Mahesh, Most of us posting would be at a loss learning the culture and context of the use of landscape, space, gardens in another culture. I'm still "training" my husband, who grew up in an apartment in Vienna, austria. The American suburb thing is, well, weird in some ways. That being said, you seem to share some of the issues that many others have brought to this forum: 1. In your first post, at least, you were very uncertain about what you wanted. There are plenty of posts here that start out that way. You've come back with more info and I'm guesssing that people are going to ask you more questions. It's kind of a back and forth to see if the problem can be more clearly defined. 2. You also come with your own inner vision of what you want. You've let us know that it may have roots in your cultural background. Getting clearer about that picture will help your ultimate goal even if it doesn't much change the short term solution. Everyone who posts here comes with their "inner garden". For one person it might come from an idea of what's "right" for an American home. For another it comes from wanting a garden "Just like my grandmother's". For someone else it's cottage garden, or being unconventional, or For me there's this garden from my childhood in Melbourne, Australia. Space was understood and used differently than is common in the suburbs of the midwest, and I have to struggle with what I'd like to achieve from that favorite garden and what is practical in my garden today. 3. Getting realistic. That's another thing that you probably share with the rest of us. You need to be realistic about the money and the learning curve needed to understand and develop your property wisely. That steep learning curve is what you pay for when you locate a good landscape designer to help you implement what you want to do. Otherwise, you're the one who has to learn what will work, what will add value to your home, what will detract or help you if you ever have to resell this property. I can't really say anything about the appraisal issue that is pushing your short-term decision, but it's harder than you may think to achieve any good result in such a short time. (Unless you're willing to use big bucks to achieve a well-planned design. Of course, you would have to have a clear idea that a landscape designer could achieve for you.) For now, I'm guessing that the appraiser will be more interested in your furnace than in whether or not you've put down mulch, grass seed, or something else. Make your choice based on your long-range goal for landscaping your home. I'll close with a question. Can you describe what you mean by "hardscape"? I'm not that fond of grass, but I tend to replace it with flower beds, shrubs, trees, etc. It almost sounds like you want to turn your lawn into concrete? The immediate thought of many Americans to that solution would be "prison yard". You also use the expression "hardscape / garden", but I don't know what you mean by that. Can you clarify? Wellspring

SD I called Lesco and they gave me a few recommendations. They told me the TMP is their best selling seed - and that is what they sell to most of the landscape companies. They also suggested a Transition Blend after I told them about my concerns on the rocky soil. One of the guys said that if TB won't grow - then nothing will. If I went with the TB, then I would have to mix in some rye. I saw on another post that you used the Lesco TB. I too will not have a sprinkler system. What do you think about the TB vs. the TMP? Have you since switched to TMP? Lesco also mentioned a seed called Fawn and said that this is close to K-31 if I want that type of grass. They said it is a very wide blade fescue. I am not sure I want to go down the K-31 route based on what I have read on this forum. It seems there are other alternatives that would do just as well in my soil and area, but yield a nicer lawn. For the spring planting - If I go with the TB, then I would probably add in 30% annual rye and 20% PR to make my own "contractor mix" but with the better TTTF from the TB. If I go with the TMP, I would probably add in a little AR in since I have these "dirt police" that I have to deal with and 20% PR might not be enough. Any info you can give me on the pros/cons of the two types of TF mentioned above would be very helpful and appreciated. Thanks

