The easiest thing you can do is change your attitude. I wish I had a lawn as nice as yours. The pictures show a nice thick turf and from just planting this year I'd say you have the basis of a real nice lawn. Follow the basics, mulch mow, fertilize and water. Raise your cutting height so the grass shades out the weeds and spot treat the stubborn ones. It does take a few seasons of the proper care for the lawn to really show. Some iron should green it up real nice if that is what you want.

What soccer_dad said, and for good measure those are fabulous results for a summer seeding. With good cultural practices that lawn should be outstanding by July 4.

I don't know what that weed is, but it is a broadleaf that does not look very vigorous, and should be relatively easy to kill with a postemergent herbicide.

Looks like Plantain which is easy to kill with weed-b-gone. Also, you may have some rust which can be treated with nitrogen. Did you apply late summer/fall fertilizer yet? Another application of "winterizer" late October/early November is also extremely important.

I think your lawn looks fine for a summer seeding. It will look even better next year.

Agree that it looks like a plantain.

If you believe in using weeds to determine soil conditions, its presence indicates compaction.

Get a weed hound and yank it out by the base/roots. I leave pulled weeds on the lawn to mulch mow with the mower.

In general it looks like heat stress and lack of fertilization. What is your fertilization schedule?

I'm organic and would reccomend an immediate spread of 7-15 lbs/ft^2 of soybean meal to fertilize.

New seedlings take at least a year to establish.

Mulch mow high (3-4"), water 1"/week all at once and fertilize in the fall.

I agree that you have a good start for a summer seeding.

Good luck

"I'm organic and would reccomend an immediate spread of 7-15 lbs/ft^2 of soybean meal to fertilize."

I think that's supposed to be 7-15 lbs/1000 ft2 rather than /ft2.

You guys would get along great with my wife. I'm such a perfectionist that it gets the best of me sometimes.

The hydroseed in Mid june had a starter fertilizer built in. I re-fertilized with a starter fertilizer around early august and another application when i re-seeded on Sept 1st. At this point, i was going to wait another week or two to put down my winterizer fertilizer.

As far as going organic, where locally should i be looking to get the soybean meal? Something like a tractor supply co? i dont think the big box stores carry it?

as far as treating the plantain, should i treat now or is it advised to wait until spring?

Early fall is one of the best times to control broadleaf perennial weeds like plantain.

get soybean meal at your local feed mill

I'm not a fan of the 'organic' approach in the fall. The fall is when you need to put down a big-first-number fertilizer, the full dose of nitrogen. 6-2-0 Milorganite won't do (first number of 6) when you should be putting down something like Lesco from two questions higher on the forum question list (he asked about Lesco's 24-2-11). Notice that big first number? 24? That's the big dose of nitrogen that a lawn needs in the fall, especially a new lawn.

Fall is indeed the best time to kill broadleaf weeds. I wouldn't do it just because your lawn is new this year. You can kill those weeds with Weed B Gone quite fine in the spring, and may gain something in lawn health by waiting.

Let me give you some advice which you didn't ask for, at the risk of being overbearing. I apologize for that. But you need a regular program of fertilizing, twice in the fall, (with big first number) and once in the spring (a more mild source of nitrogen, like Milorganite), and once in the summer, but not July, with a mild, like Milorganite. Three times over spring/summer would be even better, with the mild dose.

Lawns need nitrogen. At regular intervals. That lawn care company didn't put down 'some sort of treatment', did they? They put down NITROGEN. And look at the difference.

Nitrogen yes: lawn looks great.
Nitrogen no: lawn looks shabby
Nitrogen skimpy: lawn looks skimpy. But a little more nitrogen would fix it.

The old days are gone, and the old common wisdom is gone. The old 'fertilize once in the fall, and once in the spring' just plain won't cut it. And tell your neighbor. I know he just had a 'treatment' but he's been skimping on the nitrogen, as the lawn hasn't recovered from the kid's skid marks, and it shows in the pictures.

How do sod farms do it? Every year, they put down seed, on bare dirt, sprout the seed, and harvest that thick, dark green sod for delivery in August and September. They do it with nitrogen. Regular applications, of a mild fertilizer through the spring and summer, like Milorganite, or some other sludge-based fertilizer.

You're in the same position. You got the seedlings up and growing, deprived the nitrogen, and you're already lime green and fading. Exactly the opposite course of the sod farm. Turn this thing around, right now, and you'll be most impressed next summer.

Philes21,

THANK YOU. I needed someone to basically tell me to "quit yer b#tchin' and do something about it!" I just wasnt sure what to do! I'll be heading to the store right after work to find me some nitrogen to give my lawn a shot right in the vein! You didnt come off as overbearing, it was much appreciated.

philes21,

I'm not a fan of the 'organic' approach in the fall. The fall is when you need to put down a big-first-number fertilizer, the full dose of nitrogen. 6-2-0 Milorganite won't do (first number of 6) when you should be putting down something like Lesco from two questions higher on the forum question list (he asked about Lesco's 24-2-11). Notice that big first number? 24?

