"tiemco, I see your point on getting any nitrogen off the blades. What is your rational for accelerating so much nitrogen into the soil/root zone? Wont that be detrimental?" No. Sure you are going to get tons of growth, but I'll take that over burn any day. It's about a month early for the spring feeding above the transition zone, so all that nitrogen shouldn't stress the grass too much (not sure where the OP lives), Just be sure you mow often enough to keep it at the level you want. Nitrogen is fairly transient in most soils, so some will leach away as well. Fertilizer burn happens because the fert ingredients are salts, and with only a small amount of water around, like dew, the salts pull water out of your grass, basically dehydrates it. If you give it a good watering you prevent this from happening. "So if I understand tiemco, he is recommending AGAINST the Scott's Plus-2." Yes, I am against Weed and Feed products for a few reasons. They make you apply synthetic fertilizer to wet grass without watering it in. They make you combine applying synth. fertilizer at the same time you want to kill weeds. What if I want to kill weeds in early April? They make you apply weed killer in dry form (liquid form is much better) and to the whole lawn, even if you only have weeds in some areas. It's much better to apply liquid weed killers directly to the weeds. If your whole lawn has weeds throughout, then get the appropriate product (Weed B Gone Max is great for most lawn weeds, CCO should handle the rest) and apply it with a hose end sprayer. If you only have a few weeds in your yard, use a tank sprayer and apply the weed killer directly to those weeds. You will get better results and use much less chemical. Weed and Feed sells so well because most people are gullible and lazy. They want to do the least work possible, and they believe everything that it says on the bag. People see that and are like "All I have to do is one application and I'm done? I'll take it!" The best thing Weed and Feed does is make money for Scotts.

I renovated a little stand alone section of my backyard to begin with and we had a downpour 3 days later. 2 inches total! I slaved on that section to get the grade just perfect (1in every 10ft away from the house). I lost some seed along the edges too but on the bright side I now know the grade is good! :) I spread 1/4in peat moss over all the new seeds and that really seems to hold everything in place. You could try peat moss as a top dressing. A 3.8cu ft bale covers 192 sq.ft ($10/bale at Lowes)

Good advice, Bonnie. Here are a few more tips: - use a grass seed mix that is high on the fescues and low on the Kentucky Bluegrass. Bluegrass is a water-hog and very high maintenance. Stick to the deep-rooted fescues. - lay off on the watering. You want the grass seedlings to develop roots that will go deep for water and nutrients. Grass needs no coddling. - lay off on the fertilizer. Again, it's the roots, not the top growth, that matters most when you're getting plants established. Most commercial fertilizers are high nitrogen, so you get a flush of green, and your pampered lazy grass develops a taste for fast food. Ok, metaphors aside, once you get your overseeded areas established, topdress with some quality, weed-free compost and let the grass develop as it should - establish some white clover in your lawn and let the grass go dormant during the hot, dry spell in August. The clover will stay green and, being a legume, will help develop healthy, rich soil. Diversity is good. - stop worrying about weeds. Remember, diversity is good. This spring I had a bumper crop of creeping charlie, blooming for all it was worth. All the early-emerging bees had flowers to visit. Bees are good. All for now. Link below is very good. Here is a link that might be useful: Organic Landscape Alliance Fact Sheets

It looks like broadleaf dock, also called bitter dock. It does have a very deep taproot and will regenerate from pieces left behind near the surface. If you don't want to use Roundup on it, probably the next best thing is to use an asparagus knife or shovel to keep cutting the crowns off several inches below the surface until the roots eventually die. That may take awhile, because it is a very hardy and long-lived perennial. The flower stalk is tall, so probably you won't see any flowers if you are mowing over it -- and a good thing, too, because the seeds can sprout after lying dormant for 50 years. So if your lot was an open field a few decades ago, or you have had topsoil that contains dormant seeds brought in, you may see some new seedlings appear from time to time.