Need Help with Lawn - St Louis Area

I have a sodded front lawn with multiple dead spots due (I think) to over fertilizing with Scotts. I also have an infestation of crabgrass in many areas. What should I do to 1. Fill in the dead spots, 2. Get rid of the crab grass, 3. Thicken up the rest of the lawn? Would dethatching/aerating/reseeding be a good plan?

Also, my backyard is just weeds/crabgrass/stickers. What are my best options to tackle the back? I've been told multiple things by multiple people. I've been told to scalp/dethatch/aerate/reseed. I've been told to kill with RoundUp/dethatch/aerate/reseed. And I've been told to just have the yard drug out, reseed, and treat with preemergent for next year.

What would be my best options for the front and back yards?

Back yard
http://i27.tinypic.com/swd7op.jpg

Close up of back
http://i25.tinypic.com/291hz6h.jpg

Another close up of back
http://i26.tinypic.com/16lmzcz.jpg


Front
http://i29.tinypic.com/96bz9t.jpg

Front
http://i27.tinypic.com/20i9bhj.jpg

More front...dead spots
http://i32.tinypic.com/23iw20h.jpg

This message was edited Aug 23, 2009 3:25 PM

You have an awful big area to get dug up etc, so I would go for treatment, too much feed and weed will kill of the lawn type of grass, also your soil looks really compacted, so I think your suggestion to aerate the whole area is the best one, for your area, I would hire a machine to do this for you as it would take a good few hours to cover your area well, after that, reseed the lawn areas and make sure you soak the soil first, and I mean soak, the soil on show looks parched and this will make it difficult for new seed to take, the best time for sewing lawns is end of summer as the soil starts to cool down a bit and the strong sun is less of a problem, OR, spring just as the soil begins to warm up, yet is not baked dry with the heat of summer sun.
I would suggest that the amount of bare patches you have, the more likely you are going to get weeds growing. On healthy grass, there is less spaces for weeds to set seeds and when you use weed and feed products the small amount of weeds are killed off but the new healthy grass will bulk out and cover any bare patches, Always read the dosage and mixing instructions well before you use anything on your garden as not only will overdoses kill all the lawn, but the rain / sprinkler systems can cause run off and this takes the weed killers onto areas where flowers or other plants are growing, before you know it your beds or borders can be killed off too, you can kill your lawn / plants with kindness by over feed or weedkillers if instructions are not followed carefully.

I would say, no matter which way you decide to go with this large area, it is a large job, but treatment is probably the best and quickest way for you, IF you go down that way, then the area will look worce before you see improvements, but you will have longer to wait if you decide to start from scratch and redo the whole area at a huge cost and bigger mess. Good luck. Hope this is some help. WeeNel.

good advice WeeNel and if that doesn't work consider a nice ground cover. I've battled the same problem for years.