I don't necessarily agree with this, an I will explain why. You cannot compare the npk numbers on organics vs synthetics, here's why. Milorganite comes in a 40lb bag and does 2500 sq ft. TB with iron (29-2-4 for example) comes in a 15 lb bag and does 5000 sq ft. 15 lbs x 29% = 4.35 lbs of nitrogen or .87 lbs per 1000 sq ft. You would use 80 lbs of Milorganite to do 5000 sq ft. 80 x 6% = 4.8 lbs of nitrogen or .96 lbs per 1000 sq ft.

That comes out to 16 lbs of Milorganite per 1000 sq ft. or 3 lbs of TB with iron per 1000 sq ft.

You would never use as much synthetic product as you would organic.

I would agree that as a last shot in northern climates that a synthetic winterizer is probably a better choice.

I think we agree with each other, Eastpenna. I'm not a fan of Milorganite in the fall, for just the reason you pointed out. And I'm the one who has taken a little flak, over the years, for being in love with the stuff.

I do think that, comparing Milorganite with synthetics, that the numbers are accurate, as far as 'delivery' of those specified nutrients to the lawn. You put down Milorganite, you will get a 6 (because it's 6-2-0). You put down Lesco, or Scott's, or urea, you will get 20, or 24, or 35, or 40. (I'm not trying to be confusing here: some fertilizers are 24-3-8, some are 35-10-8, and urea is 40-0-0. This stuff is NOT mixed for a given climate (yours or mine) it is a function of some factory manager saying 'how can I make it cheaply, and then convince people to buy it?'.
He will figure out that he can mix A, B, and C, and come out with a fertilizer that is, coincidentally, 24-8-12. He says 'hey, i've got a fertilizer', he does not say 'hey, i've got to re-mix this, because I want to be at 24-2-6'. No. He will sell the first batch, because it's cheaper.

I'm confused by the 'grains' people: they have pointed out, with impressive results, that spreading soy meal, or corn meal, or several other meals, is relatively cheap, is relatively devoid of 'chemicals' or heavy metals, and something often overlooked is quite true: when these meals, these grains, rot (I'm sorry, I meant to say 'naturally decompose'), they release nitrogen, through the rotting/naturally decomposing process. Did you say nitrogen? Weren't we talking about....hey, are we on to something here? You betcha.

So 'grains' or 'organic' has it's place.

But you are quite right: if that lawn needs BIG nitrogen, why would we use grains or Milorganite? Even if one has a prejudice against 'chemicals' (I don't), do you really want to put down 400 pounds of Milorganite (in 40 pound bags), rather than 1/10 that amount of material from Scotts or Lesco, in the fall? And save a lot of money by buying the Lesco? You are quite right, it makes no sense. None. Buy the Lesco.

But summer? Late spring? August? The lawn still needs a regular dose of nitrogen, and if you don't put it down, the lawn will look quite the worse. The organics, and Milorganite, and the grains, are perfect for that time of year, and perfect for the lawn.

But you'd have to put down a ton of Milorganite, or a ton of soy, or corn, or cottonseed meal, rather than just a pound of Lesco or Scotts, to get that big dose of nitrogen in the fall. Hence, my advice: put down the synthetics in the fall. A big first number, like a 22, or a 26, or a 40. Milorganite won't cut it. You got to get 24 to 30 on that lawn, in the fall. You wanna use Milorganite 5 times? Or Lesco just once?

Also, remember that organic fertilizers depend on bacterial action, which slows at temps below about 55 degrees F. Another reason to use synthetics in the fall.

I think there are organic people here who would disagree with you. I have seen lawns - my one neighbor is proof - that stay very green without any chemical applications.

bpgreen. Yes my bad it should be 7-15 lbs/1000 ft^2. Late night posts are sometimes flawed.

My view on organics vs. synthetics.

Organics
A continued apllication of grains, grass, leaves and compost will buld organic matter in the soil providing a consistent release of nitrogen to the plant when it requires it. You buffer the soil and nitrogen is released as needed. You can get the fall nitrogen rush by fertilzing with alfalfa and soybean meal in late summer early fall. Nitrogen leaching is rarely a problem. Build the soil and the lawn will follow.

Synthetics
Provide nitrates to the grass roots by applying salt based fertilizers. These fertilizers kill microbes, leach to ground water and deplenish organic matter. Buffers are destroyed, the lawn becomes dependent on the synthetic feedings as the soil diminishes to a point that the lawn requires the synthetics to survive.

With that said, the original poster needs to fertilize using whatever method he chooses. The plantain can be hand pulled or sprayed with chemicals to kill.

I think there are organic people here who would disagree with you. I have seen lawns - my one neighbor is proof - that stay very green without any chemical applications.

Mine does, with the only synthetic used in November when the organics won't work.

That having been said, it doesn't matter. Whatever's easier to get and whatever you like is what you want to use. As long as you get that 1 pound per thousand square feet down, it really doesn't matter much as far as the grass is concerned.

The soil is another story, where the organics really shine and do a much better job. However, I won't gripe if somebody wants to use turf builder.

One reason some people use a chemical fertilizer for the late fall feeding is that most organic fertilizers (such as grains) require microbial activity to make the nitrogen available to the grass. Some organic fertilizers don't (or at least have some nitrogen that is available without microbial activity).

Slow release fertilizers that rely on microbial activity to make the nitrogen available will not provide nitrogen when the soil temperature drops below approximately 40 F. Slow release fertilizers that use some sort of coating to slow the release of the nitrogen will provide nitrogen regardless of soil temperature.