Let the Lawn Doctor handle it. Their plan should work whereas the lawn mower's plan doesn't sound that sound. Grass seed should be on top of the soil or very very near the surface. Whether the soil is "top soil" or sandy top soil should make no difference. Furthermore if your lawn mower was the care taker while the lawn went from beautiful to terrible, let him go. He's proved his inability to handle the lawn.

Taking care of a lawn is really easy and also equally easy to do wrong. Here are a few tips that people continually write in here to verify they work.

1. Water deeply but infrequently. Infrequently means to water NO MORE THAN once a week in the hottest part of summer and deeply means deep enough to make the once a week plan work. I water for 1-3 hours per zone per week in the summer. Now I am watering every other week.

2. Mulch mow at your mower's highest setting. If you cannot find a lawn professional to do that you may have to do it yourself or hire a non-professional (a kid down the street). Don't let him lower the deck. Leave it up high.

This is all you really need. This plan will keep the weeds away and give you a great turf; however, most people want a dark green color.

3. Fertilize regularly with your favorite fertilizer. This will green up the grass. I fertilize with organic fertilizer on the federal holidays. If you are going to use a chemical fertilizer, then skip the 4th of July and wait until Labor Day.

At this point I realize I should have asked where you live and what kind of grass you have. I made the assumptions that you live in the north and have cool season grasses. If you live in the south and have bermuda or centipede, then I would change a few things. I can't comment on your shady front lawn without knowing where you live.

Furthermore if your lawn mower was the care taker while the lawn went from beautiful to terrible, let him go. He's proved his inability to handle the lawn.

Oh that is so funny, and so true. I should have thought of that one.

It's always good to have multiple perspectives. Do you know why your lawn is wet? Have you had a lot of rain or are you watering frequently? Bestlawn is right about applying lime without a soil test. You can't just look at the lawn and know whether it needs lime.

Again, we need to know where you live to tune this up.

I agree with most of what David and Mallory said with a couple of caveats. My main concern is that I don't know where you live or what kind of grass you have.

Most grasses are best mowed fairly high, but there are a few that should be kept very short. Two that I can think of are bentgrass and bermuda.

Fall is the best time to seed a cool season lawn, because it gives the grass more time to establish before summer hits so it has a better chance to survive the summer heat. Warm season lawns usually do better if they are seeded in late spring, because then they have more time to get established before winter hits and they then have a better chance to live through the cold.

Sounds like your landscaper is full of BS to me....The powerseeding process you are referring to is most likey what is known as slit seeding. And you are right, the machine the Lawn Doctor uses will put the seed underneath the soil. Hence, there is absolutely NO reason to put anything on top of the seeds with this process, that's what the dirt is for. The ONLY time I'd could see putting straw down is on a severely sloped yard where a heavy rain could wash the seed away. But, the good landscape/yard care people I know don't like to use straw or anything like that because it introduces the seeds of other grass types into your yard. And again, the slit seeding process buries the seeds so run-off or washing away of the seeds would be very minimal, even on a severe slope. I think slit seeding/power seeding is the ideal way to sow grass seed, just make sure they make multiple passes in different directions so you don't end up with a corn row effect in your yard. Also, most people seem to have the best results when aerating the yard first & then having the slit seeding done soon after. I don't think there's a big difference between fertilizer that's applied as a liquid or as a granular. I mean really, 90% of the stuff that sold to you, me, the pros & anyone else is in the granular, bag form. All I would say is to make sure the fertilizer is guaranteed not to burn your lawn & that the grass is a little wet when you apply it. It helps the granuals to "stick" to the grass & not get washed away as easily. As far as the moss, well that is most certainly partly due to the shady conditions but also the soil conditions. Has anyone taken a soil sample of your yard to know EXACTLY what type of ammendments need to be added to the soil (lime, fertilizer, etc) to grow the grass you want? Hey, grass will grow in the cracks of a sidewalk so I'm pretty sure you can get it to grow in your soil, regardless of how "sandy" someone says it is. My advice is to 1) Fire the landscaper now. Sounds like he's got a chip on his shoulder & doesn't know what he's talking about. 2) Let the Lawn Doctor do their thing thru the course of their contract & see how you like the results. 3) Educate yourself to know more about what these guys are telling you. A great reference is this website(www.turffiles.ncsu.edu). 4) Consider the possibility of caring for your yard yourself if you are physically able & have the time. Heck, the only process you probably wouldn't want to do yourself is aerate. Most of those machines are a real bear to operate but beyond that you can do it. Buy a decent lawn mower (Toro or Honda would be my choices) & get an inexpensive, rotary type spreader from the Home Depot or Lowes. You can fertilize & spray for weeds the same as anyone you hire, plus you have the satisfaction of doing it yourself. I'm sure you'll get some other good advice from knowledgeable people on here as well, but I can't encourage you enough to consider doing it yourself. If you get stuck or need advice you can always ask questions here. Best of luck to you....

Thanks for the feedback. I think I am still confused, but definitely more knowledgeable. We're going to go with Lawn Doctor. I'll make sure to ask if they took a soil sample. My lawn cutter will stay just a lawn cutter!