Actually, the grass in the lawn looks reasonably healthy. Yeah, you have weeds, but the lawn is not overtaken.

You say that it was seeded with "winter rye", but didn't make it clear whether that is a winter overseed of another type of lawn. Yes, it is easy to kill weeds without killing the lawn, but to help we need to know what ALL the kinds of grass are in the lawn.

Just as importantly, though, you need to decide who is going to take care of the lawn - this guy, someone else or you. Then you need to decide whether you want somebody to just mow the lawn, or someone to take care of all of the facets of a lawn - mowing, seeding, fertilizing and weed control. Oh yeah - and you need to decide about whether being organic about your lawn is important to you or not. Of course the cheapest solution is just mowing it, but you don't get all the other stuff (and its the expensive stuff) for the lowball price. Pay cheap, get cheap. I'd start out by writing down what you expect and getting a few quotes for that - then you will be comparing apples-with-apples.

Many of the people on here are lawn fanatics, and could go on for weeks about "what you should do".

Get us the info on the grass type(s) and we'll see if we can't help you at least understand your weed problem...

Thank you, Andy.

Unfortunately, I have no idea what kind of Rye grass they used, but I'll try to find it out. I hope they remember this information.

Our lawn had Bermuda grass when we moved in, and one time, while this guy was mowing my neighbors lawn, I asked to mow mine too. The grass was very high & he cut it extremely short right away. After that mow it started dying & watering didn't help. That was middle of summer in Arizona & we gave up on our grass lawn at that moment. Also, we're 1st time homeowners and have never dealt with a lawn before = didn't know a single thing about grass. So, by the time, this guy seeded our lawn with Rye grass, we had lawn covered with dead Bermuda.

I also don't know what's the difference between overseeding & seeding.

If I can find a reliable company in our area who I can trust and don't have to follow up making sure they're using right fertilizers, cut our grass according to the 1/3 rule, take care of weeds in a timely manner, change our irrigation schedule depending on a season, etc I'm willing to pay a fair price and not be cheap. At the same time I'd feel really bad about abandoning this guy, who is very nice & probably doesn't have a lot of work in this difficult time, when every 2d house prefers to skip on lawn care... Basically, I'm willing to switch only if I know for sure there will be a significant change.

Also, I was shocked to find out from the article Watering Schedule For Arizona Desert Lawns" that they suggest to water rye grass in January every 14 days! Even if they are trying to make people save water, it looks like once a week should be more than enough (?) Our neighbor's sprinkle system is set up to water the lawn 3 times a day every day!

The difference between overseeding and seeding is whether there is a lawn already there when you throw down the seed.

For the weeds (remember your original question), if its all PR, and the lawn is actively growing, you should be able to get Weed-B-Gon or the equivalent Bayer product at your local big box store (Home Depot/Lowes/Walmart). If you can follow directions, the job is not out of reach for even a newbie. It may not kill every type of weed, but start with the easy weeds and then take close-up pictures of the survivors in a month and post them here.

I've just found out that while I was researching what to do, a day ago my husband used Round-Up on our lawn weeds... Ouch! He said he tried to use it only on weeds by spaying selectively, but I'm sure we'll see a lot of yellow patches in the nearest future. Well, another lesson learned from 101 lawn care.

I wonder if these yellow patches will stay till Bermuda awakes, which is ~ May or they'll be covered with Rye in a month or so...
There is still a small patch of the lawn where he didn't spray (got tired :)) I guess, I'll use Weed-B-Gon there, and see how weeds will react to it.

Some part of me just wants to go with gravel landscaping instead of grass, but I think it's just too boring...

Oh my! I hate to say this but your lawn guy is better at negotiating and getting out of work than he is at lawn care. Anyone who is unwilling to learn the simple (and I emphasize SIMPLE) elements and methods to his chosen profession should not be coddled. He needs to be cut loose. And if you think he does not understand you now, he will really not understand you when you try to fire him. You need to find someone who can fire him in Spanish so that he understands to never mow your lawn or touch your water again and he will never again be paid by you. Usted no puede trabajar aqu ¿entiende, señor? And he should be nodding his head. When he asks you why, the only answer that will work is to tell him you are going to do all the work yourself (Voy a hacer todo el trabajo yo mismo). If you don't tell him that he will beg and plead and promise to do exactly what you want, but you have already seen that he does not keep his word (about the seeding for example). But if you tell him you are going to do it, he should understand you want to save the money. By letting him go you have bought yourself some time to learn to do it yourself (it is embarrassingly easy) or find someone more in tune with you and your ability to communicate.

Here is the combined wisdom of the lawn forum accumulated over the years. There are lots of other things to discuss, but hardly anyone disagrees with these simple principles.

2. Water deeply and infrequently. Deeply means at least an hour in every zone, all at once. Infrequently means monthly during the cool months and no more than weekly during the hottest part of summer. If your grass looks dry before the month/week is up, water longer next time. Deep watering grows deep, drought resistant roots. Infrequent watering allows the top layer of soil to dry completely which kills off many shallow rooted weeds. Not only does this apply in Phoenix, it happens that I learned it from a Phoenix based lawn professional on this very forum many years ago.

3. Mulch mow at the highest setting on your mower. Most grasses are the most dense when mowed tall. However, Bermuda, centipede, and bent grasses are the most dense when mowed at the lowest setting on your mower. Dense grass shades out weeds and uses less water when tall. Dense grass feeds the deep roots you're developing in 1 above.

4. Fertilize regularly. I fertilize 5 times per year using organic fertilizer. Which fertilizer you use is much less important than numbers 1 and 2 above.
   

Now to contradict myself, I would suggest mowing the rye short toward the end of March. Your bermuda needs all the sunlight it can get and tall ryegrass will provide too much shade. Next year see if you can get through the winter without ryegrass. Just because the neighbors do it does not make it right. Believe it or not in Iowa many people burn their grass every year - doesn't make it right.

Your lawn guy broke several rules. He mowed too short at one time taking more than 1/3 of the grass down. If your bermuda was tall, it should have been brought down gradually with multiple mowings during the week. He should know how to do that but apparently not. He waters WAAAAAAAAY to frequently. That water schedule is okay for getting new seeds to sprout but as soon as they establish roots, watering needs to be cut back. And I'm going to say that seeding rye over bermuda in the winter is a rule he broke. Sure everyone does it, but it's not good for the bermuda.

Oh and weed-b-gone spray is the classic way to get rid of the weeds you have and not hurt the grass. Round-Up must advertise on all the sports channels or something. I hate that stuff.