SJonesWX

That front meant business, for about 10mins. Lost a fairly large maple tree, split about 30’ up

yeah lava you need water, and plenty of it. new grass will die off quickly with lack of water. you didn't have a wet fall, and spring has been quite dry since mid-April. can you install irrigation off of your existing well?

informative? hardly. i couldnt get past this (bolded emphasis mine):

what's the big deal (assuming it is a big deal to the severe weenies). 90+% of the general public has no clue what a derecho even is, including myself.

i made a mistake with the lawn, i guess you could say that it was a lava rock rookie move. a few weeks ago i seeded a couple bare areas. that was the kiss of death rain-wise. haven't gotten squat for rain since.

is there any appreciable rain in the future? it certainly has been a dry month, at least in my area.

agree with Bob, aerating this time of year is just an invitation for the weeds, especially crab grass. you could at least spread some fertilizer, not a big investment and the right stuff will work well. Also, may not be the best time, but lime pellets are pretty cheap so it's not like you would be throwing your money away.

plus, what you said about the timing is important. it is hard to get a new lawn established this time of year. the sun is brutal, and the new grass has to compete with weeds, which have already seeded. last year i put some loam down and seeded an area where i can't get any water to. this was mid-September. granted it is a mostly shady area, but that grass came in better than a lot of areas i have done, mostly because of the time of year. the only water it was getting was from morning dew.

Lava, I strongly recommend that you rototill that area. it has dried out so much it is probably wicked compacted. Putting new loam on top will be nice, but the roots will have a hard time penetrating that cement.

Found one

2 complete opposite posts, a mere 6 hours apart. and you wonder why people don't take you seriously.

you just gave WWiz a microburst in his Wranglers

i had the same thought, especially considering that last nights low was >15 degrees warmer than the high temp on Monday

why don't you just use Roundup?

when your forsythia bloom you are good to go. based on your location, i am assuming that has not happened yet