Anyway, shortly after my grass started coming in, it got REALLY hot (temps around 100, heat index 110-115). I watered as much as I could, but even from morning to evening it dried out quite a bit. The growth slowed down & now the weeds are taking over a bit.

At our old house, I actually had good luck with ortho weed-b-gone in the hose end sprayer, but I can't use that until this lawn is more established.

So the question is, is there anything I can do about the weeds now, or do I just focus on getting the grass in as thickly as possible & worry about the weeds later?

I live in WI (zip 54313) & planted this grass, if it helps..

http://www.earthcarpet.com/products_velvetread.aspx

thanks in advance!

Yes you should focus on the seed you put down. There is plenty of Kentucky bluegrass in that mix. Hope you have full sun for it.

You should be watering 3x per day for 10 minutes each time for a normal time of year (Fall). Given the heat I would go to 4x per day and maybe for 15 minutes. The idea is to keep the surface moist for germination and the roots cool. It will take a minimum of 3 weeks to get full germination (80%) of Kentucky bluegrass. The ryegrass will trick you because it germinates in a week. It will trick you into you thinking the grass has sprouted but the fescue takes a FULL week to two and the KBG takes 3+ weeks to come in. So don't back down on the frequent watering until you have gone at least 3 weeks.

Yes the weed seeds love all the attention you are giving them. You can go in and pull them as you find them. That seems like a never ending process but you will have wished you did if you don't. Every day pick a few and on weekends really hit it.

Your mix is kind of tricky to mow at first. Since it is so hot that makes it a little easier. I would mow the early sprouting rye when it gets to 5 inches. Mow it back to let some sunlight into to the newer grass seeds. You might mow nothing but rye for two mowings. Keep the mower at the highest setting until you feel the summer heat backing off. I'm talking about the summer heat, not just this heat wave. When the summer heat backs off then lower the mower to 3 inches. This mowing height will favor the KBG.

KBG will spread to fill in your entire lawn. It might take a full year for it to do that so you could add more seed in the fall - if you can stand going through the 3x daily watering program again. Be sure you only water for 10-15 minutes. Some people recently have told about watering for an hour a day. They lost their lawn(s) to fungal diseases. The thicker you can get your lawn this fall, the happier you will be in the spring. Weeds will not penetrate a dense stand of KBG.

Once the summer heat backs off you can relax your watering. Eventually you want to apply about an inch of water per week in the hot months and an inch per month in the cooler months. Watering in the cooler months is good for the soil. Grass will be dormant and won't much care but the soil is full of microbes which will help you out in the spring.

Hold off on fertilizing until the summer heat breaks. When that happens, you can fertilize normally for the fall. Come to think of it, you might still stress new roots with a chemical fertilizer so perhaps you should use an organic fertilizer for your first shot. More toward Halloween or Thanksgiving, you can do chemicals again if you want to. But after your first fertilizer, then about 2 weeks later come in with weed-b-gone.

The watering schedule is the hardest part. I have a hose bib at the front of the house & one at the back. I set up sprinklers around the yard & bought some extra hose so that I can turn different areas on & off , but I don't have enough water pressure to do more than one at a time. Even watering for 15 minutes at a time, it takes 2+ hours to hit the whole lawn. Doing that 3 times a day is pretty much impossible. The straw really does seem to help retain moisture - doing it twice a day, it still seems to be damp under the straw except for when it's really hot..

As for the KBG, my plan was to overseed with KBG once this stuff comes in, either this fall or next spring. Our yard is pretty much 100% sun.

Oh...and I did fertilize with milorganite before planting. I fertilized, put down seed, then raked it all in & put straw over the top..

In terms of sprinkling, try to give it a longer burst so the water seeps further down into the soil once the grass has started to grow. It will help it to develop strong and healthy roots. In the meantime, the straw is a good idea.

Best of luck.