Hmmm. There are a lot of challenges you're facing. My view is that the first task is to gain control of the seed bed, i.e. you have to fight off the moles. The only solution to moles is to learn how to trap them. Various extension agencies have tested all the alternatives: gum, human hair, bleach, noise makers, the only thing that works is to trap them, and it only costs about $10 per trap. You will never conquer them, but you can effectively remove them as they appear and learn how to clean up their messes. I just hydroseeded a large acre and see three huge mole hills; but it doesn't bother me overly much, because I am very confident that I will catch them within a few days, and that I will have to remove moles from that zone every few months.

THEN, you should get a soil test to see how you should change the characteristics of your soil, and THEN you'll have to figure out how to frustrate the birds; I've never had that particular problem.

Hi Steve,
Thank you very much for your help. Okay, I will get my dh to trap them. Maybe once I am rid of them, I can plant some grass seed. I hope someone here can give me an idea for the best kind of seed for my area. My lawn faces north and I get sun and shade.

I still need to know in which order do I plant grass seed (and type of seed), lime, aerate, de-thatch or whatever else I need to do. It would help me to know what I need to do for my lawn every season. I think I need to set up a program for myself to follow. I googled for my area but can't seem to find anything. Thanks again Steve.

In order to determine if dethatching is necessary, push aside the blades of your lawn grass and if you see a light brown, matted layer of dead & living grass stems, shoots & roots at the base of the plants then you have thatch. However, it's only a problem if the thatch is 1/2 inch or more. You can buy a thatching rake and do it your self. I actually figured all this out & how to dethatch my lawn by searching Youtube.com for a video. A thick layer of thatch (1/2 inch or more) is problematic because it prevents water nutrients from being absorbed by the roots and and makes it difficult for seed & fertilizer & other amendments to reach soil. So you would dethatch before putting down seed. Before you dethatch, mow your lawn down to about 1 inch.
There is a good book that you might try to find: "Toro EXPERT GUIDE TO LAWNS" by Provey & Robinson. ISBN: 9781580113755
Same authors also have another book called "Better Lawns Step By Step, Environmentally Friendly Methods For Creating Healthier, Lower Maintenance Lawns, How To Assess Lawn Condition, Select Grasses & Improve Drought & ...
Gardening"

You can start dethatching (if you need to) while at the same time learning how to manage the moles~ which will be an ongoing process. The most humane way to do it is to use a trap that kills them quickly. Never use poisons because it is a slow painful death. it's a very bad idea to relocate certain animals because of diseases they carry that could endanger humans and/ or other animals or even water supply like rivers & streams. You could disrupt the balance of the ecosystem by trying to relocate.

Also~ I think for your region, you want cool- season grasses. Maybe this site will be helpful

Here is a link that might be useful: Getting to know your lawn

And one more thing. . your Sunset Western Garden Zone (i think) is 1b. Here in the west, we have a more detailed system because our climate is much milder than other areas. The USDA zone system only considers minimum winter temperature, where as the Sunset zone system considers things like ocean influence, whether you live on a mountain or in a valley, elevation, and micro climates.

Loreleie, thank you for all this wonderfully detailed information. Well, I do have a dethatcher rake that I bought last year and never used. I got it out yesterday and 'dethatched' my lawn after mowing it short. Wow, what a back-breaking job. OMG what a lot of thatch in that lawn (at least I think it was 'thatch') I ended up with what looked like a bundle of hay. I looked at the blades of grass carefully. What I noticed was the bottom 2-3" of each blade was brown and just the top inch or of the blade it was green. The grass pulls out of the lawn really easy and is not tight like a healthy lawn should be. Boy, the moles sure have done a lot of damage. I can feel soft spots all over the lawn. I worked very hard on trying to keep my lawn nice all summer and I feel like I'm losing the battle. Is it best to 'dethatch' when the grass is wet or dry? I forgot to ask you that. Thanks again.

Lawn was primarily Bermuda but has not been dethatched for the last 40 years. Now consists of Bermuda, Crab Grass and dicot weeds. Growth of trees now shades parts of lawn near street. Under watering in our hot summers, too. I'm not sure where to begin...I can't afford sod...do I kill what is there, remove top few inches and reseed and when is the best time to do this? What do I re-seed with...Bermuda, Zoysia, etc? Thank you.