reconditioning poor lawn

[sparechange]

i have a potential customer with a 22000 sq ft lawn that currently has sparse growth and serious weeds. he wants a fine fescue lawn (this is a new home, typical builders lot, 1 inch of topsoil over packed clay). i have already recommended that he have a weed treatment. i plan to aerate heavily, lime, overseed and starter fertilizer. i would like to topdress this with peat but from what i can find out in the various threads, this will be very expensive. is there another product that would work as well as peat moss and does this sound like a reasonable plan. also do any of you guys around nashville know of a good source for organic soil amendments.

[KirbysLawn]

I would leave the weeds and deal with them a week or 2 before aeration with round-up. Do a soil test, consider top dressing with mushroom compost if possible, I would wait a couple weeks between fertilizing and lime, and lime after you get the soil test back.

Look and see if you can find someone to Aeravate the lawn (not aerate), a lawn that size that is mostly weeds will require a lot of work, paying a guy $150-200 to aeravate will be well worth the money and you will get better results!

This photo is a lawn I killed with Round-Up and then aeravated:

http://unionturf.com/pdmlawn2.jpg

Here is what it looked like after a month or so, notice how full the grass is and it's not thin or growing in plugs like you get with aeration:

http://unionturf.com/pdnew2.jpg

Just a few tips, I'm sure there's more but it's late.

[awm]

NOT TO BE NAIVE. but i know you plan on waiting until fall,as new
grass will have a tough time surviving even if they have a system.
laterTM

[sparechange]

that is correct awm, i will wait until mid to late sept. before starting this job. although we have been getting 1/2 inch of rain almost every day for the last three weeks where i live. very unusual for us in july/august.