If you are going Organic, you really can not over do your applications. Lawn Restore is a good product, but you can also use Corn Meal or Cracked Corn, Soy Bean Meal and Milorganite (5-2-0 with 4% iron) to give you some diversity. Used Coffee Grounds can be used, if you can find a good source. In the fall, you can mulch mow leaves others throw away curb side and add lots of organic matter for free to your yard. It usually take 3-4 passes to make them disappear. Your neighbors will think you are crazy, but you can not deny the results. I applied 350lbs of organics / 1000 ft2 last year. Hoping to hit 500+ this year. Now for the clay, you can use a soil conditioner and wetting agent to loosen it up. This with the organics will open up the soil over a few years. Humic Acid, Dried Kelp and Black Strap Molasses can help energize the microbes in the soil and get things moving quickly in the spring. NC Agronomic agency soil tests are free and get you in the ball park. Although, once you dial the soil in, you may want to use a lab that gives you more details so you can tweak the other elements in your soil (Boron, Copper, Manganese, Zinc and Iron) Using lime (whether Calcitic or Dolomitic) is important and which one you use will help you with your pH and Calcium to Magnesium ratio (7:1 is what you are shooting for). Calcitic is usually 5x the price, but has 5x the Calcium. S http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/soil/msg0311011017714.html Lastly, NCState as a NTEP testing site for grasses. If you want the best results, using the best grass for this area is key. Typically the big box stores are not the best place. Online you can order exactly what you want. http://www.ntep.org/tf.htm Just read the results for the NC testing center and you can get an idea of which varieties you will want. In the end, you are probably not too far off. Since you enjoy it, adding a few more pieces to your schedule should improve your results.

From the picture posted I think it is dog urine. Brown patch has a grey like outter ring and the inside of the disease does not look staw color as your picture shows. Brown patch isn't a concern in bermuda either. Spring dead spot is a major disease for bermuda but that's not it, nor dollar spot. As far as when to fertilize, well if it's not above 90 and you can provide good water then for bermuda the time is now. A good fertilizer for bermuda is one with a high first number with 50% slow release. As far as the rest of the information on taking care of your lawn, try searching online. Bermuda is pretty fool proof and is good for people who don't want to fuss over their yard.

