i need help with restoring my lawn?

First, smooth out the soil as best as you can, take out the rocks, level the dirt, fill in low spots, dig or pullout saplings, etc.

You don't have to spend money buying top soil, you should be able to find some dirt around the area to throw on top to finish it off smooth.

Then buy the grass seed, throw it down, scratch it in some.

Next, sometime before April buy one of those Scotts lawn weed treatment bags with crabgrass preventer on the label. It doesn't matter if there's fertilizer and other stuff in it too or not but other stuff being in there is good anyway.

But by April you need to throw something for crabgrass in that lawn. Because to prevent crabgrass from growing the stuff for it has to go in by early April or sooner.

Then by May the new and old grass should be growing and so the next thing you'll need now is a Summer weed application. That should probably get thrown in the lawn around June or early July.

And then, one final Fall application for the lawn with something that says weed control on the label and you're done till next year.

Also, and this is very important, when you mow raise the blade as high as it'll go.

Never mow low, ever. I know it may look a little better low but grass appricates being cut high or not cut at all, so raise the blade all the way.

And make sure it's one of those mowers that gathers the grass as it cuts it with the bag attached.

I know it's a lot more work emptying the bag every 2 mintues but leaving grass shavings laying on top of the lawn is no good. It kills the grass like that.

As far as tools go you'll need a shovel, a rake, a pick and a seed spreader to start.

Oh, and buy the cheapest grass seed that's available, don't spend money on that golf course Kentucky bluegrass stuff. You want the big kernels not the fine ones! And you want a seed that says drought tolerant with a deep root system...

Now, I've given you the best advice, I'm a landscaper, give the 5 stars to someone else I'm fine but take my advise anyway.

Cheers

Before planting anything, I would rent a rototiller and buy some gypsum and rototill the gypsum into the soil. Gypsum helps break up clay. You will have to reapply to the surface for at least 3 years to see any improvement. Do not use sand, it will make concrete. I would also buy some high quality compost and till that into the soil too. Then you can seed the lawn.

My sister lives in Cortez, CO and this is the same thing I told her. It is working; her lawn looks much better now.

How about doing something besides lawn? There are water shortage issues , right? How about a conifer forest , and big boulders instead? Think about what you'll save in lawn care fees? Or hours?

How about a stand of beautiful aspens, or other fall color trees like red oaks?

Colorado is in extended drought status. If I were you, having gotten a great deal on a foreclosed house, I would not sod. I would research the native grasses that can be used for a lawn in your area, and plant a small lawn with them. Don't try to return the whole yard to turf. The rest of your former lawn area would look great using a well-designed palette of native small trees, shrubs, and wildflowers. You may need to ask a local nursery for details and how-to's, but I believe Blue Grama and Buffalo Grass are used individually, or mixed together, for native, low water-use, lawn grasses in your area. They can be started from seed. Seed from a local source would be the very best, but if that doesn't work out, Native American Seed, http://www.seedsource.com/ has a good selection of native grass seed.

roto till the soil put in some peat moss and till that in also seed, water and hope for the best

First you want to remove the weeds, then scratch the surface with a rake, this will loosen the dirt for the seeds. Spread new grass seed and cover with mulch hay. Water in the morning and don't cut until 4" to 6" high.

The first time you cut, set the mower deck at the highest setting. The first couple of times will be difficult due to the mulch.

As mowing gets easier you can lower the deck to the desired height.

water the grass twice a week in the early mornin'. It will grow like fast and furious. good luck lawn man

in basic terms purchase a small bag of fescue seed and take a rake and tough up airborne dirt and dust interior the section and frivolously throw some seed down besides as possibly a sprint starter fertilizer besides. (yet no longer certainly needed) make constructive the section gets watered generally for atleast thirty minutes, yet do no longer drown the seeds. Thirty minutes to one hour might desire to be adequate . try this to the climate for 2 weeks and make constructive this section is regurly watered for the duration of the warmth of the summer besides. besides the incontrovertible fact that, in case you reside in a community that gets a lot of rainfall, I wouldnt hassle approximately watering .