Question
Dear Charlotte,
Thanks for your answer about Roundup and the lawn.  Unfortunately, I thought it would just kill the dandelions and not the surrounding grass.  I have about 16 brown spots in my front yard now with good grass in between.  Would sod work instead of planting grass seed?  How do you measure 6" of deep watering?  I'm sorry I don't understand.

Answer
Hi Maryu;
Well, you can buy a guage at most nurseries, and I am sure you could get one on www.gardeners.com
I have ordered from this site for years, and never had an unpleasant experience.
They carry some really neat gardening hlpers, and equipment.
You could stick it in the ground to the depth you want to water, then water and turn off, water and turn off, letting it have an hour or so to soak in between each watering, until the guage registers water there.
I walk on mine. When it is dry, or before I do my watering, it feels like walking on a hardwood floow. No give to your foot at all. When it is wetto about 3 inches down, it feels like walking on carpet that has no pad under it. A little softer, but still no give. When it is wet down to about 6 inches, your foot gives like walking on a thick plushy carpet. Your feet give well, and it feels comfortable, but you don't sink into the mud.
Putting the guage in, and walking on it every cople of hours, and paying attention to the way the ground gives under your step, until the guage registers it is deep enough. Then walk on it, and notivce the comfortable plush feel. Then you can measure it that way after that.
You can also water until it starts to run off, then turn off the water and let it soak in for an hour or so, then water it again. You can then take up a plug with a trowel or a bulb planter, and see how far down it is wet.
If you are using sprinklers that simulate a rainfall, put a rain guage out there, when the rain guage registers one inch of rain, and none of the ater has run off into the street, it should be wet down far enough.
Fortunately that Roundup doesn't stay in the soil long, so after a few waterings, it should be safe to put down grass.
For convenience and for quicker results, I would lay sod. Also, the birds won't eat the seeds.LOL
Charlotte