you could do an application in late May, then an application at seeding in August/September (starter fertilizer), then another application (normal fertilizer) in October, and a high nitrogen one after the grass stops growing but before the ground freezes (maybe around Thanksgiving). Do not fertilize in early spring. Keep any lime applications two weeks from any fertilizer. Straw would go on top of the seeds when you seed. All this is assuming you have a cool season grass. What kind of seed will you be using? Are you using good lawn practices for mowing and watering? Don't cut off more than 1/3 at a mowing. Water deeply and infrequently. When you seed, do not use a weed and feed fertilizer as it will keep grass seeds from germinating. In general, use weed killers for weeds and plain fertilizer for fertilization instead of a combination product.