Let's start with a lawn calendar. You've been off calendar so far.

• March/April - at the first sign of forsythia blooming in your neighborhood, use a preemergent herbicide.

• Mid April - spot spray broadleaf weeds (clover, dandelion, spurge, etc.) with something like Weed-b-Gon or Weed-b-Gon Chickweed, Clover, and Oxalis Killer

• Late May - fertilize for the first time with a plain fertilizer, not weed n feed.

• Early September - fertilize for the second time, no weed n feed. About this same time you can overseed if you need to.

• Mid September - spot spray broadleaf weeds again

• Early October - evaluate your overseeding efforts to see if you need more seed.

• Late November - when the grass stops growing but before it changes color or you get a hard freeze, apply a high N fast release fertilizer like uncoated urea.

Do not get tempted (by TV commercials) to seed in the spring, and don't get tempted to fertilize early. The late fall fertilizer will awaken the grass early in the spring and cause it to grow fast. If you miss the fall application of chemical fertilizer, you can apply any organic fertilizer at any time. Organics have a different way of fertilizing, so all the cautions go away.

Don't bring in any new topsoil unless you have low spots you need to fill. Topsoil and sand will always change your drainage and often for the worse. The last thing you want to do is build a dam that holds water up against your home's foundation. Besides grass seed sprouts at the surface, not buried under a light app of topsoil. It will sprout under light soil, but if you don't need it, don't do it.

For this upcoming overseed, I would get a tri-mix of Kentucky bluegrass, rye, and fescue. If that is what the Scott's product has then fine. The KBG and rye will do well in the full sun while the fescue excels in the shade. Overseed the entire yard to get the colors to blend in. The newer seed could be deeper green than your current turf. Mow the lawn at the mower's lowest setting, remove the loose grass, apply the seed, and press it down with a rented, water-fillable roller. Watering the tri-mix is a little tricky because the three seed types germinate at different times. First of all you water new seed to keep it moist, not soggy, all the time. Usually that means 10 minutes three times a day for 1, 2, and/or 3 weeks as follows. Rye comes first at one week. Fescue comes at 2 weeks and KBG takes 3 weeks. So if you watered for only one week, all you would get is rye grass with just a small bit of early germinating fescue. There would be no KBG. The KBG has the advantage of spreading to fill thin spots, but it has the disadvantage of sometimes turning brown in a harsh winter.

Since you're new to this, here's more on watering mature grass after the seed is up and growing.

• Watering: Deep and infrequent is the mantra for watering. This is for all turf grass all over the place. Deep means 1 inch all at one time. Put some cat food or tuna cans around the yard, and time how long it takes your sprinkler(s) to fill all the cans. Memorize that time. That will be the time you water from now on. My hose, sprinkler and water pressure takes 8 full hours to fill the cans. Your time will likely be less. I like gentle watering. As for watering frequency, that depends on the daytime air temperature. With temps in the 90s, deep water once per week. With temps in the 80s, deep water once every 2 weeks. With temps in the 70s, deep water once every 3 weeks. With temps below 70, deep water once a month. Note that you have to keep up with quickly changing temps in the spring and fall. This deep and infrequent schedule works in Phoenix and in Vermont, so it should work for you. The reason for deep and infrequent is to grow deeper, more drought resistant roots and to allow the soil to dry completely at the surface for several days before watering again. If it rains, reset your calendar to account for the rainfall.

Mow at your mower's highest setting for most of the year.

Was this just an automatic reply or a copy/paste or something with meets my needs?

In the last picture I posted, do I need to just remove all thatch and then just add top soil and seed?

In the last picture I posted, do I need to just remove all thatch and then just add top soil and seed?