We can work with that. NJ is important because it is The Garden State. You have to be holding up your end of the bargain with the state chamber of commerce ;-) Return the weed n feed. You can't use it in the summer without hurting the grass. Get a bag of alfalfa pellets (rabbit food) at your local feed store. You can fertilize with alfalfa pellets any day of the year. The application rate for alfalfa pellets is 20 pounds per 1,000 square feet. The fact that your dog's urine turns the grass green is a sign that the soil is basically healthy but needs to be fed. As you can see, the natural urine is a fertilizer. It works through a biological process instead of a chemical process. Alfalfa is also a fertilizer for similar reasons. It should turn your grass green in 3 weeks. Once you have the alfalfa down it should last the rest of the summer. If you missed some areas, you can go back and add more. This stuff is really fool proof unless you accidentally spill the bag. Then you can sweep it up and not hurt anything. As long as you do not bury the grass under a heaping pile of alfalfa, it will work for you. Also after you apply, moisten (not saturate) the pellets. Within 24 hours they will swell up and look like green worms. Follow up with a push broom or even just drag the hose across the yard and knock the worms down into the soil. Those worms are very fragile flakes of alfalfa. When the alfalfa is solid the birds can come in and steal them away. And no, alfalfa does not attract bunnies to your lawn. The only rabbits that eat rabbit pellets are those in captivity who have no other choice of fresh food. Water your lawn deeply and infrequently. Deeply means one inch all at one time. Infrequently means 1x per week if the temps are in the 90s, once every 2 weeks if the temps are in the 80s, and once every 3 weeks if the temps are in the 70s. Mowing height looks like it should be mid to high. There are very few grasses that do well when mowed at the lowest setting. Almost all of them improve when mowed at higher levels. You can fertilize with organics any day of the year. You can fertilize with chemicals in the late spring, again in early fall, and again in late fall. You can also mix and match organic and chemicals without fear of overdosing. They work completely differently and do not interact.

1. On aeration, we have had a few landscapers come out, and they all say the soil is compacted enough to require aeration. That said, if we don't do aeration, how would you recommend putting down the seed? I assume we wouldn't just drop the seed on the existing lawn? Again, from what info you have given, it is unlikely you have compacted soil. For aeration to be a truly successful remedy of compaction, it should result in a minimum of 20 holes per sq ft. and at depths 4" or greater. I know of no landscaper that has that type of equipment--the type golf courses have. As aeration is messy and expensive, I only use it when I can combine it with other processes like topdressing, adding gypsum, fertilizing, etc. Seeding is not one of those processes. Although seed does seem to germinate well on the aeration hole edges, the seeds that fall into the deep holes do not and are wasted. Seed does germinate better when the soil surface is broken, but many have very good results just seeding over bare ground followed by rolling or a thin layer of peat moss. If your bare spots are not too large or numerous, light raking of the soil is fine. I get best results with KBG by broadcasting seed and then running a slit seeder over it. Just dropping seed over the existing lawn is common and called overseeding. 2. We just had a weed control and fertilizer application put down yesterday. So I am assuming we would need to wait a couple of weeks before we do the overseeding? Is mid Sep soon enough for a mix of Rye and KBG? I have not used Q4 specifically. Weed B Gone Max contains a similar AI cocktail as Q4 and Ortho recommends that overseeding not be done sooner than 4 weeks after application. As far as seeding is concerned: late summer is preferred as temperatures are beginning to subside, weed pressure is at a minimum and torrential rains are less common. Temps that do not fall below 50 F at night and that rarely exceed 80 F during the day are ideal for cool season grass establishment. No weed pressure removes the problems of feeding and watering the turf without feeding and watering a crop of competing weeds. Cool season grasses need to be planted early enough before soil temperatures fall below 50-55F--when grass plant growth slows or stops-- so that there is enough time for germination and subsequent plant growth so a root system develops and top growth has the chance to harden off--usually about the time of the third mowing. This time frame is dependent on region and the whims of Mother Nature--there is no hard and fast rule. 3. Thanks for the comparative comments. Any thoughts on Tall and Fine Fescue? Our original seeding as it turns out was a mix of KBG, Perennial Rye and Fine Fescue (roughly 1/3 each). Lol. Yes I have "thoughts", but they are just my opinion. All cool season grasses have advantages and disadvantages. Fine fescue is one of the few grasses that will grow in shadier areas, but does not hold up well in traffic. Rye and TTTF can make nice lawns, but they do not spread and self repair and require occasional overseeding to maintain thickness. My preference is KBG. If you can grow KBG, that is my recommendation. It makes a beautiful blanket lawn and after the third year, it is self repairing. I wont list the reasons I find it superior, but they are many, but choice of turf is subjective in many ways. 4. Yes typo on my part ��" I meant lb per 1000 sqft of course (otherwise that would be one heck of a seed bill!) Are there any commercially available mix of seeds that you know of that could work? I thought it was a typo, but better safe than sorry. You could check NTEP for the individual turf grass names in commercial bags to see what each type's individual characteristics are. What you definitely want is a bag labeled as containing 0% weeds. Better yet, 0% other crop seeds.