I am located just outside of Boston, MA. I too have some bumpy areas that I plan to level out this spring, and I have a soil test on its way out the door. I'm guessing the soil test is going to tell me I need more organic matter in the soil, and if so, I'll topress with a similar mixture as those recommended above. Assuming that is true, my questions is in regards to the timing of the topdressing vs the timing of the application of Halts. I'm probably still a week to a few weeks away from seeing the forsythia bloom, and thus my Halts application. What I'm wondering about is if the order of Halts vs topdressing has any implications? Obviously the Halts timing is more important, and needs to be applied at a specific time. But should I try to get the topdressing and top soil leveling dropped and spread prior to dropping the Halts in a few weeks? Do I need to give the topdressing time to get down into the soil before applying the Halts? Or, on the flip side, if I drop the Halts at the recommended time, but then a week or two later add a topdressing, would that topdressing on top of the Halts have any impact on the effectiveness of the Halts? Anyone have any thoughts on the proper timing in trying to get both Halts and a topdressing applied? I want to do both, but want to make sure I don't negate the Halts barrier. Thanks in advance.

I cant help with what to use, but I definitely would be filling the gaps with something, not waiting for it to grow. I dont think it would ever "fill" those spots. Might fill with grass eventually, but the low spots will still be there.

I think compost or peat moss will help your organic matter but neither will supply a bunch of nutrients although the manure or mushroom soil might. Both are mainly used for water retention when building a soil up, leave the nutrient build for other amendments. If I had to pick one, I'd use compost. My peat moss, while easy to spread and get, is hanging around a lot longer. Not to mention that if it dries out is takes a bit to get damp again

First of all, and most importantly, DON'T use the Crosscheck EZ unless you see insect damage. Your soil absolutely relies on a healthy population of beneficial insects. Most people go for decades without using any insecticide, so they are just trying to sell you stuff. I'm going on 50 years and 8 different lawns without ever using an insecticide. If you wipe out all the insects three times a year, every year, your soil will really suffer. There are ways to inspect to see if you have insect problems. Otherwise the rest of that program looks okay. The exact numbers of the fertilizer could be tuned up by getting a soil test ($25 at Logan Labs in Ohio, not TAMU). That test will help adjust the P and K numbers. If you get it, post the results as a new topic here for more advice. Bermuda, especially excellent bermuda, needs lots of nitrogen on a monthly basis. I would delay the first Pre M application until at least the end of Feb. Usually we apply that stuff when the forsythia bloom in the neighborhood. Forsythia is a natural indicator of spring green up and future weeds. This winter the forsythia did not work for many because of a warm Feb followed by a cold March. Secondly, and this would have been first if you didn't have the Crosscheck thing there, That's a great setting! Beautiful. Too bad about the sprinkler goof up, but it can be fixed. You are going for the ultimate turf, so get ready for some work. Bermuda sprayed with RoundUp seems to take longer to recover than it should. Just be patient and it will come back, but watch for weeds. Spot spray broad leaf weeds any time with Weed-b-gon or Weed-b-gon Chickweed, Clover, and Oxalis Killer or equivalent. Hand pull grassy weeds from now on. What you want to do is called leveling the surface. You are not necessarily making it level, but you are smoothing out the holes. Golf courses are not level, they are profiled, but we call it leveling. It requires a little equipment and a lot of sand. I'll explain it and you can decide whether you want to do it yourself or hire it out. First wait until late June when the bermuda is growing fast. Then fertilize and water deeply. Mow it as short as you can - less than 1/2 inch (scalped) is good. Spread sand and drag that around with a drag like they use on baseball diamond infields. You can make one with a 2x4, rope, and some chain link fencing. Drag that around either by hand or behind your riding mower until you are happy with the surface. It should be absolutely perfectly profiled. Then water it lightly to settle the sand down into the holes. Low spots will appear. Let the water drain a little and add enough more sand to fill the low spots. Water again to settle it. New low spots will appear. Sand, drag, and water until you are happy that it's not settling any more. Then leave it alone. The grass is already moist and fertilized, and it won't need to be mowed for the next month, so leave it to grow up through the sand. The people who have done this have been ecstatic with the results. And then they become absolutely nuts about minor imperfections in their lawns. Sometimes they will redo the entire leveling process to fix that last imperfection. I would caution you to wait at least a year to see if the entire yard continues to settle. Generally disturbed soil takes 3 full years to settle, so you might see those sprinkler pipe trenches reappearing over time. You seem to understand mowing and fertilizing. Here's more on watering. 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. One more thing...I would either add a dose of organic fertilizer or substitute organic fertilizer for one of the chemical fertilizers at least once a year. The organics helps keep those beneficial insects and other microbes healthy from year to year. I have gone completely to organic fertilizer. My favorite is alfalfa pellets (rabbit chow) with ordinary corn meal a close second. The application rate is 15 pounds per 1,000 square feet. Other people like soybean meal and/ore Milorganite. You can get it all at your local feed stores.