Anne Get an old meat cleaver -- if you lived nearby I have one you could have -- and use it to make your slot. You could certainly hammer it down to break the roots apart. It would take some time if you have a hundred feet to go, but it would do the trick even if it was slow going. I suppose a square shovel would let you do the same thing, probably much quicker! Then, as you note, you could use a cheaper material for the root barrier. I've no idea how long grass roots are; it must depend on the type. But you could water a small area until it's soggy and gently pull up on some of what's there to get an idea of the root length. With a barrier AND a 10-12 inch extension, you aren't likely to get much invasion from the other side!

If you are willing to start completely over, then yes, wait until August, not September. In your area the summer heat should break earlier than September but that is what you want to watch for. Evening temps will start to fall. The heat might return, but when it starts to fall, that is the start of...well, fall. Ignore the grubs. Any damage they caused was over and done last summer. They are dormant now and not feeding. There is a test for grubs which you can do in late June. Dig up a full square foot of the surface and count the grubs. If you see fewer than 12, then cover it back up and forget about it. Normal gardens will not be affected by a low number of grubs. Don't waste your money or time unless you see a dozen or more. You don't have crabgrass. Crabgrass is just now starting to sprout and only in full sun and only where you get continual moisture on the soil. You might have another weed but it is not crabgrass. If you can post a picture that would help to identify it. Take it in the shade or early morning before the sun hits it. Grass pictures are always better on cloudy days. Don't know what your lawn looked like, but you likely did not need to dethatch. It sounds like you're getting advice somewhere else (a magazine???). You also do not need to aerate. If your soil is hard when it is wet from irrigation, then you may need to soften it but aeration is not the best path for that. Sure, it is sold as that, but it does not work as advertised. A better solution is to use clear shampoo. Please search this forum for clear shampoo and you'll see plenty of description about how it's done. The only grass that will work for you in your shade is fine fescue. It is a bunch type grass which does not spread out to form a dense carpet. Each seed makes one plant. The only way to make it dense is to put out more seed. The problem with putting out seed this time of year is the crabgrass (true crabgrass) is germinating at the same time. Fescue takes 2 weeks to germinate. Crabgrass takes 1 week. You'll put out the new seed, water it daily 3x per day, see the new seed sprout in a week, and think joyously that your new grass is coming in. It will be the crabgrass. Crabgrass IS a sod forming grass that will spread into every bare or thin spot it can find. This is the reason you want to 'densify' your fescue in the fall. The only fast way to get more fescue is to put more seed down...in the fall. Testing your soil is probably a good idea. You seem to be anxious to do it right. It is very easy for someone to give you advice to apply lime, but only a soil test will tell you how much, when, and what kind. Here are the basics of lawn care Water deeply and infrequently. Deeply means at least an hour in every zone, all at once. Infrequently means monthly during the cool months and no more than weekly during the hottest part of summer. If your grass looks dry before the month/week is up, water longer next time. Deep watering grows deep, drought resistant roots. Infrequent watering allows the top layer of soil to dry completely which kills off many shallow rooted weeds. Mulch mow at the highest setting on your mower. Most grasses are the most dense when mowed tall. Bermuda, centipede, and bent grasses are the most dense when mowed at the lowest setting on your mower. Dense grass shades out weeds and uses less water when tall. Dense grass feeds the deep roots you're developing in 1 above. Fertilize regularly. I fertilize 4 times per year using organic fertilizer. Which fertilizer you use is much less important than numbers 1 and 2 above.

You asked good questions. Don't over seed anything. If you currently have hybrid bermuda, then seeded bermuda will be a permanent weed. Those are two different plants related only by a biological technicality. But I'm not convinced that's bermuda. From this altitude and distance you should not be able to see bermuda blades. That might be St Augustine or a coarse zoysia. Do you see runners criss crossing over top of the soil? That would indicate St Augustine. What kind of trees are those? (sorry I'm ADD sometimes) That's a flat lawn. When you water, watch carefully for puddling. Mark those spot somehow and watch how long it takes for the water to drain away. If it doesn't puddle or they drain away in an hour, you're fine. You just can't have water standing in one place for days at a time. That would require a different approach from the start. And now is the start, so watch for puddling to see if you need to do this other thing first. I'm not going to mention it unless I have to. You have plenty to deal with right now. Grass care is pretty easy when you boil it all down. You need to water, mow, and fertilize. If you're doing that right, then everything else, all the little problems like you're having now, will go away - almost. Here are the basics. Watering This is the single most important part after you have selected an adapted grass type. All lawns will need water once a week when temps are above 90 degrees. When temps fall into the 80s, the lawn should go for 2 weeks between watering. When you water, water for that target time you found with the tuna cans. If it rains then reduce your watering so the total for the week is an inch. Mowing Mulch mow at the mower's highest setting for most grasses and at the lowest setting for bermuda. Fertilizing If you want to use chemical fertilizer, apply on Memorial Day, Labor Day, and Thanksgiving. If you want to continue to use organic like alfalfa pellets or Milorganite or whatever, apply on Washington's Birthday, Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor Day, and Thanksgiving. Apply organics at 20 pounds per 1,000 square feet. For chemical fertilizers read the bag for directions. I have not used any chemical ferts since 2002. If you follow that advice on mature turf, which you don't have yet, then you should not have to deal with weeds or other problems. If you determine that you have bermuda, then find the Bermuda Bible online (Google). But I would not bother with that until you know what you have. Crazy hot summer. Bwahahaha. You mean compared to the freezing summers of the Bay Area? Come and visit me in Texas darlin' (not a real invitation).

Rutgers, my (long distance) diagnosis is fertility. Nitrogen starvation. I'm a huge fan of Milorganite, I love the stuff, but it's a 6-2-0. That's great, for June, July, and August, as it won't burn the lawn and will provide some nitrogen. It's also a pat answer, for newbies to the lawn forum, whose question usually amounts to 'Gee my lawn looks like heck', much as a doctor would say 'take two aspirin, and call me in the morning'. A lawn needs nitrogen, and most people just don't give it enough nitrogen. It's that simple, when you're dealing with those folks (you are not those folks: bear with me). The old (and I don't know where this started, nor how long ago, but it's wrong) doctrine of 'fertilize once in the fall, and maybe once in the spring' just DOES NOT hack it these days. More nitrogen, and at more frequent intervals, is needed, desperately, or your lawn will look like an elementary school yard with it's ruts, tracks, scuffs, and bare spots. And Milorganite (6-2-0) is just not enough nitrogen. You need a big-first-number fertilizer, like a 20, or a 24, or a 30. For a lawn. And you don't have a lawn. You have brand new seedlings, that are pushing up, spreading out, putting out tillers, rhizones, and a heck of a lot of green material (above ground) and brown material (below ground) all from one tiny dot that was, six weeks ago, only a seed. They're working their butts off, aren't they? They need food to get it done. And you haven't given them enough food. Add to that, you probably didn't pick some ol' junk grass, you went with a newer variety, more dense, better color, and probably a 'heavy feeder'. Heavy feeder? Eating what, may I ask? All of the nitrogen source on that lawn has already been used up, and the food's gone. With the food gone, that grass is going to stop working (which we don't want), going to stop developing or 'establishing' dominance over that soil, and going to start turning pale, and then yellowing. Get some nitrogen on that lawn today, would be my prescription. And plan on adding more.