Question
We have a new house (Fairfield, Conn.) with a very basic lawn, not too much as far as looks. The couple here was elderly and did not spend much time on it at least in the last few years. I would like to try an organic approach to our new landscape and would like to request your assistance.  When would we put down the sugar and what is your opinion of lime before the grass goes down?  Also, would it be better to seed in spring, summer or autumn?  

Answer
The worst thing about crabgrass is the way it seeds all over the place.

There are two kinds of crabgrass in this country: "Big Crabgrass" (Digitaria sanguinalis) and "Little Crabgrass" (Digitaria ischaemum).  One single Big Crabgrass plant growing in your lawn will produce 150,000 seeds before the end of the season.  Many of them will be dormant
and viable for several years.  That means you simply cannot control Crabgrass in a single growing season.  You can, however, make progress.  Which is perfect.

A good weed management program is focused on preventing further seed production and keeping those seeds that are already there from germinating.

Many people will tell you to put down "pre-emergents".  But you need a pre-emergent that will not wipe out microbes in the soil that keep your grass healthy and thriving.  Corn Gluten Meal is just what the doctor ordered.  It has to be put down in the spring, weeks from now, RIGHT ON SCHEDULE, the week that Forsythias begin to bloom in your area.  Look around.  Check every morning as you get in the car on your way to work.  And order it asap so it is right there in the garage or the tool shed waiting for you to sprinkle it down.  By the way, do you have a spreader?  Get one now.
Those weeds won't wait.

The best thing about this is that after you put down CGM, you won't have to worry about fertilizing for the rest of the season.  Because the CGM will decompose into slow-release, all natural Nitrogen all summer long.

Now, do you have a lawnmower?  A push lawnmower is perfect for grass.  You can order one on the internet from CleanAirGardening and other websites.  Keep the clippings on the grass that you mow and make sure you set the unit to the correct height for your grass.  I guess we don't know what that is yet but regular mowing and watering will keep the standing grass happy, as well as the Earthworms underground.

Now, have you had your soil tested yet?  Because it is a critical piece of information that you NEED.  Contact your local Connecticut Cooperative Extension Service (http://www.canr.uconn.edu/ces/garden/factsheets/SoilTestingforLawnsGardens.html) for a detailed analysis of your soil.  Be VERY serious about following their instructions so that you can give them a valid sample.  For the Rolls-Royce of testing, follow the directions at:

http://www.soilfoodwebnewyork.com/

It costs a lot of money, and it's worth its weight in gold.

This testing will save you money, by the way.  You won't have to pay for anything you already have in your soil.

At some point, if you can find some ORGANIC compost, or if necessary if you can obtain some top dressing from Home Depot that says "Compost" or "Humus" on it, rake a little of that around your lawn.  It will take the Earthworms about 2 weeks to get that underground.

And now that you have moved into a new house, what better family project than your own Compost Pile?  Vegetables, leaves, grass, eggs, orange juice you didn't finish, etc. go in, whatever you can find, put it in a bin and compost.  Garbage in, Compost out.

With regard to your question about Sugar, I don't know why this is suddenly such a major issue with people, but there is absolutely, positively, undeniably ZERO evidence that sprinkled sugar will do anything except glaze your lawn.  If you want to serve glaceed Bluegrass or Fescue at your next BBQ, go ahead, otherwise it's an expensive way to "feed microbes" and it may cause a sugar crash, not to mention overweight bacteria and hypoglycemia in the Earthworm population.  I am waiting for some tests that were done recently to come back and then I am sure we will have lots to talk about.  Meantime, give your microbes the healthier Compost/Earthworm castings.  They will grow big and strong.

Seed next autumn.  We'll pick out some good seed then.  You have enough to do this summer.

Thanks for writing.  Any questions?