Have more than acre of lawn. It has many issues; many dead areas due to sun, lots of moss in some area, infestation of dandelions and other weeds. Grass itself is relatively thin. Too big to tear out and start over. Most of this is not shaded. Want to get advice about the best procedure. Plan on renting a dethatcher to thin it all out then reseed. Is their an appropriate role for weed and feed before or should that wait until later, or not use at all. Would love to hear thoughts. Know am willing to work at it but I'm not retired and dedicate a ton of time to it. Thank you.

These are my thoughts, you need to feed the worms and soil, it works for me.
If you detacth an acre of gress, you will fill 4-6, or more, 32gallon trash cans. Do it piece meal. First, cut the grass as low as your mower will go, do this in atleast 2 mowings. My preference is to rake the moss out, and not detatch.
In May, reseed, lightly raking the seed into the soil, then covering all with moisture retained--I use cow manure. Water daily, some times 2-3 times. Do not mow until new grass is over 4" tall. Mow at the highest setting you mower has. ALWAYS let grass grow to ATLEAST 4" or the mowers highest setting. In summer heat, let grass grow until until seed pods start showing--this blocks sun that allows moss growth. Fertilize every 6 weeks- I do it on holidays, Memorial, Independence, & Labor--cheapest brands I find.
In fall, (Novemer or after first rains start) cover new grass with cow manure or a good compost (few twigs, I use Prim, a local brand) 1/2"-1" thick, this feeds lawn & worms.
Following May, or after rains stop, apply a broad leaf weed killer--DO NOT APPLY A WEED/GRASS KILLER, I.e., Roundup.
Thereafter, repeat high mowing, fertilizing, and fall feeding schedules. Also, Repeat May broad leaf weed killer, but ONLY were needed. Most importantly, do not use any lawn equipment that has been used on other people's lawns--this includes lawn services, rental equipment (airators), neighbors equip; they carry weeds. Before using your own mower that has been used on areas with weeds & moss, hose the bottom to remove weed particles.
This works for me! P.S. Noticed no one else responded after 2 days, my guess is due to people wanting a manacured lawn. I want ease & good looking.

Zmanwa said:Have more than acre of lawn. It has many issues; many dead areas due to sun, lots of moss in some area, infestation of dandelions and other weeds. Grass itself is relatively thin. Too big to tear out and start over. Most of this is not shaded. Want to get advice about the best procedure. Plan on renting a dethatcher to thin it all out then reseed. Is their an appropriate role for weed and feed before or should that wait until later, or not use at all. Would love to hear thoughts. Know am willing to work at it but I'm not retired and dedicate a ton of time to it. Thank you.

How deep is your soil?
People tend to think of lawn as "carpet," something that can be tossed on the ground and it will be fine. Truth is, it needs 18' inches of good soil. If the roots can't go down 18' inches, it isn't going to do what you hope it will.

My highly educated guess is that the soil is compacted. Lawn mowers have been driving on it for decades. The lawn can't grow because the soil is too hard. There's a good chance water runs off it instead of into it.

It doesn't sound like the lawn needs thatching as much as it needs aerating. There are lots of different ways to accomplish that. It's too hot to do it now. In the fall, dig a hole, as deep as you can and fill it with mulch, walk a few yards and do it again. Do this as often as you can afford to do so. Or, when the soil has enough moisture, but not too much, till it, add mulch and reseed it.

Dandelions are dynamic accumulators, ie, they are GOOD for the soil. Most folks can't tell the difference between dandelions and cat's eyes. Dandelions have soft, tubular stems and bloom in the spring. Cat's eyes have stiff stems and bloom in the summer. If you have dandelions, don't do anything about them. If you have cat's eyes, well, what I do is, I wait until I have a potato that went to seed, and I dig up the cat's eye and bury the potato. That way, I get rid of the potato, feed the soil and get rid of the cat's eyes.

I will never understand why folks hate moss. Moss purifies water. Why do folks hate it? Leave the moss alone.

What are cat's eyes? I've never heard of them.

lauribob said:What are cat's eyes? I've never heard of them.

A cat's eye is the dandelion's evil twin. The flower looks like a dandelion, it has the broad leaf of a dandelion, and its seed head looks like a dandelion, which is why it is mistaken for it. Dandelions have soft, tubular stems and bloom in the spring. Cat's eyes bloom in the summer and have the stiff stems that clog mowers. Dandelion good, cat's eyes evil.

I'll have to check out my dandelions. We mostly just have them all at once in the spring though, so they might all be the real deal. Sneaky weeds!