Get your hands on a sample of that compost and look at it and smell it. If it feels like good, rich earth and smells like good, rich earth it is good to use.

Our municipal compost is full of pieces of wood as large as 6 inches long. It also has been turned over with a front end loader so there is a LOT of regular soil mixed in with it. It can still be used (after screening out the big pieces), but I would not pay top dollar for it.

Your soil test will come back and tell you that you need organic matter. They all do. Have you read the Organic Lawn Care FAQ? There is a lot of info in there that can help you get onto an inexpensive organic program. I don't know about you but I don't want to spend the gross national product on an "experimental" lawn care program. The organic plan I detailed in that FAQ is not experimental to me but it is to you if you've never tried it before. Just get started with my program, and you can worry about tweaks and mods to make it your own program after you get a feel for how it goes. Most newbies are very surprised at how dark green the grass turns. I am still surprised...every year.

Thanks for info dc. I am eager to get started.My one ? is I read you should fertilize in spring when lawn just starts to get green. Is it too late or does it matter when I get started?

You can use organic fertilizers any day of the year and it works okay. I like to start 3 weeks prior to the historical 'last frost' date for my first app. Then I fertilize on the federal holidays because they are easy to remember. Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor Day, and Thanksgiving.

Rutgers lawn care bulletin says you probably only need to fertilize in late summer or early fall and again in late fall, and maybe if the lawn is not good and healthy in late spring. Compost can be spread any time of year, but not more then 1/4 to 1/2 inch at any one time. Grasses grow in the spring, really grow, and really do not need an early spring fertilizer application.

just out of curiosity, whereabouts are you located? just curious as to where they are offering the compost .. I'm in Gloucester county and I'm sure they have some here, but I haven't tracked it down yet.

I live in hamilton square,central nj. Hamilton has a recycle center on kuser road. You can get free mulch and compost.

dchall, thanks for the link to the faq again. i've been reading and reading here and i have a couple of questions specific to my area in southern california that i was hoping you could answer. i keep reading in this forum, "apply cgm (corn gluten meal) when the forsythia start blooming". but if i'm correct, i don't think forsythia bloom here! so when am i supposed to tdo the first cgm application (to fight preemergent weeds)? also, you mentioned you like to start your program about 3 weeks before your area's historical last frost date. i had to google it b/c i don't even know if we GET a frost, and apparently in LA, it's JANUARY 28!! so am i supposed to start my fertilizing on new year's day (although it does meet your qualification as a federal holiday...)??? any thoughts? thanks!