You already know that mid-summer is not the time to aerate. To answer your question, lawns can be aerated in summer (golf cousrses do it and I have done it when the lawn was not stressed), but the lawn must be heavily watered thereafter to prevent adverse effects of the aeration. Although aeration will reduce thatch by removing it as the plugs are pulled, to be effective you are going to need no less (bare min.) than 20 holes per square foot. Rental machines make 6-9 holes per sq ft per pass.That's at least 3 passes min. Your problem may not be compaction. Are you aware that thatch impedes root depth growth? If your thatch is as bad as you describe, your time may be better spent using a power rake rather than aerating. But dethatching is even more agressive than aerating and should only be done when turf grass is in growth mode in the Spring or Fall.

I think the Seattle area is somewhat unique. You tend to have moderate temperatures year round, as well as good rainfall most of the year. You should be able to overseed now with no worries.

Around May last year, after finally getting some plants into the yard, I got some cutworms in my garden area. Never had seen them before or experienced it. They were there for about 1 month before they matured and took off (I guess -- unless I managed to kill or control them, or the plants got bigger) So protect those seedlings, especially if they are still as small as what you describe. You'll have to learn to recognize some of your seedlings, especially if some of them self-sow. Next year, you'll have to contend with weed seedlings and your perennial seedlings in the same area. But I think your timing will be fine. Many people will just be planting directly to the soil in a few weeks and those seedlings also survive just fine. In fact, some of my unfortunate luck with transplanting seedlings is that I don't transplant correctly. That probably kills more seedlings than sun or rain at the beginning.

Hi! First, thanks for loving on my new countertops. I absolutely adore them and don't even think the photos do it justice because you can't appreciate the colors or the movement fully unless you're standing here. Anyway, hopefully my experience may help you because I say definitively SWITCH to the stone you loved. I looked for - no exaggeration - one full year for the perfect Juparana Bordeaux or Crema Bordeaux. I wanted the Bordeaux coloring with the variation of the darker colors and movement of veins. I looked at 5 different fabricators and 6 stone distributors all over the state of MD. I finally found one the week before I needed to pick it and sort of decided to settle on it. It didn't have the movement I liked but the color composition was better than most I had seen. And then I saw that Typhoon Bordeaux Green two rows over. And that was that. All that time I invested in the other stone I threw in the figurative trash and switched to the typhoon because I could imagine the island with that movement and color and knew it would be something I would love to look at every single day. Go back to the granite you love. It's easiest if they will locate it for you, but your fabricator should be able to give you a list of stone distributors from which they get (or can get) slabs. Ask for that list and then call them and ask if they have the Netuno and if you can come see it. The fabricator can then have that brought to them to cut for you. Of the zillion decisions I've made of our house reno, switching granites one week before drop-dead-decision day is the one for which I thank my lucky stars. For some of us, it's like a wedding dress... Say yes to the Netuno Bordeaux!