Kind of a newby, yes, I could tell. But some of us like to help folks like you. Where do you live? Big Bear? La Jolla? Heber? Victorville? It makes a big difference in SoCal. How do you have the sprinklers set? How often and for how long? You're going to need to test the sprinklers to see how long it takes to apply 1 inch of water. Put some tuna or cat food cans in the yard and turn on the water. Time how long it takes to fill all the cans. Remember that number. Can you post some pictures of your grass(es) and weeds? It would be rare if your soil had a lot of clay in it. It would not be rare at all if it had a lot of salts in it that act like clay. Only a good soil test can tell you that. I'm not suggesting that you need a soil test, I'm just saying you can't be too sure of the soil content by what others tell you. Whether this is salvageable and how depends on where you live and what you have. Seeding can be tricky, but we can help with that, too. If you do it wrong, you'll get bad results every time. There are a few ways to do it right and a lot of ways to do it wrong.

I think I would prefer an axe of any size over a mattock so maybe you can borrow one before buying. My mattock would just bounce off of large roots. I have never seen root guard but the contractor said he wants to use as little as possible because it is expensive. It sells by the foot so must be at least a little flexible. The Hi-Lift jack is one used by off roaders and there will be many pictures of them on Google. In some off road situations, you would be really glad you brought one along and they have many uses in addition to jacking up vehicles. It would not be good for very many cars although I got my Camaro out of a rut in Wyoming many years ago. The alternative walk for help was not very appealing in my location at the time. My Hi-Lift is the four foot high model and has done everything I asked of it. There are some knock-offs offered by Harbor Freight and others but if buying one again, I would still go for the real thing. I finally gave away my large tiller after owning it for 30 years. It seldom got used after I bought my Mantis because my entire yard had been tilled deep. I would not hurry to buy a Mantis either because I doubt that they are suited to all situations. A wrecking bar is a bar of steel about six feet tall (approx) and about an inch or so in diameter. They are really useful sometimes. When I bought my house, we had a bed of Bird of Paradise plants and I liked them until my wife wanted to move them. After finally getting those things out of the ground, they went into the garbage. A neighbor offered me a giant Bird of Paradise once as long as I dug it up. I dug for a while and got nowhere so it is still in his yard. I don't want one that bad. Bamboo is also something that I would never put in my yard after removing all that were left to me by the previous owner of my house.

garland, Check out the UC-Davis Fruit & Nuts Research Center website, and the California Rare Fruit Growers' website(they also deal with stuff that's not 'rare'). Lots of info there, as well as contacts who can direct you to sources - &/or tell you what will or will not work in your area. Years ago, I was interested in pistachios, too; but Dr. Louise Ferguson at the UC-D F&NRC told me that they wouldn't work here in the hot, humid Southeast. I tried a few P.vera seedlings anyway - and she was right.

For an evergreen tree with a similar look, consider planting Calliandra surinamensis, the Surinam Powderpuff Tree. In Encinitas it bloomed for me virtually every day of the year, kept its leaves, virtually never had seedlings (although it does produce seeds), and in about 3 years grew to 15' tall from a 15-gallon plant. It also needs only moderate water and looks great! You can let it get very thick or prune it to a lacy form. It is NOT invasive You can see photos of it in the book Ornamental Trees of San Diego, which is sold in nurseries and bookstores all over San Diego. It is published by the San Diego Horticultural Society. Here is a link that might be useful: San Diego Horticultural Society