Every situation is different. A stable seed bed is important so for compacted soil, I would definitely do some verticutting with a slit seeder before you broadcast seed and make sure you roll after spreading seed. If you don't have irrigation or even if you do, straw mulch can help protect your seeds from washout from spring rains, even though it'll introduce weed seeds. It is very important to spray Tenacity herbicide when spring seeding. Also, I think you can find better seed mixes than from TSC. It is worth your while to buy the best fescue seeds you can for your area. Good luck!

Thank you both for your advice. I am looking for something to get me through the summer. I can spend some time on it in the fall. I am not looking for the best lawn ever, but would like something our little one can play on. As for seed, do y'all know where to start my search for high quality seed?

No point in buying expensive seed just to see it fail or get killed. Spring seedings don't have a very good chance of succeeding, because there's not enough time for the grass to get established before the heat comes. Then you have to water frequently, which leads to fungus.

If you're just looking for something to get you through the summer then get a bag of Rebel fescue, spread the seed when it warms up and plan on complete renovation in the fall. Don't put down any pre-emergent or anything, let the crabgrass come in and you'll have something green for your little one to play on.

For quality seed look no further than The Hogan Company located in Springfield, TN. Bullseye, Falcon IV and LS 1200 are some of the top cultivars that they carry. No doubt they can advise you on the best cultivars for the area.

I'm a little hard on people who come here claiming to have been reading THIS forum and then presenting a plan that flies in the face of what we talk about. Had you been reading THIS forum you would not have already killed your grass. As j4 has mentioned, this is a poor time to be renovating a lawn. Today is better than tomorrow and that will continue until September, but really (REALLY) early fall is by far and away the best time to renovate northern grasses. Simply keeping the weeds mowed goes a long way toward a nice looking, and playable lawn. I've been mowing weeds for going on 3 years as my St Augustine creeps back from nothing. Weeds are green.

Don't rototill. I did some historical research to see who first advocated rototilling. I wanted someone to blame. The old gardening books from the 40s through 70s advise against tilling for a lawn. More recently you do see articles advocating it. Even the Scott's website says to start with rototilling. In their case I have to question their motives, because you are likely to buy more products (from them) if you start by rototilling. I never did find the root of the problem, but rototilling will give you a bumpy surface from Day 1 and continue until about Day 1,000. After about 3 years the soil has settled, developed a firm structure, and should not get any bumpier. Mowing a bumpy lawn is not fun.

Don't bring in new soil unless you are sure your drainage is poor or you have low spots that hold water for more than a day after a long rain event. New soil will ALWAYS change your drainage. What you don't want is water getting dammed up by the lawn and backflowing into the house or basement. Maybe it's an optical illusion but it looks like the soil goes up from the walkway. It looks like it goes up through the plants, up past the bricks, and finally crowns in the center of the yard. It should start to fall away immediately from the walkway and slope gently down to the front sidewalk. If I'm seeing that correctly you need to have about 3 cubic yards of soil hauled away (as a start). Your idea to bring in new soil is very common. Again I'm not sure where that got started. It is also a commonly held belief that you need to topdress with sand or top soil every year. Golf courses do this but they are trying to counter attack a very specific fungus that does not occur for homeowners. Golf courses don't have basements either. If you think you need new soil because it will be a better product than you currently have, it is NOT. Your soil already has all the microbes it needs. New soil has some, but it has been disturbed which kills a bunch of them. Leave well enough alone. If you want to tune up your soil chemistry that can be done with a good soil test. If you want to improve your soil biology, then use organic fertilizers and avoid fungicide and insecticides.

Spring seeding is not ideal but you can definitely have a lawn to enjoy if you don't delay and start now. Although i am North, i did a spring seeding last April and it was largely successful. No crabgrass, few weeds, and only modest fungal issues. It is possible. Who knows, maybe weather will work in your favor. Id rather have grass than dirt.

Btw SLE Equipment out of Nashville has on eBay a few bags of Primetime fescue mix. It was a reasonable deal for me even with their outrageous shipping charge but a great deal if you can pick it up locally. $60/50#

Thanks for your input and setting me straight, @dchall. I will certainly take your advice, not rototill and have the grading looked at. @mishmosh awesome heads up. I checked out their website and it's 62 bucks in the store. I will swing by there soon.

Primetime blend varies in its makeup (both cultivars used and %) from year to year so don't sweat that too much. And certainly it is plenty for seeding 3k sq ft but store it properly and you can overseed in the fall for the next couple years.

I've wanted to order from Hogan in the past but their proprietor is too flaky to me. Too bad tgey didn't have online ordering.