Do I need to start over on my lawn?

 Hey everyone,
I'm a total newbie, but I've purchased 2 books about grass/lawn care
and one of them was Scotts "Lawns", a guide to a "beautiful lawn".
It's a great book and I highly recommend it, especially for greenhorns
like myself.

In December 2005, I purchased a home in San Antonio, Texas. During the
Spring, we had a severe drought condition and, being new to this whole
lawn thing, I neglected and did not take care of the grass. I've
attached some pictures of my lawn in hopes that it will help provide
some clues as to what is the best way for me to tackle this problem
and how I can bring it back and have the "toe-ticklinest turf in
town!"

Pics: http://www.ogmda.com/temp/lawn

My grass type: St. Augustine
Soil Test Results: Should be received this week! I am waiting for this
before I make a move on feeding the lawn

Question: With my lawn condition, should I just do some lawn patching
or do I need to renovate the lawn by killing the whole thing and then
starting over? What would you do?

What's the fastest way to get this lawn back in top shape?

Thanks for any advice!!
P.S> I had Scotts do a free lawn analysis and they gave me the
following info: Turf density: Thin, Moderate shade, Aeration needed/
compacted soil, Clay loam, good mowing, drought stress, weeds: clover,
dandelion, dollarweed, oxalis, crabgrass, foxtail, goose grass, chinch
bugs(?)

 
Too busy here to respond in detail at the moment, but:

I'm not a big fan of dogs, but you apparently are. Keep in mind that the
Scott's franchises are in business to sell chemicals, none of which can be
legally tested for safety in humans. I have no idea if they've ever used
dogs as test subjects. Probably not.

I see you have some vegetables in the raised bed thing. Most lawn chemical
companies hire high school children to apply chemicals. They lie to these
employees, telling them that the stuff they're spraying is safe around food
crops. My one experience in this area involved walking out of my house about
30 seconds before a lawn spray child was about to contaminate MY vegetable
garden with a chemical which he claimed was safe, but was NOT legal to use
anywhere near food crops.

Everything else they told you is probably true (soil quality, etc), but you
can get that information in other ways. I would recommend that you contact
the cooperative extension service and get some advice from them. It's free,
and they don't sell anything. It's a service of your state university. It
exists to advise farmers and homeowners on agricultural issues. Go to google
and search using the words "cooperative extension texas". You'll find it.

 The extension services I am aware of, especially Penn State are product
pushers.


Sincerely,
John A. Keslick, Jr.
Arborist
http://home.ccil.org/~treeman
and  www.treedictionary.com
Beware of so-called tree experts who do not understand tree biology.
Storms, fires, floods, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions keep reminding us
that we are not the boss.

 
Some extension services use volunteers, so it's likely you're hearing their
personal opinions. Since we have two very accurate surveys proving that a
little over 50% of the population is pathetically stupid, you have to take
everything you hear with a grain of salt.

The best thing for gardeners to do is hire private detectives to help them
find their local library. Then, read some books, and take the least
poisonous or invasive approach to solving problems.

 

But you will anyway, Doug Kanter.

Many people enjoy a dogs company Doug,  you advocate killing your neighbors
dog if you can catch him or poison him with a bowl of antifreeze.
Scott's franchises are in business to sell chemicals, none of which can be

You hate dogs, you talk about leaving bowls of anti freeze out for them.

Really? High school children?

I'm sure you have some data to back up your claim of children spraying
control product on lawns in the USA, right?
They hire grocery stock boys at that age first, ask your dad and your son,
then yourself.
They lie to these

Most real applicators are pesticide certified by the state they're doing
business in. You can't lie to them.

Now go get your shine-box, stockboy Doug Kanter aka JoeSpareBedroom.