I'm a new homeowner too, and have similar questions. Regarding watering, I received this great reply from user dchall_san_antonio: "Mature lawns should be watered deeply and infrequently. Deeply means one full inch all at one time. Infrequently means no more than once per week in the hottest heat of summer (above 90 degrees F). If you never get that warm, then you should be able to water once every 2 or 3 weeks. This will allow the surface of the soil to dry out completely before you water again. It will also encourage deep roots which can withstand periods of no water. You cannot go cold turkey into this. Start weaning now and by summer you should have it. Measure one inch using empty cat food or tuna cans placed around the yard. Time how long it takes to fill them up and use that time every time you water. If you get an inch of rain, then don't pile up more on top of that. If you get 1/4 inch of rain, then add the other 3/4. Watch the grass for signs of wilting. As soon as you see it wilt, water immediately. If you did not get a full 2 to 3 weeks, then water longer next time."

G'Day! For lawn info, i'd start by reading past postings at: http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/lawns/ the lawn care forum. i noticed you list tractors as a favorite topic. Depending on what land you have besides the lawn, you may want to use a tractor-pulled mower, like we use for our pastures. If so, draw the edges of your garden beds and such to suit the curves your tractor and mower can fit. If not, with under an acre to cut, and flat at that, you really could do it with a reel mower - the old fasioned mowers you used to be able to hire a local teenager to do the lawn with for $10--. You'll probably end up with a power mower and an edger/weedeater/weedwhip. If you can, edge your flower beds and such with bricks laid side by side, not end to end; this will provide a wide enough margine you can mow right along and not worry about massacaring the "floppage" (overhanging part of plants.) You may also want to wrap the base of small trees with trunk tape before you accidently scar the bark. A ring of mulch provides a nice mowing-safety margin for trees too, but don't build a "volcano;" mulch should be only 1/2" next to the trunch base, thickening to 1" a foot away and 2" two foot away. Mulch too thick right be the trunck can rot the trunck bark above the root line (trunk and root barks are very different), and shelters wee critters than nibble bark in winter. 'Fraid i know nothing about caring for lawns exept to be sure to get the roots of any weeds. A lot of folk around here disapprove of chemlawn. All that stuff that gets sprayed goes in to the water table, and we who don't live in town pump it back up from our wells. Not so great for folk or our livestock. A perfect lawn is a very unnatural environment. Sure you don't want ot rip the whole thing up and make it all into garden? To each his own. You've got a couple month left to plan. Have fun! -vlad Here is a link that might be useful: GardenWeb Lawn Care Forum

Whatever your issues are, your soil chemistry is not the primary cause. This test came back with two things that should be fixed, but only one is really all that problematic and would give you thinner, less attractive grass rather than no grass at all. I do discuss the important sections below, with recommendations right at the bottom. ME 10.1: This is not sand, it's a sand-silt mix in all probability. It holds decent resources, and drifts slower than sand, which is good. It's more water-retentive than sand as well. pH 6.7: Always a symptom, never the disease, but there's not even a symptom in this case. While at the high end of perfect, this is still perfect. OM 4.1%: At the low end of Good. Always mulch mow, mow all your fall leaves into the soil, and feed organically when you can. This is not an emergency in the slightest, we just want to maintain the soil. Sulfur 9: A completely reasonable answer. Phosphorus 132: This is low, but not deficient. However, it should raised into the 200 range or a little more. We use starter fertilizer to do this, just get the cheapest as they're all in the same ballpark for phosphorus application. Recommendations below. I synched the starter applications with the proper time to feed a newly seeded lawn (or an established one, for that matter). Calcium 73.5%: Perfect. It's a touch high compared to the given optimal range, but nobody ever objects to a little extra Ca. Magnesium 10.9%: Perfect. That little -26 deficit is unimportant and can be ignored. It would be difficult to meter in half a pound of magnesium per thousand square feet anyway, and it's unnecessary. Potassium 5.4%: Perfect. I'm a fan of a little extra potassium for heat and cold resistance, plus insect and disease resistance. This is where I'd set your soil, give or take some. Sodium 1.0%: Insignificant. Sodium is a toxin, so low levels are a good thing, and this number is perfect. Minor Elements: All great except for boron and manganese, although I did mention iron below. Boron 0.26: Very low, and this should be corrected. We use Milorganite as a carrier and 20 Mule Team Borax as the boron source. You can purchase 20 Mules at the grocery store in the laundry section. In a wheelbarrow or the like, dump the Milo. Spraying very, very lightly with water (I use a spray bottle like the kind people use to damp their clothes when they iron) will help the boron stick. Add the recommended amount of 20 Mule Team Borax and stir, spraying occasionally to get the stuff to stick to the Milo. Then apply over the recommended area. So if going for bag rate Milorganite (1 bag per 2,500 square feet), you'd add 10 tablespoons of 20 Mule Team Borax. Manganese 145: Extremely high. This won't cause problems (I have a similar level of Mn in my soil), but it does get in the way of uptake of several other resources, most importantly (in this case), iron. Iron 99: At your pH and manganese levels, this won't produce the best color, but it certainly isn't deficient or low. Any time you like, you can feed the lawn with Milorganite to slowly raise your iron levels. Extreme color changes in any grass won't happen until you raise the iron levels somewhat above the manganese--and what you end up with depends on the grass type and cultivar you choose. Some are naturally darker, some lighter, but all will attain optimal color with good iron levels. Recommendations: Seeding Time (around September 1, give or take): Apply starter fertilizer at bag rate. October 1: Apply starter fertilizer at bag rate. October 15: Apply 4 tablespoons (not a misprint) of 20 Mule Team Borax per thousand square feet in Milorganite carrier. Memorial Day, 2016: Apply starter fertilizer at bag rate.

