Background:

I live in Central VA.

Purchased new home last February.

Backyard was basically given to the previous owners dogs: nothing but compact soil and weeds.

Last fall, I did a soil test and gave the backyard a "makeover"

• tilled the yard about 6 inches
• added the recommended amount of lime per extension
• Broadcast k31 tall fescue and starter fertilizer per directions
• Began a regular feeding program of synthetic fertilizer

Everything went great. I prefer K31 because of its durability and my preference for thick grass blades. (I'm also convinced that when the nuclear apocalypse occurs, only cockroaches and k31 will survive).

In the spring, some shady areas didn't do so well.

• March--- I over seeded those spots with a fescue, KBG and Rye mix from Pennington; I also applied Turf builder Starter Lawn Food plus Weed Control, which allows for grass seed but not weed germination.
• Early May: I fed the entire lawn Scott's Turf Builder plus Halts a Crabgrass Control

Late spring:

• Mid June: : I spread Mikorganite on my lawn. Holy moly this stuff is amazing and I will be using this as my primary food from here on out.

Early summer:

• Due to some heavy winded storms, I had to remove an old red oak tree. This was the one creating the shade that gave me some trouble earlier.
• I not the areas that were disturbed by the tree removal with milorganite and they seem to be recovering nicely.
• I use a leaf blower and a rake to spread the saw dust creating from chainsaws as evenly as I could across the lawn.

My lawn practices:

- I always cut on the highest setting, which is about 3.85 inches on my Troy Bilt push mower

- I do not water often; when I do, the lawn hasn't had an inch of water in a week, so I use sprinklers to make up the difference. I water deeply in these situations for however long it takes to being the total weekly amount to 1 inch.

- I always return the lawn clippings using the mulching setting on my mower. i did however bag once or twice when the lawn was growing so rapidly during the middle spring after fertilization; I was cutting twice per week, so every 3rd mowing I bagged.

I have started to become interested in more organic lawn care and have reading this forum like a madman. It seems like this is the way to go, and I've started to become concerned with the longterm effects of synthetic fertilizer and chemicals on my dog.

So... With all that out of the way:

Thus far, backyard lawn faired very well. It's thick in most places and other areas started to fill in nicely once I put the milorganite down. Very impressed with that poopy-based product!

BUT...

Now that the summer is coming on, it looks like there is a terrible problem brewing.

Lespedenza.

It is literally popping up in every nook and cranny it can. Even in some of the thickest and healthiest spots of the lawn.

I'm afraid it will undue all of my hard work.

Does anyone have any advice on how to deal with this organically?

I've been hand pulling the stuff but it seems futile. It's everywhere, and the more I pull, the more seems to crop up overnight.

I aim to aerate and overseed again in the fall, but the spots that the demon weed lespedenza has claimed for its domain will not be hit by the broadcast of new seed.

When the lespedenza dies off in the winter frost... It will be too late to overseed.

And if I aerate and overseed again in the early spring, I am afraid the aeration might kill off the new grass I will be overseeding this fall.

Any tips for me? I do NOT want to resort to Weed B Gon or some other chemical control, but I will if that is the best thing to get this under control now before it gets totally out of control.

I'm hoping there might be some type of soil condition that lespedenza hates but turf loves? That way I can support the turf while hindering the lespedenza without using a chemical?