need grass help in dallas

sher – posted 09 January 2004 13:40

first let me say please forgive my ignorance about this stuff. i don’t know the proper terminology, but i’ll do my best to give good enough information/descriptions that you might be able to understand.

we just moved into a house in dallas and the people that lived there before us didn’t do any work on the yard at all. there is a side yard area that is covered in what looks like bark and if you dig about a foot down, you’ll find plastic bags on which they poured the bark. the back yard is basically dirt with some smallish trees. it’s tiered and held back with crossties, but each tier is just dirt. the front yard is really flat looking patchy grass. there are two good sized trees in the front, so it’s pretty well shaded.

first, i’m wanting to get rid of all the bark stuff and plant grass in that side yard area. second, i am also wanting to plant grass on the tiers in the backyard where it it currently just dirt. lastly, i’m wanting the front yard to look lush and green in the spring/summer, so i need to enhance the grass that is currently there.

what kind of grass is best for someone in dallas who is starting over a (a) previously bark covered area, a (b) totally bare area and (c) a previously grassed covered area, but where the grass is rather flat and patchy?

and is there anything i can be doing now to prepare the soil for spring planting of grass?

seriously, i’m just clueless. any information you might offer would be greatly appreciated.