The leafy weed in your 4th pic is creeping Charlie. You can probably kill that out with Weed-B-Gone Chickweed, Clover, and Oxalis killer. If that doesn't work after 2 applications (3 weeks apart), then move up to Brush-B-Gone. Those two are stronger versions of the regular WBG product. Creeping Charlie will completely cover the yard, so get it out. I like that you're mowing it high. You might have to get that tree raised up or taken out before you make progress in the back. I suggested using organic fertilizer. Usually you don't have to go farther than next door to find someone who doesn't believe in organic fertilizer, but it really works. It improves the green color, growth, and grass density. The end result is exactly the same as if you had used chemical fertilizer. The differences are that it takes 3 weeks to see the improvement (boo) and it improves the health of your soil (YAY!) So if you were fertilizing with chemicals on Memorial Day, Labor Day, and Thanksgiving, then with organics you would fertilize 3 weeks earlier. It's the same same but you get healthier soil out of the deal. Now which organic fertilizer is "the best." Pretty much they're all the same, but also pretty much they are made from animal feed like soybean meal, corn meal, corn gluten meal, wheat, cottonseed meal, and alfalfa. As it turns out you can buy these raw materials at your local feed store for about 1/6 the cost of the same weight of organic fertilizer. So that's what we talk about when talking about organic fertilizer. I like corn meal and alfalfa pellets (rabbit chow). Morpheuspa likes soybean meal and the commercial product called Milorganite. Both of those are more expensive for me in Texas, so I use what I can get locally. The application rate for all these is 15 to 20 pounds per 1,000 square feet. If you have not used organics in many years, we suggest starting with 10 pounds per 1,000 square feet to reestablish the population of microbes in your soil. Otherwise you'll have excess food sitting on your soil and that can get stinky before it goes to work. Once you have the microbes going, then use the full rate. You can use organic any day, or every day, of the year without fear of hurting the grass or soil. The limit is more practical than biological - just don't smother the lawn under an inch of fertilizer. Here's a basic lawn care guide I put together after reading this and other lawn care forums for several years. Maybe it will help you get going. Basics of Lawn Care After reading numerous books and magazines on lawn care, caring for lawns at seven houses in my life, and reading numerous forums where real people write in to discuss their successes and failures, I have decided to side with the real people and dispense with the book and magazine authors. I don't know what star their planet rotates around but it's not mine. With that in mind, here is the collected wisdom of the Internet savvy homeowners and lawn care professionals summarized in a few words. If you follow the advice here you will have conquered at least 50% of all lawn problems. Once you have these three elements mastered, then you can worry about weeds (if you have any), dog spots, and striping your lawn. But if you are not doing these three things, they will be the first three things suggested for you to correct. 1. Watering Water deeply and infrequently. Deeply means at least an inch in every zone, all at once. Infrequently means monthly during the cool months and no more than weekly during the hottest part of summer. Do not spread this out and water for 10 minutes every day. If your grass looks dry before the month/week is up, water longer next time. If that does not work, then you might have to water more than once per week during the summer's hottest period. Deep watering grows deep, drought resistant roots. Infrequent watering allows the top layer of soil to dry completely which kills off many shallow rooted weeds. You will have to learn to judge when to water your own lawn. If you live in El Paso your watering will be different than if you live in Vermont. Adjust your watering to your type of grass, temperature, humidity, wind, and soil type. It is worth noting that this technique is used successfully by professionals in Phoenix, so...just sayin.' The other factors make a difference. If you normally water 1 inch per week and you get 1/2 inch of rain, then adjust and water only 1/2 inch that week. 2. Mowing Every week mulch mow at the highest setting on your mower. Most grasses are the most dense when mowed tall. However, bermuda, centipede, and bent grasses will become the most dense when they are mowed at the lowest setting on your mower. In fact there are special mowers that can mow these grasses down to 1/16 inch. Dense grass shades out weeds, keeps the soil cooler, and uses less water than thin grass. Tall grass can feed the deep roots you developed in #1 above. Tall grass does not grow faster than short grass nor does it look shaggy sooner. Once all your grass is at the same height, tall grass just looks plush. 3. Fertilizing Fertilize regularly. I fertilize 5 times per year using organic fertilizer. Which fertilizer you use is much less important than numbers 1 and 2 above. Follow the directions on the bag and do not overdo it (unless you use organics in which case you may overdo it without fear of hurting anything). At this point you do not have to worry about weed and feed products - remember at this point you are just trying to grow grass, not perfect it. Besides once you are doing these three things correctly, your weed problems should go away without herbicide. Oh and leave the weed n feed products alone. If you have weeds, spot spray with a liquid herbicide like Weed-B-Gone (not RoundUp). WnF products sound too good to be true...they are. It's always the wrong time to use them, and they just don't seem to work as promised. Plus it's a 2-man job to apply properly, so use fertilizer when you need fertilizer and herbicide when you need herbicide. My basic schedule for fertilizer is Memorial Day, Labor Day, and Thanksgiving. Depending on where you are, these are close enough to perfect. They are easy to remember. There are reasons for not fertilizing before Memorial Day and for not fertilizing during the summer, so don't second guess these dates. If you have questions, please ask before you act.