I'll just comment on the compost.

Finished compost does not stink. Finished compost smells fresh like a forest floor after a spring rainstorm. Manure, before it is fully composted, stinks. Also finished compost has no flies because there is nothing left to attract flies. The best way to identify good compost is the fresh smell. You can also look for sand in it. Rub some in your hand until all the organic stuff falls out. If you have shiny stuff left over on your skin, then the compost has been adulterated with sand and should sell for less than pure compost.

Imagine having a stinky lawn for several weeks!!! Don't use that stuff.

Thanks for the response. It smelt so bad, that I did not feel like getting closer and touching with my hand.

In terms of other options, I have used compost from my towns compost facility. It's probbaly not the highest quality but you cant beat 'free.'

> "Should I apply Lime during seeing? "

not with a pH of 6.6

Thanks for the response. It smelt so bad, that I did not feel like getting closer and touching with my hand.

YES! This is exactly why God gave us noses!! We are supposed to stay away from stuff that stinks and we should be drawn toward stuff that smells good. Finished compost smells great! I can take you right now to our local stables. I know right where the finished horse manure is. It still looks like horse apples because it has never been disturbed, but it is finished compost. I can plunge both hands in, bring up a huge helping of compost, and stick my face right into it.

"I know right where the finished horse manure is. I can plunge both hands in, bring up a huge helping of compost, and stick my face right into it."

Ha, you have to be talking to fellow lawn and garden whackos who know just how you feel to get away with a statement like that... without getting hauled off to the funnyfarm.

Garddhar, find your local Lesco/John Deere store and purchase a straight Fescue Blend for $35 for 50 lb bag, or a mix and blend of Fescue/Bluegrass for $40 for a 50 lb bag.

Fescue/Bluegrass blend/mix works best in the Raleigh area, one grass complements the other. Fescue becomes more Brown Patch tolerant while Bluegrass fills in any damage and makes your turf more fine bladed and dense. Bluegrass with Fescue mixed in becomes more tolerant of diseases that are likely to strike a monostand of Bluegrass.

Don't use a single variety, if you get a disease, it will most likely wiped the entire turf.

A 50 lb bag of Lesco Starter Fertilizer good for 12k sf will run you $20 at your local Lesco/John Deere store.

I seriously doubt your soil has a 6.6 ph level... That's concidered to be ideal for turfgrass growth, but will all the rain with get around here, it is simply not realistic or stable. It is usually around 6 or less. I'd check it again if I were you.

Have you found out why parts of your lawn died during the summer?

Were you able to take some pictures?

Let me know, I live in Cary.