What "nastiness" was on the soil that you raked off? Many "conventional" lawn care peopole will tell you that thatch must be removed because in that unhealthy growing syustem insect pests and disease can be rampant, but in a good, healthy organic environment that will be much less of a problem. About 1/2 inch of thatch on an organic lawn is beneficial since that will help feed the Soil Food Web necessary to a good, healthy soil.
However, if this lawn was brutaslized by synthetic chemicals for years it may well take you 3 to 5 years to get the soil back into good condition.

Well, the yard was largely unkept for about 4 years. The pine straw and leaves had choked out the grass, thats why its all patchy and weedy. The home owner raked most of it away before we moved in. What I raked out was mostly rock and sand. The back is similar, but what I raked from there was more leaves than gross, so I piled it up to try composting it.

You're sandy soil needs organic matter. I can't tell what kind of grass you have, but if it is Saint Augustine, it should be grown to 3 - 4 inches. Set your mower deck as high as it will go and mulch mow. Apply compost and mulch leaves into the turf as they become available. Also, the yard appears to be shady. Keep in mind, grass will always be thin if not given sufficient sunlight. Water deep and infrequent. It's probably going to take awhile, but am interested in viewing your updates. Good luck.

I think there is some St Augustine over in the more shady areas under the tree, and some Centipede in the open area. But most of it is weed. I have been cutting is short in planning to seed some rye this winter in an attempt to add more organic matter from the clippings, I would love to seed with Centipede or sprig some St Augustine, but those cost too much for a rental house. I was hoping to seed some Bermuda in the spring, but I'm afraid its too shady for that. I will keep this updated as I make progress, which is most likely to be dependent upon my checking account :)

Fixing a lawn in a rental is truly a labor of love. Where do you live? Knowing that will really help us help you. Also do you have dogs?

I know I don't own it, but there will be people coming to visit my house, I don't want it looking terrible. My name is on it, ya know?

Niceville, FL. Just between Destin and Ft Walton Beach. No dogs, yet. There will be a puppy in the future though.

Been to Niceville back in the 70's. If the lawn was unmanaged for 4 years, you are starting from scratch. I assume it has some St Augustine in it. How much rabbit food did you apply (in pounds per 1,000 square feet), how many times, and how far apart?

It looks like your hells strip is higher than the surrounding pavement. That will continue to wash out sand until the grass knits it in. And even then, with your sand, it will continue to wash out. You'll need both a broom and a string trimmer to keep the edges looking nice.

You might also consider a one-time app of non organic weed control (I know kimmsr is going to flip over this - "I can't believe someone could give not organic advice on an organic forum"). If you are satisfied with what you can do with pure organics, then forget about that. What I find in the dense shade is there are a few broad leaf weeds that St Augustine cannot compete with. An innocent weed like horse herb will completely take over unless you pick it out all the time. But one dose of Weed-B-Gone for Southern Lawns (black bottle with purple label) will clear it all the way out. That will be your decision. You will get much better advice on the use of chemical weed controls on the regular lawn forum.

I did something I have never done before this year. I overdosed my lawn with corn gluten meal. By overdose I mean I applied it at about 40 pounds per 1,000 square feet every month. Normally I would have only applied it at 10 pounds per 1,000 three times. The difference in density was dramatic! I thought my lawn was thin due to the shade. Now I realize I was starving it. If you can get rabbit chow, I would suggest using that at 40 pounds per 1,000 as often as once a month to get the fastest results.

Clearing out the pine needles will really help. On the one hand they were holding down the sand but on the other, they were forming a barrier to the St Aug spreading and rooting. Once you get real grass (not weeds) back to a normal density, you can probably forget about raking the pine needles. They will not be able to penetrate the canopy of turf.

In Niceville you can probably maintain a green, growing, lawn all winter long. Keep it watered once a week and fertilized toward the heavy side. Mow at the mower's highest setting all the time. I used to tell people to weld their mower in the highest setting for St Augustine. I should probably bring that tradition back. This past year I saw a lot of pictures of St Aug lawns mowed way too short. Thin, short grass allows weeds to get started. Note that the only part of this regimen that costs money is the rabbit food. Mowing and watering are cultural practices you have to do anyway. The point is you really don't need chemicals to have a really great looking lawn.

A puppy can tear up a lawn in a hurry. I would suggest that you get the grass as dense as possible before turning the pup loose on it. Large active pups, like labs, are the worst. Little dogs usually are fine unless they are diggers and buriers.

I only put about 25lbs of rabbit food on my 1800 sqft front yard, not enough I now know, but didn't at the time. I also put down coffee grounds as I get them, I have covered the yard with a pretty decent covering of grounds about one time so far. Thanks for all the tips, I really want the St Augustine thats in the yard to do well in the spring and take back over the yard.

Now, some pictures to help identify the grass:

The first one looks like crabgrass, but if this is indeed St Augustine, I still want to put down some annual rye to get some green in there and some organic matter. But in the spring, should I just leave it alone and let the St Aug do its thing and spread? Can I cut some some sprigs of the current growth and transplant it over to the needy part of the yard?

On a separate note, I was turning some kitchen waste into my compost pile today and found a single earthworm. Progress right?

Thanks all!

Where there is one worm, there are always more.

The problem with rye is that in the spring it shades out the St Aug and delays the restart. It is much (MUCH) worse with bermuda grass, but has some of that effect in St Aug. Professional sports people get away with winter rye overseeding because they have huge budgets as well as access to chemical herbicides the homeowner cannot touch.

Yes you can cut chunks of SA out and move them around. I would keep the size to 6x6 inches and not just sprigs. When well fertilized, as I described above, and watered, it will spread 10 feet per season easily. If your starting patches are 10 feet apart, they will overlap and fill in.

It is very hard to identify grass with pictures. Of course it is easier than without pictures but I'm going to suggest you take your sprigs to a local nursery. Several of the grasses in your area look very much alike in photos. Those would be St Augustine and centipede. One has thicker rhizomes than the other. Bermuda grass has many varieties that look alike. Paspalum (bahia) is another grass in your area. Centipede will often disappear when cared for like a normal lawn, so it is not normally a problem. It cannot take too much water or fertilizer. The first one is definitely not crabgrass. If you are from the north or have never seen St Aug before, your first impression is of crabgrass. Crabgrass never really turns dark green, it needs to be reseeded every year, and it has an ugly seed head. With those features you have a weed. Seed heads are the problem with the other grasses mentioned above. The hybrid bermudas do not have seed heads. St Aug will rarely develop a seed head and it is not an ugly one.

Is it too late in the year down here on the Gulf coast to sprig/transplant some St Aug? Our days are still reaching the mid 80s to 90s, and nights maybe getting into the low 60s on occasion.

So, if I'm not going to overseed with Rye, step one is to raise my mower to its highest setting. I have a reel mower that will go up to 3 or 4 inches I believe. Next is deep infrequent watering when its not raining, and feed the soil. Sound about right?

No. On the coast you can transplant sod now. Just make sure it stays moist...don't let it dry out. Even better if you can put some compost down before applying the sod. The rest you have 100% right. With sand, I believe getting the percentage of organic matter in your soil built up is more important than fertilizing.

Nothing really to report, other than I'm trying to find a local source for some St Augustine sprigs. Kinda like raking leaves, I'm looking for a yard to edge :)

Anyway, I tried a mulch experiment today. Filled up a 5 gallon bucket with pine straw and stuck my weedeater in and turned it on. After some work it made some pretty fine mulch. The 5 gallon bucket is too small a scale to really do any good, but its a start.