Welcome. Your plan for the small shrubs and dwarf conifers sounds nice, but I (and I'm sure others) have one big question: Where is your property? It is very difficult for anyone to give you good advice without knowing what the environmental conditions are like. Yes, you can cover the area to kill off the weeds and grass - look up "lasagne gardening". You would start with several layers of newspaper or cardboard to smother any grass and weeds, then layer compost ingredients (grass clippings, shredded leaves, etc.) on top, water it, and let it all break down. You won't have to cut out the areas for your plantings - the cardboard/paper will break down and, like the compost ingredients, enrich the soil. Of course, this process takes several weeks to months, depending on the amount and ratio of materials you lay down, temperatures and soil bioactivity. (High nitrogen "greens" like grass clippings, green plant trimmings and such heat up and break down quickly, but tend to get slimy and smelly; high carbon "browns" like dried leaves, straw, shredded paper slow the process, but help keep it aerated, staving off nasty odors and slime. A good ratio is 1:1 or, better yet, 1green:2brown.) When you speak of using stone to create pathways, you don't state whether you mean gravel/crushed stone or large flat stones. If you live in an arid region like southern California, Nevada, Arizona, gravel or crushed stone on landscape fabric or whatever will probably be fine for your walkways. But if you live in a region with more precipitation, you WILL get weeds in those stone pathways. Organic matter gets carried in by water, wind, on the soles of people's feet ... and so do seeds, which also travel courtesy of birds and other wildlife (deposited along with a dollop of "fertilizer"). They will sprout and you will have plants growing in that seemingly inhospitable environment. It will be up to you to decide whether to pull them or spray them with herbicide in order to keep your pathways looking tidy. Large, flat stones would probably be a better option, since you could plant the spaces between with one of the dense low-growing creeping plants, which would help suppress any opportunistic weeds. Some, like creeping thyme, release their fragrance when brushed with one's foot. Also, based on personal experience, some walkways are just not sandal-friendly. Pea gravel, crushed granite and anything of the sort always seems to end up inside any open shoes. Please keep us posted. Of course we'll be looking forward to photos eventually.

Fresno, CA. Home of Di Cicco's Pizza. The only pizza parlor owned and operated by Nick Di Cicco. I guess he has a chain of restaurants now. You can never go home. You have two easy choices. Bermuda or St Augustine. Those grasses will form nice turf and will not be extraordinarily hard to manage. Well, bermuda is at least 2x if not 3x harder than St Aug, but zoysia or a cool season grass would not be my favorite. Or you could go with a native grass like buffalo (Cal Verde) or blue grama. The Verde buffalo is very good if you are not allergic to it, have FULL sun. If you have any shade, then the only choice is St Augustine. St Aug must have water at least every other week in the heat of summer in order to survive. It must have deep watering once a week in order to really thrive. Bermuda and the others I mentioned can be left alone to go dormant in the non rainy season(s). All of those will turn brown in the winter cold temps. You might be able to nurse St Augustine through a cold winter with weekly deep watering. Bermuda will look okay when watered and mowed every week at your mower's lowest setting. It will really thrive with monthly feeding of high N fertilizer. Frequent fertilizer may require twice a week mowing.

Wait until mid August to start this project. It is too hot now. Fescue is the only grass choice for that much shade. It is not very forgiving of dog digging or wear and tear so just know that in advance. Get the project going in August to give yourself time to add more seed if you see thin spots. 1. Fertilize the weeds so they will die quickly 2. Kill the weeds with Round Up which will kill anything it gets on 3. Water the area every day as if you were trying to sprout seeds 4. After a week of daily watering, spray the new weeds with Round Up. 5. Wait a few days, rake up any dead foliage, and seed. Roll the seed down with a water roller to make good contact with the soil. 6. Water 3x per day for 5 minutes to keep the seed moist. Fescue seed should spout in 2 weeks. 7. Mow when the new grass is 4-5 inches tall. Mow it down to 3.5 to 4 inches. 8. After you have mowed for the second time, you can apply a synthetic fertilizer. Or you can apply organic fertilizer any time. After you have mowed the grass once you can start to back off on the frequency of watering and increase the duration. By that time of year your goal will be to water 1 inch of water, all at one time, every 2-3 weeks. It might take some time to get there but that is the goal. Next year you will gradually move from monthly watering up to weekly watering as the temps increase.

I have only lived here for 2 years. I've been busy remodeling an old house. I haven't had time to tend to the lawn. The previous owners were elderly and neglected the lawn for the last 4 years that they lived here. So the lawn has been neglected for at least 6 years total. I have no idea what type of maintainance that they used prior to their becoming ill. I have never had a lawn with this number of weeds before, so lawn maintainance is new to me. That is why I'm asking for help and where to begin the process of bringing this lawn back into shape. I finally have the time and the energy to devote to the lawn. I have just never dealt with a situation of this magnitude before. Its not that I'm asking for it to repair itself with no work on my part, I'm asking what am I supposed to do, where do I begin? Kill the weeds first?? Fertilize the lawn?? Overseed, or all of the above all at the same time, any time of year?? Should I just wait until next spring and start then, or do I have a chance of making some progress this year?