It looks like the area on the side of the house has been topdressed over and over to the point where the soil is considerably higher than the sidewalk. That area will be a mess until you can get rid of that excess soil. Or it could be the soil just has washed down the slope toward the sidewalk.

The area in the back is simply too shady for grass to grow. There are other ground covers that will grow in there or you could make it a different kind of garden. Grass will not be a good choice in there, though.

The shape of the dumpster is pretty clear. If you had any Kentucky bluegrass in your lawn, it would refill the dumpster area automatically. Apparently you have only fescue and it will not refill by itself. Fescue needs to be reseeded every year in order to produce a thick turf. It can be done; you just need to know about that and keep after it.

Spring is not the best time to seed. Summer is the worst time to seed and we are approaching summer right now. In MA you might be able to get some grass to take and survive but you might also end up with a crabgrass lawn. In the end would you like to have a lawn that people stop and point at as being beautiful or do you just want it all green and don't really care what all is mixed in? For this season you are going to have to have the latter. However, you will be surprised how nice even weeds can look with proper watering, mowing, and fertilizer. Here are the basic 1-2-3 of lawn care to get you started.

1. 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. If your grass looks dry before the month/week is up, water longer next time. 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.
   


2. Mulch mow at the highest setting on your mower. Most grasses are the most dense when mowed tall. Bermuda, centipede, and bent grasses are the most dense when mowed at the lowest setting on your mower. Dense grass shades out weeds and uses less water when tall. Dense grass feeds the deep roots you're developing in 1 above.
   


3. Fertilize regularly. I fertilize 4 times per year using organic fertilizer. Which fertilizer you use is much less important than numbers 1 and 2 above.
   

Favorite hose is the Craftsman brand. They have a lifetime warranty so the one you buy now is the last one you pay for. I've returned about five hoses over the past 20 years for various reasons.

Other hoses carry a lifetime guarantee but you have to keep the receipt and you have to return it to the store you bought it from and they have to still be carrying that line of hoses. With Craftsman you return it to any Sears and no receipt needed.

You have a GREAT house. I think you need to grab a cuppa coffee and sit in the front yard and look at your house more closely. I'd incorporate an extra color into the window trim. It's the start of a Victorian style home. Is the house a greenish color or what it just the photos. Mustard trim on the windows. I'll have to think of the 3rd color to add. I'd give some thought to that color being one that you might use in the landscaping. You have no email through which I can send you pics of what I did with my house. E-me and we can chat. You've already gotten some good advice.

Your yard will be wonderful. Think of it as a clean slate and you can design it any way you want to. My first suggestion would be putting it all down on graph paper so you actually see its footprint. It will help you see exactly how much space you have for your plants.

With your trim being rust colored, you might want to add a similar fall color tree or ornamental. Consider some oranges. That would help to pull the house down into the landscape.

Think about a porch swing or couple of chairs. Put some bright colorful pillows for seats using some of the same colors. Window boxes hanging off the porch rail could also add some extra color for you. Can your husband do some light carpentry work? If so, he could building them out of something that would last much longer than the metal ones that I have.

Make your list and post it on the fridge of the sequence in which you are working with most important being at the top. Print your photos out and start a binder of ideas. You've got time. You can 3 hole punch pages from magazines with ideas that you like.

I hope to hear from you.
Xtal

Slugkiller, I have some very full hostas growing in the front yard. I was wondering if I could thin them out a bit and bring some to the back yard. Would you recommend them as a border along the back? I'm not wild about the way hostas look, but they're free and easy to take care of so they might be a good solution for now.

Since my last post, I discovered that the "weeds" may actually be ground cover plants. There are little green things and some bigger things that look like ferns. See the link for a pic. Can the little green ones be moved/re-used in a better way? I don't care for the appearance of the ferns.

I also cleared out the shady corner. I might try to level it and lay some broken slate tiles down to make a mosaic patio/shade garden/reading nook. You can see the neighbor's scrap metal in the background, next to our trash can. I think some lattice with a climbing plant would cover that up nicely! What do you think of that idea? Pic of the cleared-out space: https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/cm2bjvseBlKKeE_1hXr4og?feat=dire ctlink

After a good long week of rain, there is some green popping up where the dumpster was. Woohoo!

Thanks again!

