new to yard/lawn care

[kcal34]

Hi guys, new to gardening and lawn care and new to the forum! thanks for having me . I moved recently into a condo and the little back yard that I have is the first yard that I've ever been responsible for taking care of, so this is brand new to me and I'm not sure where to begin. Unfortunately, the previous owner did not do very much upkeep for it.

anyway, I would like my little back yard to be a nice yard. I live in Columbus, Ohio by the way. There is kind of a dip in the back of the yard that floods when it rains, and there is little grass. through out the whole yard there are random weeds and dandelions and the grass is thinned out and sick looking.

what can I do to get rid of the random weeds and grow nice full soft grass throughout the yard?? and is there a way to prevent the flooding in back?

thanks for any advice!

[rainbowgardener]

Post a couple pictures!

The main solutions for the dip would be level and regrade (which could just involve pushing dirt from the high spot to the low spot, but if the dip is significant, might well involve having some good topsoil trucked in), channel and drain the water away, or live with it and plant a rain garden of plants that tolerate flooding.

I was a little sorry to see that your ambition is just to grow grass throughout. Not a big fan of grassy fields, unless you are a soccer player. Think of all the things you might want to have in your backyard: a seating/eating area, a shady arbor, a small pond or just a fountain/birdbath, a firepit, a play area if you have kids, a veggie garden, an herb garden, beautiful flowers that attract butterflies and hummingbirds, grape vines ....