Thank you in advance to anyone who will read this and lend their advice. It is much appreciated.
We live in Tigard, OR (about 15 miles west of Portland)
The prior homeowners had a big dog who dog both big and small holes (no deeper than 1ft). Along with that, their is moss covering about 1/8th of the yard. So the yard is bumpy. So bumpy that I don't allow my kids to play out there because I'm scared their sprain an ankle. I believe the moss is because the backyard doesn't get a lot of sunlight.
I would like to restore the yard, just nice enough so my kids can play on it. I was thinking I could just put some top soil all over, level it, plant grass seed, put some more top soil on top, water and cross my fingers. What do you think?
My neighbor, who is a lot older than me and seems to know what he's talking about, said I may want to rototill the whole yard, rake it even and then seed and put some peat moss on top. I asked him if I should take some of the yard out (weeds and moss) after the rototill and he said I could just keep it back there. This seemed odd to me.
Should I put down some weed and feed, moss control, and then rototill after the weeds/moss are gone? Does it matter? Should I just put down some top soil and not weed and feed?
Oh I'll also add that I have a lot of clay in the soil.
Any advice or suggestions would really be helpful. My wife and I grew up in apartments so this is our very first yard. Thank you in advance. Let me know if you need any additional details.