Ok so here the situation. The house the wife and I bought was a foreclosure in the Potosi are. Had been vacant for at least a year so the lawn was in rough shape.

There was some sod out down in the back and there was a small section that was irrigated. But at some point the sprinkler heads were removed, as well as the connection from to sprinkler system to the water supply. So basically i just have some buried pvc pipe.

The first year we lived there we had decent rain and with regular mowing the grass was starting to spread. Then we had last summer with no rain, followed by decent rain this fall/winter. Now it seems all I have are weeds.

Now that we finish the background info here is my question. What do I need to do to try to get a lawn going? Do I need to start from phase 1and bring in some topsoil since all I have now is hard hard clay. Then put in an irrigation system, sod oart of it, seed the rest. Continue with regular mowing and watering.

Or

Is there anything I can do to salvage the little grass I do have?

All thoughts and recommendations will be helpful and appreciated.

let it all die this year because of the drought?

I wish they would die. Due to lack of rain

Gig Em

if it was me and trying to save money and deal with the drought i would kill the weeds with some weed killer...and save all the grass you can...then go in and scalp what you killed and get some compost that is good for seeding and sodding and go in and put a thin layer down...such as this http://www.findacomposter.com/listing/ds-recycling-composting-4d65634a11488.html

it will not only aid in germination but also in amending your soil and loosening it up

i have used d's dirt in my garden and on my yard and it is fantastic stuff

post some pics of the yard as it stands if you can

Thanks Hirschfeldag... Great advice!

We lost a lot of grass at our house due to the drought and 3 dogs. Starting it over essentially we brought in some soil/manure in from the ranch I work at on occassion and spread it throughout the yard, tilled and watered before spreading seed. Then we spread the seed and started watering every day for 20-45 minutes and kept the dogs off it. After about 5 weeks we're seeing some really good growth. Using Sod on the top soil would definitely be quicker and easier, so either way I would recomend laying down some top soil and manure first.

Is there a way to amend the soil without completely destroying the existing lawn and reseeding?? Can you spread it without tilling? I will have to add some seed to my existing lawn, I imagine, but I don't want to start over. I just started getting the lawn back after the previous owner let it go.

you can get a rake and just do patches to spread. You really just need to turn over the top of the soil where you're spreading the seed. Just make sure you lightly water the yard first so that it's not hard ground, but not to the point where it's muddy.