On 14 Jul 2006 14:35:01 -0700, Big Purple Nose wrote:
"Your lawn is dry, needs a lot of water, and is really compacted. Your
lawn is also thin, which gives way to weeds, and you have ants. We
can't really save your lawn, we could get rid of the weeds with round
up but it will kill everything. You will ahve to sod or take Ecology
Program to take care of weeds and gree the little bit of grass there
is, with an aeration to help water go in and OVSD (that is a double
core with seeds) but you would have to put down a lot more seeds and
merit for grubs. but the results are hard to guarantee."

Merit for grubs? Did they actually dig for a test patch of grubs
and count and figure out the species? Do you have mole problems?
If not, I'm a little wary of that recommendation.


You might be able to salvage with a combination of core aeration,
a dicot-selective herbicide, and proper fertilization, overseeding and
proper mowing and watering. Or you could go the sod route, which
is faster, more expensive, and maybe a bit more sure... but that pains
my Scots ancestry terribly.

What I'd probably do is to decide how much time and effort you want to
put into it, and balance that with money. I'd probably water the lawn
you have now enough to get the perennial weeds growing again, and then
nuke the whole thing with Roundup or other glyphosate preparation myself.
Or, in a sensitive watershed area, I'd consider using either a light
occlusive mulch (cardboard is cheap but the neighbors probably won't care
for it) or solarize with clear plastic (and the time for that is probably
right now -- and it will also look quite unsalubrious.) At any rate, I'd
kill what's there now with the idea of starting over early this fall.

In the meantime, I'd send out for a good soil test, and do a shake test
on my own. When you get the soil test results back, it will probably
include recommendations for amount of lime and fertilizer. The shake
test will give you an idea of the amount of clay and sand in your soil ---
if badly tilted one way or the other, I'd consider purchasing compost
or other organic matter to add to the soil. If you luck out and have
something like free-for-hauling municipal compost, I'd definitely add
that to the soil. Gypsum is also a useful soil amendment if the
soil is very clayey.

Anyhow, once the soil test results are back, and preferably in the next
4-6 weeks, I'd nuke what plants are there, making sure you choose an
herbicide (if you're using one) that will be ok to plant after at the
proper time to seed in your area -- my guess is that it's probably the
first part of September for you. Just before you intend to seed,
hire someone to rototill the area for you at least 6" deep, working in
lime, gypsum, and compost as they till. Choose your seed cultivars
carefully (I'd suggest you might want to look at some of the high endophyte
cultivars if you want a more disease and insect resistant lawn), seed
and then walk it into the soil, or get someone to roll the seed in.
Or, if you've got that free municipal compost, just scatter an inch or
so of the compost over your seedbed. Water religiously, start mowing
next spring. Baby the lawn next summer, and after that you should be
able to mow properly and keep it fertilized and it should remain looking
good.

Kay