Can you wait until it warms up for the summer and then cools off for fall? Now is a poor time to restart a lawn. I realize that spring just seems like the right time, and all the seed companies are advertising right now, but if you do it now, your new grass will not be sturdy enough to take the summer heat. The other reason for not doing it now is that crabgrass seed is germinating right now. If you spent the money for seed now and had a crabgrass lawn by July, how would you feel? In the fall all that summer weed stuff is over with. In your area you can probably start in August if the summer seems to be ending.

With that in mind I would suggest you nurse your weeds along through the 2014 season and plant for 2015 this coming August. You can take the next few months practicing watering, mowing, and fertilizer properly so you don't have to learn everything at one time next fall. You'll be surprised how much better properly cared for weeds will look. You'll also be surprised to see some of those weeds die out when given proper care.

Before you get any dirt to cover it with, can you post a picture of your yard from a distance, say, across the street? Adding soil is only a good idea if you have a low spot that doesn't drain. If you don't have that, then please resist the urge to build up the area. Sand is fine to grow grass. In fact I prefer it. The best grass I have is growing where I used sand as the fill material instead of topsoil.

Here are the basics of lawn care to get you started.

Basics of Lawn Care

After reading numerous books and magazines on lawn care, caring for lawns at seven houses in my life, and reading numerous forums where real people write in to discuss their successes and failures, I have decided to side with the real people and dispense with the book and magazine authors. I don't know what star their planet rotates around but it's not mine. With that in mind, here is the collected wisdom of the Internet savvy homeowners and lawn care professionals summarized in a few words. If you follow the advice here you will have conquered at least 50% of all lawn problems. Once you have these three elements mastered, then you can worry about weeds (if you have any), dog spots, and striping your lawn. But if you are not doing these three things, they will be the first three things suggested for you to correct.

Watering
Water deeply and infrequently. Deeply means at least an hour in every zone, all at once. Infrequently means monthly during the cool months and no more than weekly during the hottest part of summer. Do not spread this out and water for 10 minutes every day. If your grass looks dry before the month/week is up, water longer next time. If that does not work, then you might have to water more than once per week during the summer's hottest period. Deep watering grows deep, drought resistant roots. Infrequent watering allows the top layer of soil to dry completely which kills off many shallow rooted weeds.

You will have to learn to judge when to water your own lawn. If you live in Las Vegas your watering will be different than if you live in Vermont. Adjust your watering to your type of grass, humidity, wind, and soil type. It is worth noting that this technique is used successfully by professionals in Phoenix, so...just sayin.' The other factors make a difference. If you normally water 1 inch per week and you get 1/2 inch of rain, then adjust and water only 1/2 inch that week.

Mowing
Every week mulch mow at the highest setting on your mower. Most grasses are the most dense when mowed tall. However, bermuda, centipede, and bent grasses will become the most dense when they are mowed at the lowest setting on your mower. In fact there are special mowers that can mow these grasses down to 1/16 inch. Dense grass shades out weeds, keeps the soil cooler, and uses less water than thin grass. Tall grass can feed the deep roots you developed in #1 above. Tall grass does not grow faster than short grass nor does it look shaggy sooner. Once all your grass is at the same height, tall grass just looks plush. One last exception is Kentucky bluegrass. The experts mow it at 3.5 inches (one notch below the highest setting).

Fertilizing
Fertilize regularly. I fertilize 5 times per year using organic fertilizer. Which fertilizer you use is much less important than numbers 1 and 2 above. Follow the directions on the bag and do not overdo it. If you are using chemical fertilizers, too little is better than too much. If you are using organic fertilizers, it is the other way around. At this point you do not have to worry about weed and feed products - remember at this point you are just trying to grow grass, not perfect it. Besides once you are doing these three things correctly, your weed problems should go away without herbicide.

Since I wrote that I have modified the watering part a little. Now instead of talking about an hour of watering, we talk in terms of inches of water. My sprinkler takes 8 full hours to get an inch of water whereas my neighbor's sprinkler puts out an inch in 20 minutes. The one-hour rule does not work for either of us. You can measure 1 inch of water using empty cat food or tuna cans. Put several out in the yard and time how long it takes YOUR sprinkler to fill them. That is your goal - 1 inch per week, not one hour per week.