I am back with more questions. We watered the seeds and newly grown grass for at least 2.5 months 2 times almost daily last year. Timing varied based on conditions from day to day. As you menitoned, most of the grass died in the hot summer and weeds took over, especially this 'small crab grass'. It spreads with rhizomes and the seeds grow on tall stems and are tiny. The grass part is tiny as well, however I can't figure out what this weed is exactly called. It grows in shade as well and most of it's main root base won't die in the Winter. We had few regular grab grasses and some other weeds as well. We did not reseed in fall due to sudden freezing & snowing conditions after hot fall weather last year. We did reseed with Damman's mix of KBG, Rye & Fescue and extra of KGB in the worst areas this March 6th. The weather looked pretty good and it rained every 3-4 days really well. We believed the dead grass & weeds would protect the seeds, so we did not rake or do anything to the ground. The dirt was very fluffy, our soil was not stripped in the past. The seed should get washed in with the heavier rain we had, correct? Or not? It is cold this week with freezing tonigt . It didn't rain for a week now. We did not water while it is too dark and cold in the morning and we didn't have the energy to do it in the evening yet. The grass doesn't seem to grow at all, we are getting very frustrated. We realize we skip some details for better grass seeding, however we have to go to work and don't have that much time during the week. We can't seem to make a good choice with the time, it is too cold, too early, it was too hot... And the weather changed so much lately, 4 months of snow with freezing; and it even snowed yesterday morning. Our biggest worries are that the grass from this spring's seeding won't grow anymore and today is the last day of March. We will be in the same boat as last year if the weather will suddenly heat up. I did some hand pulling of weeds last year and these areas look better, however some areas look verry bad - yellow. I am thinking of using Preen Lawn StepSaver Weed Control Plus Fertilizer. Or should we aerate and reseed? We did not put any weed killer down due the new seeds. This is about 1 acre of lawn we are trying to regrow last year's killed grass. We didn't do much with the sloped areas yet due to not having enought time and our right budget. Thank you for any help in advance

Love hearing your story, Sunny, and I know your soil is getting much better because I did something very similar years ago. We lived then in a newish development on a 60'x100' lot with a pool in the back yard. So not much space to garden. However all around the pool I grew my garden and every day we'd dig a hole, dump in the day's accumulation of veggie scraps, etc. and cover it. No muss, no smells, and no turning. At the end of 3 years when we sold that house the soil was lovely, dark, and full of worms unlike the yucky clay under the 2" of topsoil it had been. So composting doesn't have to be difficult but it will improve the soil if done consistently.

