The rest of our grass is in a sad way. We have owned the house for a year. The prior owner left piles of leaves in the yard, so we had yard acne.

Our next door neighbor has a lovely lawn, so ive been following the monkey-see monkey-do lawn program. When he mows, i mow. He suggested that i set my mower height higher and i did that.

I reseeded early spring with a fescue that the local garden center sold me. I watered it diligently and some of the bare spots have filled in nicely.

Next year we plan to have a retainingwall built, some terraces put in and a new sidewalk poured.

I would like to improve the appearance and health of my lawn as much as i can, because the front of our house reaaly pulls down the overall neighborhood appearance. Bt i dont want to do too much in case next summer's construction tears it up.

So, how do i determine what to do to my lawn this fall? Im trying to locate an extension office to have a soil test done. Have i missed he window for fertilization? I dont hnk i can afford to aerate and dethatch and reseed and fertilize and top dress.

Thanks for any help and suggestions!

Also, how long until the grass seed takes firm root? I ask because soon my 11 ginourmous oak trees will begin dumping leaves over my front yard. I used a leaf blower and a billy goat (like a vacuum cleaner for the yard) last year. I dont want to reseed and then sweep all my seed away during leaf removal.

I just used a normal rake to loosen mine, was a pain but it did the trick, im guessing that spikey thing should work. Just try and get good seed to soil contact. I know lots of neighbors who overseeded but left so much dead grass and debris on the lawn it did nothing and no new grass grew. You may need to dethatch if theres a lot of debris though, if thats the case you could dethatch and overseed now and leave the aerating and top-dressing til next year. Its more work if you have to dethatch but overseeding when theres too much debris and thatch doesnt work. GL.

Just out of curiosity, how much of the 3000 square feet are taken up by the 11 oak trees? Or do you mean that beyond the 3000 sq ft of grass is where the oak trees are? If you have a composting facility near your house where you can pick up some for free, that will also help the new seed. You only need about 1/4 inch of compost as a top dressing.

Also buffed the paint on my sailboat today.

Blisters on both hands!

You will need to mow soon depending on how much your pre-existing grass has grown. Mow to about 2-3 inches.

I like using organic fertilizer like alfalfa, soy bean meal and Milorganite. These take about 3 to 4 weeks to break down and feed your grass and as the weather gets cooler this breakdown takes longer. Given that I think you may want to use a synthetic fertilizer this Fall since it is much faster acting. Fall and early winter are the most important times to feed Tall fescue. Choose one that has some time release N mixed in it. You will need to read the label. Use about a half rate (half pound N per 1000 sqft.) in about a week and another half rate in 2-3 weeks after that. Water it in real good after applying to prevent any burning of the grass. Maybe time the application with a rain storm. Others with better knowledge of fertilizing scheduling may have a better idea but I do not think this is too far off.

All is going well, except hat my oak trees have dumped a bajillion leaves on he lawn and w have had heavy rain for 3 days. So I don't know how to get the wet lumpy sheets of leaves off my baby grasses.

Is raking too harsh at this point?
Can I mow wet leaves and bag them?

It's too bad they are wet, b/c leaves are fantastic organic fertilizer.

It would be slightly more risky, but you could mulch it first, then bag it. That would put as much leaves onto the ground as possible, but it would stress the grass more then just bagging it.

Thanks for helping me, it has made a huge inference!

Also how high should I mow?

And I goofed and fertilized last week. Thought I was supposed to and then retread my notes and realized I had written NOT to fertilize now, because it compromises root growth. Sigh.

I think I'll go ahead and not waste the seed I have, see how my yard fares this summer with the K31 and decide what to do in the fall.

If I don't like the k31, can I just start overseeding this fall with a better variety and eventually it will be good or do I need to kill the k31 off?

I sharpened my mower blade and set it at 3". Going to mow tomorrow! Absurdly excited about it.

This year I want to kill off some mossy areas, top dress with some more mushroom compost and start using the milorganite and maybe try alfalfa or cornmeal.

My neighbor with the nice lawn commented to me that the lawn is looking lots better. Much thanks to you guys!

My next question is about weed control, I have dandelions, clover, moss and who knows what else. Kids play in my yard.

Could you guys help me with a plan for sping and summer of this year?
I had a soil test but misplaced it, but from what I remember, the extension agent said my soil pH and nutrients were fine.

I was thinking about doing the baby shampoo, molasses, alfalfa feed routine.

My mower is set at 3" and I have a cat food can to measure watering.

I live in mid-Ohio valley, zone 6b.

At least what should I be doing during April and May for weeds? How much water does my lawn need?

Thanks!