Thanks

When was the lawn seeded? If was this year then you should not hope for a miracle. Actually the miracle would be if the entire lawn survives the heat and makes it until fall. But if it was seeded last fall, then the roots should be fine. You should be able to grow them much deeper so that you are watering longer and much less frequently. There are other good reasons why not to water so often, so just work your way there. If I had temps in the mid 80s for a high, I would be watering every 14 days. With temps in the low 100s, I water once a week.

If your soil is too hard to allow penetration of that much water all at one time, try spraying baby shampoo or any clear shampoo. Application rate is 3 ounces of soap per 1,000 square feet. Apply once followed by an inch of water (if you can). Then follow up 2 weeks later when you water. Normal soil feels soft when it is wet and feels very firm (hard) when it dries out. It is just like a sponge. The longer you apply the shampoo the deeper your soil will soften. Clear shampoo is best to use because it does not have oils or antibiotics that some other liquid soaps have.

Are you interested in taking over and letting your lawn service go? If you are in reasonable physical condition, it is not that hard to apply fertilizer. Most people simply don't know when to apply or how to diagnose issues. We can help you learn that. Here are the very basics of lawn care - I call it Lawn Care 101. You can get a lot more into it but if all you do is this, you won't have many issues to deal with.

Basics of Lawn Care

After reading numerous books and magazines on lawn care, caring for lawns at seven houses in my life, and reading numerous forums where real people write in to discuss their successes and failures, I have decided to side with the real people and dispense with the book and magazine authors. I don't know what star their planet rotates around but it's not mine. With that in mind, here is the collected wisdom of the Internet savvy homeowners and lawn care professionals summarized in a few words. If you follow the advice here you will have conquered at least 50% of all lawn problems. Once you have these three elements mastered, then you can worry about weeds (if you have any), dog spots, and striping your lawn. But if you are not doing these three things, they will be the first three things suggested for you to correct.

Watering
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. Do not spread this out and water for 10 minutes every day. If your grass looks dry before the month/week is up, water longer next time. If that does not work, then you might have to water more than once per week during the summer's hottest period. 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.

You will have to learn to judge when to water your own lawn. If you live in Las Vegas your watering will be different than if you live in Vermont. Adjust your watering to your type of grass, humidity, wind, and soil type. It is worth noting that this technique is used successfully by professionals in Phoenix, so...just sayin.' The other factors make a difference. If you normally water 1 inch per week and you get 1/2 inch of rain, then adjust and water only 1/2 inch that week.

Mowing
Every week mulch mow at the highest setting on your mower. Most grasses are the most dense when mowed tall. However, bermuda, centipede, and bent grasses will become the most dense when they are mowed at the lowest setting on your mower. In fact there are special mowers that can mow these grasses down to 1/16 inch. Dense grass shades out weeds, keeps the soil cooler, and uses less water than thin grass. Tall grass can feed the deep roots you developed in #1 above. Tall grass does not grow faster than short grass nor does it look shaggy sooner. Once all your grass is at the same height, tall grass just looks plush. One last exception is Kentucky bluegrass. The experts mow it at 3.5 inches (one notch below the highest setting).

Fertilizing
Fertilize regularly. I fertilize 5 times per year using organic fertilizer. Which fertilizer you use is much less important than numbers 1 and 2 above. Follow the directions on the bag and do not overdo it. If you are using chemical fertilizers, too little is better than too much. If you are using organic fertilizers, it is the other way around. At this point you do not have to worry about weed and feed products - remember at this point you are just trying to grow grass, not perfect it. Besides once you are doing these three things correctly, your weed problems should go away without herbicide.

Where are you in Mass?

If you have rye grass then overseed it Aug/Sept

I'm not kidding. I buy alfalfa pellets in plain, 50-pound bags at the feed store.

Thanks again.