Back yard I did a soil test last year for my dog's backyard (yes, it's hers lol). The ph levels were off so I used lime to correct it in two separate applications; followed the lime application advised by the lab report for lime. baxkground: At that time, this area was compacted clay, lespedeza, creeping Charlie, wild violet, white clover and a type of yellow flowered oxalis that spreads by underground rhizomes.. This was the state it was in when I purchased the yard that spring. The previous owners had two 100lb+ dogs and had apparently decided that having a weed infested swimming pool every time it rains was preferable to a nice lawn.. After killing everything there, tilling the soil, letting things regrow for a week, and then tilling it again with soil amendments mixed in, I spread the most robust stuff on God's green earth: KY-31. Established quickly. Over the past year, we've had several "dog days" with 20+ dogs in our backyard playing, peeing, pooping, etc.. This is on top of dog's regular, daily playing and "trail creating." Ky-31 has held up great but there are some thin areas and patches after so much abuse.. That is why I decided to overseed this year with Titan RX, which accordingly has the ability to slowly fill in / repair itself with tillering and also with rhizomes. I've been doing my best to follow the basics from what I've read on here while lurking for about a year: deep & infrequent watering, mulching grass and leaves, mowing high and often, etc. I've also been adding coffee grounds, Milorganite, sawdust, and Jonathan Green's magical calcium to promote a more organic soil/lawn in the backyard. I've even used a garden sprayer with baby shampoo per instructions on here to address hard soil. :-) I don't want to use chemical treatments back there because of the dog(s). The only synthetic I used this fall was a starter fertilizer when I overseeded Titan RX; I'll probably use a crabgrass preventer in the spring (considering corn meal but have some concerns about ants and my dog eating it...) I would love to feed the lawn with alfalfa or soy pellets but I don't even know where to begin to find a seed and feed store in the suburbs. I figure I would do a soil test in the spring (about a year after I switched from chemicals/synthetics/herbicides and started focusing on organic. ) Front yard This has been the topic of discussion and focus in this particular thread. This lawn was in decent shape when I purchased the home last spring. The homeowners probably put down a tri-mix because I have found bluegrass, fescue and a small amount of PRG in the front Unfortunately, there was a fair amount of the same weeds as the back: lespedeza, creeping Charlie, wild violet, white clover and a type of yellow flowered oxalis that spreads by underground rhizomes. in addition, there was a LOT of crabgrass, dandelion, plantains and other broadleaf weeds. Last year, I decided to just focus on mowing and feeding. With a limited budget, I couldn't afford to renovate both the back and the front. I applied Turf Builder early last fall, and the Turf Builder Winterizer near the end of the fall. With the cultural practices and feeding, the lawn transformed before my eyes and looked remarkably improved (despite the weeds) This spring and summer, I decided to focus on preventing & combating the weeds. I applied Tuef Builder Weed and Feed in the early/mid spring, followed by Turf Builder with Halts Crabgrass Control 6 weeks later. In the late spring and through the summer, I fed with Milorganite. kept it watered as needed using sprinklers (no irrigation system). By June, almost all of the broadleaf weeds were gone. However, the clover and oxalis were persistent and actually started thriving. Two hose-end applications of Weed B Gon to the area took out the clover, but the Oxalis just laughed it off and continued on its tour-de-force. I followed up with spot treatment using weed b Gon in the ready to spray bottles. No effect; the oxalis just continued to thrive, spread, and choke. During this time, the overall lawn looked good (ezcept for those yellow oxalis flowers covering about 1/4-1/2 the lawn!) When the summer heat kicked in during early July, I decided to give up on weed control. Too hot to do anything about oxalis with a chemical without my lawn being negatively impacted. Manual removal would just make the problem worse (the seed pods explode when disturbed, right?). I decided I would just continue to apply Milorgsnite (once per month) to help the unaffected areas "hold the line" against the invasion. In August, I knew what I had to do: round up the oxalis areas. I killed off a relatively large area, watered the area, killed it again, tilled the area up a few inches using a manual garden cultivator and a rake., watered, and then did another roundup. A week later, I plugged/core aerated the lawn, spread Turf Builder starter with Weed Control (mesotrine), spread some KBG and lightly covered with peat moss. I also broadcast KBG across other areas of the lawn (why not? I had already aerated). aeration was a big mistake; i must have exposed oxalis seed via the plugging. I'm an idiot, I know. In some areas where the new KBG didn't take very well (too much shade, I suppose), I out down some Scott's EZ seed (TTTF and the Hybrid Bluegrass) across the hell strips, near the driveway, and some other areas where the KBG had trouble coming in. I also used this in an area where I didn't have reliable sprinkler coverage. (The mulch grows to envelop the seed when moist, and held the moisture from the morning hose watering until I returned home from the office to give it another drink). As covered above in a previous post, I'm also applied some Titan RX to areas where nothing germinated (about a month and a half after seeding). I did have a seriously heavy rainfall not too long after seeding, which could have washed some. of the KBG away. I'm also convinced that the mole tunnels probably disturbed the seed and/or seedlings to some extent. I know I'm slacking on the soil test. I plan on getting one done, probably in the spring. That is going to be my focus next year: working on the soil (for both the front and back) for the entire growing season (and thereafter). In the short term, my objective is to get some more competitive KBG and TTTF types established in the front yard this planting season.. I believe the Titan RX TTTF and the various KBG types (including the hybrid Thermal Blue in the EZ Seed) that were sown will be more successful than the older (and probably low-quality) existing grass types that were already established when I purchased the home,

Here are some general fescue care guidelines taken from this and other forums. 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. Mowing: Mulch mow high. Every university study splits hairs on the exact mowing height, when in fact, mowers come pre adjusted. The easiest way to deal with that is to mow at your mower's highest setting or one notch down. Do not mow fescue at temps higher than the low 90s. Let it get long and bring it back down with a string trimmer when the temps cool off. Fertilizer: First application on Memorial Day. This takes patience to ignore 4 months of advertising that insists NOW is the time to fertilize. It isn't. Wait until after the spring flush of new growth has slowed down and then fertilize. Preemergent herbicide: When the forsythia bloom in your neighborhood. Post emergent herbicide: Spot spray individual weeds with Weed-b-Gon or another 2,4-d product. For special cases use Weed-b-Gon Chickweed, Clover, and Oxalis Killer or other Trycloper product. Insecticide: Almost never. I used it in the 60s on a dichondra lawn, but for real grass I have never needed one. Everyone's mileage is different on this, but the routine use of insecticide should be avoided unless you see insects causing damage. If your fescue cannot handle the watering as described above, then it is the wrong grass for your area. It simply is not adapted to inland California conditions.