Pre emergence is the first step in having a good lawn. This step will stop all seeds from germinating. I do not know where you live, but fertilization at the right time is important. Milorganite, is in my opinion one ofthe best fertilizers for the Homeowner. The UMBC has even stated that it also acts to repel Deer. Not fully though. Turf Trust is also a great product also. Hmm if you go to http://www.turftrust.com/ . Scroll through the pictures and you will see my lawn, which has a shed. But, remember 50 years ago people did not fertilize they used clover to add nitrogen to the soil. Grass and clover lived in harmony. Clover is a bite to get rid of. Any, Weed killer for the lawn is usually OK. You may need a few applications. I like Weed Beater Ultra. Now after all this. Reseed in the fall. Not in the spring.

John, if you're willing to spend a little upfront, Celsius WG will probably do what you want. Others have mentioned bonide sedge ender. In both cases there are some restrictions for st Augustine grass. I just switched to st. Augustine grass recently and now I use Celsius after help on forums. Google those products on this and other forums, or PM me and I could give you links.

When you mow sedge it leave very rigid stems that poke into your bare feet. They don't stab into you, but they are uncomfortable. If you have a clay like layer under the sand, then your neighbor's daily watering could be running off of his property onto yours. The neighbor's lawn could look fine, but it is what I would call fragile. Since the grass gets nearly continual water the roots do not have to grow long down into the soil. If one of his sprinklers breaks and turns into a geyser, that will cause the rest of the sprinklers to not apply enough water. The shallow roots will not be able to get water and the grass could quickly die or go dormant, depending on the grass. Whereas if you water deeply once a month in the cool months and once a week in the heat of summer, that forces the roots to grow down deep to get to the water. If your sprinklers break the grass will still be getting some moisture from the deep roots. Your objective is to get roots growing into the clay like layer to loosen it up. The shampoo should help with that along with deep 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.

5 INCHES? Yikety yikes! I used to be in the finish grading biz with my brother in law. He was the tractor driving pro with me doing the detail work up against the buildings. Look at your last picture - see the area where the shovel is? There is about 2 inches TOO MUCH soil right there sloping up to 4 inches too much soil over by the concrete slab. The part of the house which sticks outward away from the slab at the base is called the sill. There is supposed to be 4 inches visible below the sill of the house to ensure you don't get rot and a termite invasion. The sill is made of wood, so when it is buried under soil or mulch or what have you, you are asking for moisture and related problems. Just for grins, lets say you have 4 inches too much soil over an area of 60 feet by 30 feet. That amounts to 22 cubic yards too much soil. We're talking about a big 18-wheeler load of TOO MUCH soil which should be hauled away. I'm going to recommend you get some professional landscapers to come take a look at your situation. You might look for a professional grader also. The grader is not in the landscaping business and might have a different perspective on the situation. In any case, whoever looks at this, the preferred equipment for grading or regrading is a tractor with a box blade on it. Landscapers call it a landscaper's blade. Here's a picture. They make blades for skid steers and Bobcats, but those machines have too small a wheelbase and too high a center of gravity to do the work quickly. A tractor driver can do 5 acres in a morning while a Bobcat driver might take weeks to do 5 acres.