I wouldn't be to eager to let the horse herb out as cover. Weed Killer can only do so much against extremely well developed plants (the name says it all)

There is one time to till: when the soil structure has been destroyed by compression. If the dumpster sitting there compressed the soil significantly, or if cars have been parking there, or if people have been walking back and forth on the area for years--that type of situation, where there is no natural soil structure to begin with--then that is the time when tilling is appropriate.

I don't know if that is your situation or not, but I thought I'd point that out.

Joining a garden club and making gardening friends is a great way to get free plants. Most gardeners are very generous and have more plants than they know what to do with. Offering to trade a little help for some plants can get you some good things.

Just one caution: some pass-along plants can be incredibly invasive and will turn into a pest. It's good to know what you are dealing with when someone gives you free plants.

I like it better than hostas tho, myself. And most people who have it are more than willing to share bulbs.

Is it normally shady? What kind of soil? (Sandy, Clay, Moist, e.t.c.) If you have four to eight hours of sun a day, and you want to cover some of the patchy places then try some creeping juniper. It spreads a very nice coat of gorgeous green color to your yard.

Also, find out whether there is a college with an agricultural/horticultural school nearby; they will be able to guide you in finding local or regional resources to help you. Even 2-year community colleges can have horticultural programs and can be of help in guiding you.

You'll end up with a wonderful group of possible friends who are passionate about growing many things.

By the way, I loved the herb garden idea. It's actually a blessing to have dead grass if you want to do herbs or easy annual flowers, like marigolds, while you make up your mind! Marigolds aren't at all fussy; plunk them in, water them and they'll take off.

Herbs are pretty easy to grow, too. You can get or create a raised garden bed on top of the bare spot (see garden sites like Gardener's Supply - Their raised beds, pre-made, are too pricy for me but they sell "corners" that you can stick lumber into make your own.) Or just go to the hardware store or the local big-box home supply store and look for connectors that are used in construction; they'll probably do very well and be a lot less expensive than the specialized raised bed corners.

You just put good soil in the enclosure and plant your herbs, water and weed (or mulch) and watch'em grow!

And remember, If you change your mind, you can always move things around. (I know you don't want to hear that at this point; just keep in mind that this little, bare dumpster spon can become something truly wonderful!

Good luck and have fun!

We intend to yank the lightning struck tree from the back yard, bring in compost by the dump loads and till it into the current soil that is so hard packed you can barely get a shovel into the ground. Once it's all tilled, leveled at a proper angle away from my house, then I can redo the flower beds, garden plot and all of the other areas for plants and bring in the trees I have currently growing in pots up on the deck. There are only 3 items in this yard that will remain prior to tilling and amending. An American Basswood which is nearly as tall as our split foyer home, a 4ft tall 5ft wide spirea and a 2 and a half foot tall maple.

So I'm cringing at this coming fall, but I know next spring will be so fun to watch things thrive in my new yard after fixing the poor soil and reseeding the lawn. :D

So Sometimes, tilling it is a needed Evil. Unfortunately. And Ugly is what mine is at right now, I've had to explain to the neighbors why it's all dead! LOL

And I would strongly suggest you do not bring in yards and yards of compost to till into the soil. Compost can be amazing when used on TOP of the soil and can be a royal pain in the butt when tilled into the soil. If you are going to bring in yards and yards of compost, do it NOW and just lay it on top of the soil. Compost used as a mulch will do a couple of amazing things for you. The best thing is it will hold the temperature and moisture level of the soil at the perfect conditions to soften the soil underneath. That is a biological process performed by the bacteria and fungi that live in the soil. That process takes several weeks to accomplish but it happens without you lifting a finger - other than to fling the compost. If you use enough compost it will smother most of what is growing and give you a fresh start.

If you insist on digging, rent a guy with a tractor and box blade (photo to follow). The box blade is the tool used by professional landscapers to prepare THE SURFACE of the soil. He will bring in more soil or haul away what you do not need for proper drainage. He will also tell you what he can do around the basswood tree. I'd talk to three professional landscapers about fixing the problems left by the previous owners.

The blue Ford tractor is pulling the box blade. The yellow machine is a skid steer which looks like a bobcat. You do NOT want that machine. The box blade on a proper tractor can fix an acre of land in a morning. The bobcat will take a full week (if not more) to do the same job.

I realize I'm just one guy on a forum, but in this case I'm one guy who has been reading/contributing/moderating on homeowner and professional lawn forums for 10 years. Lots of compost on top of the soil will fix everything you want fixed except the rocks.

Best wishes and good luck!