Get the cornmeal (or cracked corn) down the week the grass starts to grow at the rate of 10 to 15 lbs per thousand square ft. Follow with alfalfa pellets (rabbit food)in a week or two at the same rate. Then use soybean meal each month until October. Do not try to save any of the ground grains as that could give you rodent, insect and stink problems. Your grass will look so good, your neighbors won't believe it.
Bill Hill

I agree with Bill. Every month with soy is probably overkill, but you really can't hurt anything by overdoing an organic program.

Are you mowing at the mower's highest setting? You mentioned lush. Lush usually refers to tall grass. Tall grass has a lot of benefits so if you are not mowing high, you can change that.

Thanks for the encouragement.

We have a "house lawnmower" (provided by the landlord for use by both tenants), so whatever height it's set at, we're both using the same one.

I am wondering about aeration. This is something I haven't ever bothered with anywhere else, but does anyone think it's actually useful?

The soil is fairly heavy. Not total clay, but closer to clay than anything else.

The neighbors actually do water on their side. They have a sprinkler that goes off every day on a timer... including days when it's actually raining. I laughed myself silly one day, watching the sprinkler running over there during a rainstorm. But seriously, I have always thought that daily watering is ill-advised, because it encourages shallow roots. Is that a myth? Maybe I should set up a sprinkler, but it kind of goes against my values, which are that during rainy years the sky should be enough and when there's a drought, we shouldn't be taxing the well.

Every other lawn I've had was self-sufficient. I can't remember ever watering or fertilizing one, and I've lived a lot of places and never had a problem until now. I guess it's because I never felt the pressure before. When I've rented previous apartments, the landlord's always dealt with it. And when we lived in houses, no one was complaining.

Right now things are still thawing out there, so I take it it's too early to start with the cornmeal, but I'm hoping to see crocuses in a week or two. Should I wait til the grass looks fully awake, or should I get out there the moment there's any sign of life at all?

"eriously, I have always thought that daily watering is ill-advised, because it encourages shallow roots. Is that a myth? "

Not a myth at all. Frequent watering encourages shallow roots and it also encourages weeds. It's really best to water once a week, but water deeply so that the grass develops good roots.

Start by contacting your local office of the Univesity of Massachusetts USDA Cooperative Extension Service about having a good, reliable soil test done for soil pH and basic nutrient levels and also dig in with these simple soil tests.

1. Structure. From that soil sample put enough of the rest to make a 4 inch level in a clear 1 quart jar, with a tight fitting lid. Fill that jar with water and replace the lid, tightly. Shake the jar vigorously and then let it stand for 24 hours. Your soil will settle out according to soil particle size and weight. A good loam will have about 1-3/4 inch (about 45%) of sand on the bottom. about 1 inch (about 25%) of silt next, about 1 inch (25%) of clay above that, and about 1/4 inch (about 5%) of organic matter on the top.

2) Drainage. Dig a hole 1 foot square and 1 foot deep and fill that with water. After that water drains away refill the hole with more water and time how long it takes that to drain away. Anything less than 2 hours and your soil drains too quickly and needs more organic matter to slow that drainage down. Anything over 6 hours and the soil drains too slowly and needs lots of organic matter to speed it up.

3) Tilth. Take a handful of your slightly damp soil and squeeze it tightly. When the pressure is released the soil should hold together in that clump, but when poked with a finger that clump should fall apart.

4) Smell. What does your soil smell like? A pleasant, rich earthy odor? Putrid, offensive, repugnant odor? The more organic matter in your soil the more active the soil bacteria will be and the nicer you soil will smell.

5) Life. How many earthworms per shovel full were there? 5 or more indicates a pretty healthy soil. Fewer than 5, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service, indicates a soil that is not healthy.
Together the results will help guide you in making a good, healhty soil that will grow strong and healthy plants.

Here is a link that might be useful: UMASS CES

I did have a soil test last year. Your tests are good ones, and I could already tell by looking that it's acid, clay, low in organic matter. I did the lab test because I wanted to know if it had lead in it (and there is... presumably because of runoff from the house, which is 200 years old). So, I can't plant vegetables except in containers.

It's not that I need info about the state of the soil, it's more that I need to figure out what to do about it. UMASS doesn't give organic recommendations.

So, what is your soils pH?
What did that test say about the level of nutrients in the soil?

That UMASS did not give recommendations about how to correct the problems organically is not surprising if you did not ask for them. Many others that have used the UMASS soil test labs have gotten such recommendations from them, when they asked.

[your favorite land grant college name here] doesn't give organic recommendations.

The organic recommendation is always the same. "Add organic matter."

Infrequent deep watering and mowing high are the first two elements of good lawn care. If you are not watering and your neighbor is, I think I see the problem. Now it is up to you to decide. Do you water or do you hang your head in shame for another year. You could also add a little compost (1 cubic yard per 1,000 square feet). That helps retain water in the soil. Do that in the fall for best results. Aerating can help if you really go after it. Do that in the fall when you apply compost.

You might secretly do some maintenance on the mower and raise the deck. Raise it one notch every week to let the grass grow up to the height where it will be mowed.

The thing with the watering is that they did it every day. I thought that was bad practice. And since it was raining several times a week I didn't think it made sense to water it myself. I will do it if I have to, but it seems wrong to me. The first dry year we have, it will all die because the roots will be too shallow, and you can't water like that during a drought. Here in New England, conditions vary a lot from year to year, so it's smarter to be prepared with a moderate approach. So, no, I really don't want to water it every day like the neighbors. If it rains heavily once or twice a week, I think that a healthy lawn shouldn't need more water than that.

I'm kind of hoping that fertilizing will fix the problem. More protein, healthier microbial life, and yes, I will aerate.

The truth is, the other houses have lawns that look like my half of the yard. It's just my water every day and put down Scott's stuff co-tenants that have the different look.

Maybe we're all growing the wrong type of grass. Actually, I think I'll look into that angle, too. It's a sunny area, and maybe whatever's there is more suited to shade. Or maybe they overseeded with a different variety on the other half of the yard. I know the landlord said my half hadn't been tended much by the previous occupants.

I like the idea of raising the blade. I think I'll see about doing that, too.

And I'll dig up the soil test and maybe call UMASS and ask about organic recommendations. At the time, I was more concerned with the lead issue and not the lawn, so I asked for a vegetable gardening report. There wasn't anything on the order form that indicated organic suggestions were an option, but it's great to know they'll do that if you ask. If things don't improve, I guess I can send in for another test and ask for a lawn report this time.

Thanks for all the support. I am determined that it will be greener this year, within reason.

The watering rule (deep and infrequent) must be tempered by the weather, soil, and humidity. Certainly if it rains an inch one week, you don't need to water. If it rains a quarter inch, you probably need to water 3/4 inch. You are exactly right about the shallow roots from frequent watering.

I think I'm going to set up a rain gauge, to take all doubt out of the picture this year.