Your dead spots look like dead or dormant annual rye grass to me. In Iowa rye grass both annual and perennial grow very nicely in May thru July. But often it goes dormant or dies out in August. I've been over seeding my Iowa lawn each year with about 50% Tall Turf Fescue and 50% Kentucky Blue Grass The TTF is used in the sunny areas and the KBG in the shadier spots under my trees. Crab grass (aka) water grass in Iowa is easy to spot ... it looks like this. To kill it use Trimec or 2-4D on it. Halts will work to help prevent it's spreading but, you can not over seed when halts in on the ground. As it will prevent the good grass from germinating too.

A couple of questions though. I'm using my agrifab pull behind aerator I got, and I'll try to get a pretty decent hole density on the round-up portion of the yard. I don't have a rotary spreader, I just have a drop spreader, is that acceptable to spread KBG with? According to a file on scott's webpage for their seed, here are there suggested settings: Scotts Drop Spreaders all models OVERSEEDING 10 NEW LAWN 15½ Also, I am considering dragging a piece of chain link fence over everything to break up the plugs, and cover up the seed a little bit. Would that be a good idea?

Thanks PJ. And, Jim, first... cameras can be addictive. ha. Second, those pics were taken with a Samsung L200. Its a nice little camera that I take out on my bike with me becuase it is small and at the price, $120 on sale last year, if it gets broken I won't feel too bad. I got a Nikon D90 digitial SLR for christmas and it takes a much wider range of pics. But, I would recommend something other than a Digital SLR for folks who aren't serious hobbyists. There are some great cameras with zoom lens that are more of the point and shoot variety. Nikon, Canon, even my Fujifilm camera I got on sale did a pretty credible job. You can get a lot of camera in the $350 to $700 range.

Grass and rock gardens do not mix. If it isn't the roots sneaking into the middle of a treasure the seeds surely will and the seedlings are hard to take out. And some rock plants are very slow to spread. If there is grass there - they can be smothered - which is a waste of money. It is vital in a rock garden to remove all the big and bossy plants first - grass included. If plants have made seeds in the area you're using then you will have to weed and mulch for several years. In a rock garden you can use rock chips/gravel and this can reduce the number of weeds you have to tackle. From the pictures you provide - I think that grass seeds will be the problem, more than runners underground. If you can remove them now you've reduced your work for next growing season. Hope your rock garden is a great success.