HelpfulGardener.com

Hello all,

We recently purchased our first home, and were left with a bit of a mess from the seller. Needless to say, we weren't too pleased with the condition our yard was left in, but he did leave us with all the necessary seeds and fertilizer to get the yard started again.

The big problem that we need help with, though, is where and how to start getting this yard back to square one? What method would you recommend to make sure we get a good start once we begin laying seed? I've attached pictures of each type of weeds you can see in the yard, and as you'll see, there is no existing yard that we need to save.

I wanted to just roto-till the whole thing and start over, but I'm afraid I might do more harm than good and actually spread the seeds instead of destroying the plants. Any helpful advice is much appreciated, I'm new to maintaining my own yard, so this is a heck of a learning experience.

Man, that is a mess and anyone with a few goats would love to park them in your back yard for a week or so.

I am in no way a lawn specialist, but if it were me, I'd use a herbicide to kill what is already there, then till the yard a few inches deep, remove any of the root systems of the weeds that are there, then sow the grass seed you have. You may need to use a couple applications of herbicide to take care of the weeds since they are so thick in spots and seem well established.

After that, just make sure you keep it well watered until the new grass establishes itself, then cut back on the watering to only when needed.