Question
QUESTION: Greetings!

I just purchased a renovated house right outside Washington DC.  
Unfortunately the sod is dying.  Some of it is relatively green, some of it is
brown, and some of it is dead.  There are few trees around the house, so it
gets a lot of sun.  Also, I don't believe the renovators watered the sod much
and we've had a bit of a drought this summer (2007).

Now that it's late September, what are the best steps for me to take?  Should I
pull up any of the dead sod?  Should I till the sod at all?  What kind of grass
should I spread?  Should I wait until Spring?  I don't need anything fancy, just
a nice green lawn.  Any help would be great.

Thanks!
Stuart

ANSWER: The simplest solution here is to roll up your dead and dying Sod and turn it over into the Soil, then rake and have a landscaper sow a nice new Bluegrass Lawn with a uniform variety.  You have the conditions for postcard-perfect Grass.  With your new house, why not shoot for a great Lawn?  It's Grass-growing season -- Fall is the time to do this, and it is toward the end of the schedule.  Otherwise I think you will be working on this constantly, trying to fill in new damage and old damage etc.  With the terrific Sun exposures you now have, you can grow great Bluegrass with less effort.  Be sure to order one of the better new varieties so that you get all the advantages of the latest research; new cultivar introductions are coming along all the time and they offer something special over the older, cheaper types.

I repeat:  NOW is Grass Growing Season.  Although Seed Sales surge in Spring, the healthiest, Greenest Grass is born in September and October.

Use Milorganite to fertilize.  It's slow release, and you won't lose the whole Nitrogen content to the air (most chemical fertilizer evaporates before it gets into the Soil, believe it or not).

In the Spring, put down an Organic pre-emergent weedkiller, preferably Corn Meal Gluten.  We will cross that bridge when we come to it.

You are probably overwhelmed with work on your new house, but if you have time, get a Soil Test.  It will tell you what NOT to buy for your Lawn (money, time saved) and what you NEED (this can be surprising).  This is a new residence for you; find out what's in the Soil around it.  You need to know this.  If you send me your zipcode, I'll send you the link to your local Cooperative Extension.  Soil testing is modestly priced and worth its weight in gold.

Thanks for writing.  Send your zip.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you SO so so much!  I'm in Arlington, VA  at 22207.

Answer
You can get free Soil Sample boxes and Soil Sample Information Sheets from your local Arlington Cooperative Extension office, 901 S. Highland Street in Arlington.

Make sure you follow instructions for soil sampling.  This is an analysis performed by experts with serious lab equipment, but if you don't give them a valid sample, the data will be wrong:

http://www.ext.vt.edu/pubs/compost/452-129/submitting.html

Fill in this Information Sheet and read the instructions.  You'll need a pdf file for this:

http://www.ext.vt.edu/pubs/compost/452-125/452-125.pdf

and send it, with the sample and payment, to the Virginia Tech Soil Testing Lab, 145 Smyth Hall (0465), Blacksburg, VA 24061.

You should get all the 'Routine', 'Organic Matter' and 'Soluble Salts'.  Total fee is a modest ten bucks.  It costs more to put gas in the tank, and it's worth its weight in gold.

Good luck and thanks for writing.