I have a sloped back yard around my pool, which is much more steep than your slope in the pictures, covered in St. Augustine. I too detest lawns, but I have no money right now, so my St. Augustine is here to stay. I water my St. Augustine with an irrigation system on my allotted days and once yearly treat with weed/feed. Yes, my St. Aug is great on bare feet and very healthy looking. I have no problems with maintaining it on the slope. I'm not bragging, I'm just trying to explain that I have personal experience with this situation. I think your first problem is with the underlying sand. My underlying soil is a thick layer of decayed organic material, on top of a thin layer of sand, on top of a thick layer of loose clay. It's clear from your photos that the mower tires are disturbing the St. Aug's growth. That is very easy to do regardless of the underlying soil, but especially easy in sand such as you have. I think your second problem is with your lawn guy. Seriously. And, I mean absolutely no offense. Your lawn is covered in weeds. It didn't happen overnight, although sometimes it might seem that way. Your lawn guy should know (1) how to mow on a slope without destroying the roots, (2) how to point out a weed problem before it becomes a massive weed problem like you have. How convenient for him that you need sod replacement?!?! Isn't his job routine lawn care, not routine lawn destroying and replacement? That being said, I have a cheap temporary solution for you. I see in the first picture, to the left of the hose/brick path, you have a bush/tree surrounded by a small circle of mulch. And, in the second picture, you have another tree just down slope from the pool, surrounded by another small circle of mulch. I would take a sharp straight-edged shovel and cut away shovel sized squares of sod in a circular pattern around those trees. Making much, much larger circles around the trees. Take a section of the sandy/weedy area, cover thickly in newspaper, wet newspaper, then lay your homemade sod squares on top of the wet paper. Water daily until they take root and can survive on their own. Go back and extend the mulched area around the two trees, so your weed problem doesn't extend under the trees. This should really be done in stages, because the sod squares that you cut out and move need to be kept wet during the moving process. I say my solution is cheap, because you can buy mulch for $1.68 at the big box stores these days, and you would probably need 10 bags. Less than $20. Of course you will have a little extra water expense from having to water daily to establish the newly sodded sections. It is a little bit back breaking, but I'm sure you can either do it or find someone to help. I say my solution is temporary because, ideally, you could eventually plant some sort of hearty, Florida friendly ground cover over that entire area. In the long run it will not require as much water or care as St. Augustine, and you can get rid of the expensive lawn guy! Things to remember: Don't put any weed and feed down on the newly sodded sections either immediately before or after laying the sod. Don't forget to water daily until the new sections have taken hold. Especially during this, our driest time of year. If you choose to use RoundUp on the weedy areas before moving the grass squares, don't lay the grass squares directly on the area treated with RoundUp unless you put in a layer of newspaper or cardboard first. If you can get your hands on some liriope, you could make a border along the brick walk (at the top of the slope), to help hold it all together. Their roots tend to spread out rather than down, so it will keep slope erosion in better check. Lastly, don't let that man with the mower anywhere near the new section. Weed-whacker only until it's established. You probably won't need to mow this area for the next 6 weeks anyway. Maybe someone else will have a better/easier solution, but this is what I did and it works. I certainly welcome any criticism or comments on my suggestion.

We kept all of our soil (sort of) from an 850 sq. foot excavation. I don't know what the regulations are in your area, but since you are from the state of Oregon--I am going to assume you have some lofty (or lefty) over-regulation going on in the state with regard to soil transfer & movement. This can cause costs to your builder or landscaper to have the soil tested and then sent to a state or local approved location for a fee. Expect delays if this is the case. Again--I'm assuming you can't get away with just dumping it at a local farm site, etc. even if you have a lot of "nowhere" in your area without your contractor risking being fined. This is pretty much like the regulations we have in our part of the state although things are a lot "looser" elsewhere in neighboring counties or states. Here's what we did. First, when the topsoil was removed from the dig there we were able to haul this smaller amount ourselves by truck loads to be used on a neighboring property where they wanted to build a berm. (Shush . . .) Also, we had a LOT of rocks (maybe as much as 20%) in our soil of various sizes. We used the larger ones to build several different rock walls and incorporated them into the naturalized landscaping. I refused to buy the $6K worth of rocks as estimated on our plan just to get news ones hauled in by a landscaper. You can't plant a bulb with out hitting the free ones we have around here! The walls were not really stacked rock walls for the most part, but natural boulder walls using the excavated larger rocks --some moved by machine others small enough to place by hand with one or two people doing the work. We worked around the sizes and shapes that nature and circumstances gave us. This also eliminated the need for concrete retaining block-type walls anywhere in the yard (so we didn't have to buy additional material. We also planned to have the pool set-up just slightly above the highest level of the grade and even just a few inches used up quite a bit of soil around the pool for the base under the pavers and what will be the surrounding planting beds. Lastly, we also had a yard that sloped quite a bit in several areas. The remaining soil was used to even the grade without affecting the good drainage slope--which would have set off more alarms for regulatory concerns! And now, it's all gone! In fact, we actually have had to buy good rich topsoil to put on top to do our landscape planting and to seed for grass. We couldn't have used our own topsoil as easily since it was better suited for a berm than for spreading with all the grass and such mixed-in after it was ripped-up for the dig. Also, we needed it gone before we had machines moving rocks around and doing the grading of the more compacted soil underneath. Check-into your own local regulations and don't assume your pool builder or landscaper will know if they don't do a lot of work in your town. This approach may not work for you or meet your esthetic preference, but maybe some of the ideas will apply. Good luck with your planning.