All those are good suggestions. If you want to get this back on track, it is a little too late for most of the US to use chemical fertilizers. Now would be a good time to learn more about the modern organic approach to lawn care. You can use a grain type fertilizer any day of the year, in almost any amount, with no fear of hurting anything. The only drawback is it takes 3 weeks to see the improvement. With your lawn the improvement will be as delicate as your supposed stripes you have now. Yes, I do see them, but jeeze Louise, talk about subtle! This is what can happen to your lawn on a super organic regimen - meaning where most lawn nuts would apply 100 pounds of grain fertilizer per 1,000 square feet over the course of an entire season, this guy applied 1,800 pounds during the season. He was looking for the limit where enough is too much, but he never found it. Here's his lawn in July of 2010. Note the subtle difference between his lawn and his neighbor's lawns. The lawn is a mix of elite Kentucky bluegrasses. He was watering deeply once a week, mowing at the highest setting once a week, and fertilizing with 50 pounds per 1,000 of soybean meal and Milorganite ONCE A WEEK. If you want to do that, you're welcome. But all you really need is 20 pounds per 1,000 of alfalfa pellets (rabbit chow) once every other month. But if you want unmistakable results, you can apply more often. The first time you apply it will take 3 full weeks to see the improvement. After that it just remains deep green like that all the time unless you miss a drop. Back to your lawn: In that condition it would be the best lawn on my block. Since you seem to be looking for perfection, let's ask some questions. Where do you live? What kind of grass is that? What is your watering regimen? How often and how much do you apply? How high/low do you mow and how often? How often do you fertilize and what do you use? Otherwise the lawn looks great.

Well, hell the pot plants are grown next door! (These are actual pot plants!) Also the move was by choice. Moving from 1 1/4 acre into town. Can walk to everything! No more 2 hours of mowing just to have it grow back! I will miss my garden, but I'm looking into some community gardens nearby and some grow boxes. Also looking into vermicomposting. OTOH, I am inheriting a mature cherry and peach tree! Something different! Thatch shouldn't be a problem right away because the lawn is only a couple of years old as far as we know. I'll be asking questions on the lawn board since I have never really had a lawn! I probably won't continue with the gardener since we have such a small yard. I would say it'll take a half hour a week to mow? A few minutes of weeding per week and some raking of the messy tulip tree! Thanks for all of the responses! Nancy

Thanks for the additional info. It is scary late to be thinking about reseeding, but at this point, what the heck? Scatter more seed, walk on it to press it down on the soil, and keep it moist. Keeping it moist is the hard part. Moist does not mean soggy. A light spray 3x per day is great. Light means either wave over it by hand or turn on sprinklers for 5 minutes. Here are some general tips for your lawn. Watering is the most important so I'll address that with my standard blurb. But note that this is for a mature lawn. Watering: Deep and infrequent is the mantra for watering. This is for all turf grass all over the place. Deep means 1 inch all at one time. Put some cat food or tuna cans around the yard, and time how long it takes your sprinkler(s) to fill all the cans. Memorize that time. That will be the time you water from now on. My hose, sprinkler and water pressure takes 8 full hours to fill the cans. Your time will likely be less. I like gentle watering. As for watering frequency, that depends on the daytime air temperature. With temps in the 90s, deep water once per week. With temps in the 80s, deep water once every 2 weeks. With temps in the 70s, deep water once every 3 weeks. With temps below 70, deep water once a month. Note that you have to keep up with quickly changing temps in the spring and fall. This deep and infrequent schedule works in Phoenix and in Vermont, so it should work for you. The reason for deep and infrequent is to grow deeper, more drought resistant roots and to allow the soil to dry completely at the surface for several days before watering again. If it rains, reset your calendar to account for the rainfall. Mulch mow at the mower's highest setting. Fertilize with a fertilizer, not weed n feed. First application goes on in late May (Memorial Day). Second app goes on in early Sept (Labor Day). Last app goes on around Thanksgiving when the grass stops growing but before it freezes. I like organic fertilizer, but if you are happier with chemical ferts, go ahead and use them. If you do use chemical all the time, I would urge you to use an organic fertilizer at least once a year to keep the insects in your soil happy. Decade after decade of using only chemicals leads to issues that can be cleared up quickly with a few apps of organic fertilizer. Weeds: If you follow the watering plan above your incidence of crabgrass should be minimal. However, you may still want to use a preemergent herbicide. Apply that when the forsythia blooms in your neighborhood. Forsythia is what farmers refer to as a whisper of nature. It tells you when the soil warms up. Preemergent herbicide should keep crabgrass from taking root if it germinates. Then in mid April spot spray individual weeds with a liquid like Weed-b-Gon or Weed-b-Gon Chickweed, Clover, and Oxalis Killer. Do that again with the WBG in mid September. You only need to moisten the leaves of the weeds. Herbicide is never a soil drench. Insects: Don't plan to kill insects unless you have some that are currently killing your lawn. Why? Because your soil is full of beneficial insects that help keep the bad insects under control. You can look for insects once you know what you're looking for. Keep watching this forum for more tips on finding insects. These tips might fly in the face of you and your husband's idea of lawn care. I know for a fact that before I started reading this column, I did not do any of this stuff properly. If you have any questions or concerns as to why this plan works, please ask. Note that I don't suggest aerating, dethatching, or annual top dressing. That stuff won't hurt the lawn, but whether it does any good seems to be in the eye of the beholder.

Uh, yeah, plus when was it applied, and to what grass, and what did you use. Assuming proper application--to a damp lawn--then absorption into the lawn is absolutely assured by that way, so if it was the weeding part that did the damage then thorough watering's not going to be too much help there. Depending on the grass type and when, we might be able to water through excessive fertilization, however.