I'm in zone 7 (b, I think?) in Marietta, GA. Bought an appx. 40 year old home this past April that had sat vacant for about 18 months with zero attention paid to the lawn for roughly 7 years prior to that, according to neighbors. Lawn is about 95% weeds with very little actual grass and a small area of moss in one section. Have not done soil test, but is typical to this area, clumpy red clay. Roughly 6,000 square feet. No in-ground irrigation, will have to use impulse or hand watering in the near future.

Working backwards from the first frost date of roughly the first week of November, it would seem the time to drop seed would be around 3rd week of September (about 6 weeks prior). It sounds late compared to other posts I've read - just curious if this is an acceptable timeline.

Regarding the process, I plan on 2 applications of Round-Up, one week apart, wait one more week and lower the mower to the lowest setting and bag the clippings. After that, however, I'm a little confused of the best route to take. Some have suggested an application of 1" compost, but I'm concerned about the price and effectiveness (at $30/CY, assuming 18CY would be very pricey). With dchall leading the charge, most seem to be against tilling or similar process (because of future settling?). So my question is, what's the most effective route to take after removing the weeds, prior to dropping the seed?

Thank you!

The biggest thing is the nighttime temperatures. Cool season grass needs it to cool off every night so it can rest and recuperate. I believe 70 degrees is typically the bracket for that. Course, up here in Kansas we just had quite an stretch (if I remember correctly about a month) where we hardly saw 70 degrees, and if it was, the humidity was so high it didn't really count.

Any input on the appropriate process? I just hear so many contradictory statements, I'd like to feel confident I get it mostly right the first time without wasting time and money.

There are several ways to prepare the soil for planting. I would recommend that you rent a power rake and set it so it's just barely in the soil. You can also core aerate. If you do that, do it several times, otherwise it's not worth doing. Core aerating, is something you likely could skip, and get basically the same results from the planting.

Hopefully dchall will chime on with his thoughts on compost, and what to do there.

I think you should do a soil test.

Then spread the seed with a broadcast spreader at 8-10lbs. per 1000 sq. ft. No more.

Taking up from where you mowed at the lowest setting and bagged the clippings. You should be left with a very low mat that will server to hold the seed in place.

Do not till as dchall mentioned (he pretty much knows what he is talking about).

Aerating is debatable from what I have read. Some say do not mechanically aerate unless your soil has been compacted by heavy machinery going over it (you can later on start spraying soil conditioner on your soil that will help with opening it up to oxygen and water). It will most likely bring up unwanted weed seeds and give you a lot of seed pressure in your reno.

Apply whatever fertilizer (i.e. starter fertilizer. I did half rate at seeding and half rate about 30 days later) and sow the seed. Mid Sept is about right for your location. I seeded during the third week of Sept last year in NC. Play it by ear. As mentioned, when you see the temps coming down and maybe some rain coming then time it just right.
Sprinkle about 1/8 � � inch of compost over the top of the seeds. This is the time consuming part. This will also help hold the seed in and help with seed soil contact. It made a noticeable difference in seed germination for me where I did it and where I did not. Where I did not I had to apply more seed later.

Water appropriately. Very important.

Sow the seed and definitely apply a quarter inch (not an inch) top dressing of compost. That is going to take some time with 6000 sqft. Maybe someone else has done a reno that big and can suggest something.

Some folks will roll the seed after sowing to help with seed soil contact but I did not. I figured all the walking I did putting out the top dressing had to help with that.

And then water appropriately for the next 4-6 weeks.

By the way, I did a 2500 sqft reno last fall and I am doing another 2500 sqft reno this fall. I am cutting this up into manageable chunks. I hope to seed around the second or third week in Sept.