Hi,

You are right, there isn't much to do with cool season lawns right now except for water and mow as it needs it.

When the daytime high temperatures start to dip below 80 degrees (late August/early September), give the lawn a good fertilization (1b of nitrogen/1000 square feet). Fertilize again with 1b of nitrogen/1000 square feet around Thanksgiving with quick-release fertilizer for good rooting and early spring green-up.

If you have a lot weeds and you are not going to be seeding, you can spray the weeds when the grass starts to green-up and grow steadily in September. This will kill them off and you'll see results this fall but you will probably need to spray them again in spring. However, if you wait until mid October to spray the weeds, you get a much more complete kill but the results won't truly be seen until next spring.

The other thing you can do this fall is aerate the lawn to encourage deep rooting and relieve soil compaction. If you are not using weed killer, overseeding after aerating is a good thing to do because the seeds germinate in the holes.

And finally - mowing - mow high (2.5-3.5 inches) and as frequently as needed in order to remove no more than one third the height of the grass.