The soil around my home is like concrete! It's a heavy clay. I've had a professional lawn service aerate my lawn for 5 years now and it just dosen't seem to be getting any better. :( Other than digging out the top 1 or 2 feet, replacing it with top soil and starting a new lawn, :eek: :eek: :NO NO NO: is there any other way to "condition" this soil? Second, is the lawn itself. It's healthy and looks good, but it's a bit "thin." I'd like to overseed this year and maybe next. Can I just brodcast seed out onto the lawn and keep it moist or do I need to cover it with a light coating of top soil? The house is 7 years old now and the front yard was sodded with Kentucky Blue Grass. The sides and rear yard were a seed blanket of rye, fescue and another grass I do not remember the name of. The front yard has some thatch problems but is in much better shape than the rear and side yards.

Half of my front yard is Zoysia and the other half is fescue. Zoysia has just started going dormant (I live in Northern VA), and the fescue is growing like crazy. There are patches of fescue emerging from the Zoysia and I'd like for the entire lawn to be green this winter. Therefore, I'd like to overseed the entire lawn with a fescue mix in the next week or so while the lawn is taking off. Can I simply use a spreader and drop the seed relying on the thick Zoysia grass to germanate the seedlings, or do I need to spread a 1/2" or so of compost prior to seeding? If so, what is the best way to apply compost? Do I simply dump out the bags, rake it in, then spread the seed?