I figured it out: Take a look at the pics I took with my blackberry during our last HEAVY storm: http://img444.imageshack.us/img444/7078/img00113l.jpg In this one you can make out the sand box and weeping cherry. The low point is between the cherry and the mulched play area and the fence. There is a box drain under all that water. http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/5092/img00113j.jpg In this pic you can see the slope a little better. http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/6339/byhouse.jpg Here you can see where it comes up by the house. Just behind that pump is a small floor drain that works fine as long as you have NORMAL amounts of water. Across from the BBQ is the door I mentioned and a corner. I hope this helps some.

I mostly agree with texasweed in hesitating to till. I realize you can find hundreds of articles on that topic, but you will never find a reliable landscaper that tills before installing a garden. They always use a tractor and box blade to develop perfect drainage and seed bed. If you are in a new development, your soil was probably graded already. If you add more soil you are almost guaranteed to ruin the drainage. If you end up with water draining into the house, you are in for a long time of headaches. I'm am assuming you don't need more soil. No matter what soil the contractor left you with, it is adequate to start a lawn. Pure sand is what I use as a replacement for my lost topsoil. Sand will never be "topsoil" but it works great for grass. Removing the rocks is a good idea, but I would not go way overboard on that either. My bedrock protrudes from the surface in places and is as much as 18 inches deep at the deepest. You can't dig holes in my garden without a pick or jack hammer. But I digress. Whatever soil you are starting with is fine. It will become topsoil before you know it. As for seeding, the most I would do, assuming your soil is properly graded from the contractor, loosen the very top with a leaf rake, apply a mix of Kentucky bluegrass seed and turf-type tall fescue, roll it down with a water filled roller, and water. KBG takes a little longer to sprout than fescue so keep watering daily until the KBG comes in. Set your mower to the highest setting and mow when the grass is tall enough to be mowed. Back off on watering frequency as you can but increase the time you water. Eventually you should be watering every other week unless your part of WA is in the desert. Then during the hot part of summer you might need to water weekly. Fertilize after you have mowed the grass for the second time. You don't add weed killer unless and until you have weeds to kill. Don't worry about not having weeds. Spring seeded lawns are very susceptible to crabgrass sprouts. Keep your grass growing up tall and that will help keep the crabgrass out.

First, you didn't flunk Lawn 101. You got a B in 2006, a C in 2007 (for late seeding) and an A so far in 2008. Nothing you did was wrong, but the timing for seeding was off a bit. 1) Round Up. We hesitate to mention specific chemical names for companies. The generic glyphosate works just fine and it's essentially the same stuff. Also, so many of us are organic and the R word stuff isn't. 2) Compost and peat moss will both decay away in about five years, so the soil is going to settle. Certainly you can mix either lightly (say, an inch or so every ten inches of soil), or skip it and use organic feeding methods. If your soil is really bad, I'd mix it. You can usually get compost from your local garden store, big box store, or delivered bulk from a supplier. The other option is to use 1/4" as a topdress for your seeding. Over time, the decay products work into the soil and enrichen it, plus you kill two birds with one stone and don't need to otherwise mulch the seed. Plus, the worms like it. :-) 3) Go right ahead and use it. If it was stored in a cold garage, it's completely fine. If stored in a warm house, you lose some germination but it's not that significant over six months. You can't wait too much longer for a spring seeding (and might want to consider using Siduron or Tupersan as a pre-emergent when seeding). So you probably don't have time to wait for the soil results. That's OK, you can work on correcting those issues afterward. Right now, get it sprouted--the seed has all the resources it needs for the first few weeks of its life. Once you get that test back you'll know what to add.

i was wondering about regional options... so i am glad.. my shotgun attempt hit something .... lol ... my point was ... OP is in a box .. of FIXING WHAT IS THERE ... i asked him to step out of the box ... and think along other lines ... depending of course.. on budget etc ... and immediacy of goals ... if i had crumb munchers... and i wanted a green lawn for them to play in.. i would not waste a year or two.. trying to renovate this alleged lawn ... there are times and places for checkbook gardening ... and if lawn is supremely important ... then spend the money ... it would be no different.. in a new house.. as updating a kitchen counter.. or replacing carpet ... just think of it as outdoor carpet ... and finally ... you could end up spending a heck of a lot of money trying to save this stuff ... and maybe.. end up spending more than sod will ever cost you .... good luck ken ps: of course.. if you are the pick up the gauntlet.. and this will not defeat me .. and i will die trying to overcome it.. good luck.. i am just playing off your need.. as you stated.. of walking around barefoot ... in the very near future ...