When should I start mowing my grass? Should I let it get thick long before cutting? Will cutting earlier help it expand into bare areas, or is it better to let it get going? Set your mower to the highest position and mow when the grass is tall enough. Fescue grass does not spread like you are thinking, so it doesn't matter what height you mow at for that. If you want it to spread you should seed some Kentucky bluegrass. When do I feed my grass? Should I feed differently for the front and back yard, as one is only a few months old while the other is a year old? Is a standard 10x10x10 fertilizer sufficient? In the spring the grass is going to 'take off' whether you fertilize or not. If you fertilize before the grass has gone through that initial flush of growth, you will be mowing 2-3 times per week to keep up with it. Memorial Day is an easy day to remember to fertilize. If I used chemical fertilizers I would probably use whatever was easiest to pick up locally. If you were more serious about the yard you would get a soil test to determine more precisely what the numbers should be. Should I apply another dose of lime to the soil? Is it possible to over-lime? The soil is very red naturally You really can't know the answer to this without a soil test. If you could over lime then you would have my soil. I live on the edge of a limestone quarry and have 100% limestone rubble and dust under my grass. There are issues to having too much lime, so yes, you can over lime. Why are some areas growing so readily already, while others are lagging behind? I've noticed the spots at the low end of the slope are by far the healthiest, is this because the soil is richest there? The spots that are growing are probably slightly warmer than other spots. Reason unknown and there are a lot of variables. Should I apply some new seed while its still cool outside for the bare areas, or is it better to let the existing grass take over the bare spots itself? The existing grass will not cover. Weeds will. You could put some Kentucky bluegrass seed in the thinner areas and hope for the best. I have 2 dogs that I have fenced off from the backyard, so whatever we do, I need it to be able to stand up to the stresses of 8 little legs running around on it this summer. I don't want to use a weed killer that targets everything, because I am perfectly happy with some of the coarser weeds that will stand up better to wear and tear. Appearance isn't that important to me, as long as its green and can look somewhat neat with weekly or biweakly mowings. Am I wrong to think that some weeds will actually help improve the durability of my lawn? Is it better to treat? Or can I just let it go "natural" for added stability? Since you said 'little legs' I'm assuming the dogs are Yorkie sized. If they are lab sized, then you have no hope for a lawn, but with small dogs you probably can...with Kentucky bluegrass. Letting it go natural means weeds to some people but with your open mind, green is green. That's pretty good. Normally I would encourage you to plant Dutch white clover but the white flowers attract bees that your dogs might not appreciate. You might just let it be and see what develops. Green is green after all is said and done.

Nine times out of ten when someone asks this question, it goes back to rototilling. The bumps are there because someone rototilled the soil before putting the seed/sod down. When you rototill you create a lot of fluff down to a certain depth. The problem is that rototillers buck and jump around and leave an uneven, solid, under layer of untilled soil. If you have an uneven bottom and level off the fluffy soil on top, when all that settles, it settles to match the profile of the uneven bottom. Since you cannot go back and unrototill, all you can do is repair the surface. But if your soil has been rototilled within the past 3 years, it is still settling. Search this forum for other posts about leveling. The process basically goes like this - get the grass growing well, scalp it, level with sand, and water. There is a lot more to the details, though.

Need to know where you live? Are you on the sea breeze side of the hills? or on the other side of the hills. Go ahead and name the town. What kind of grass do you have? Is shade an issue (trees or buildings)? How often do you water and for how long? How often do you mow and how high/low? When were the last two times you fertilized? Can you post a picture of the lawn from a distance, say across the street?

First, get a soil test ASAP. Logan Labs in Ohio does a comprhensive test for $20. Usually takes less than a week to get the results back and if you post them here there are people like tiemco who can analyze for you. Take samples of the soil in a number of spots from the 4-5" depth level. Logan Labs gives instrucions. You may need more than one test if diferent areas of your lawn are distinctly different in characteristics. Posting some pictures will also help in advising you. Once you have done that, people can advise you on what cultivars you may want to plant and what you need to do in preparation. As far as the poison ivy, dont bother with weedBgone, just use ortho roundup or any other product with the active ingredient (glysophate sp?).