u/Wide-Acanthaceae-470

Anyone had any experience with products like this? Made a post recently and it seems like we need to completely re-start our lawn, but sod is too expensive. No issue with reseeding the normal way, but this seems a bit easier to use so I was just curious.

Located in Dallas.

Also seems like we will have to start this process next year unless we do a cold season grass, based off my reading it seems like we won’t have enough time before the heat gets here to kill the current grass (I tried roundup last year and everything came back) and for the new seed to germinate.

Definitely a newbie at this stuff, but also a first time homeowner so trying to do this on a budget and not trying to get too advanced in everything yet (I’ll get there lol)

Thanks! Pictures of yard in comments if reference is needed as to why we are probably going to kill everything and restart.

Thanks!

I’ve read a lot of information online about the best ways to reseed a lawn, and get rid of weeds. Not sure what the best option is because there is so much information out there; so I’ve come to ask for tips and advice on my current plan. I don’t need to to look like a golf course, just want it to grow in a bit more full so it looks better and have less deviations so my daughter can play in the yard without running through weeds and rolling an ankle.

I live in Dallas.

For the front:
A. Needs to be leveled in some places where we had plumbing lines replaced, and will need to be leveled when I remove rotten tree stumps from section of yard next to road (bald spots in attached pictures).

B. ALOT of dead grass, weeds, very patchy needs to be reseeded. (Seems like some of the dead grass/weeds resembles crab grass, in random thick, lumpy bunches. Very hard to cut through them with a string trimmer when edging)

So my plan for the front would be, at this point,

Tarp off lawn to kill it
Dig up rotten tree stumps and discard
Rake up dead grass, weeds, and thatch
Fill in deep spots with fill dirt or top soil
Aerate
Reseed
Fertilize and water as needed

For the back:

A. Seems like it just needs to have weeds killed off. I tried roundup, and it didn’t work. I also plucked, by hand, about half of our yard with of ragweed last year, ragweed hasn’t come back but a bunch of other kinds of weeds have.

B. Would like to reseed it after a little leveling so it grows in more full.

My plan for the back would be

Dig up tree stump from the back corner (currently working on decomposing it by covering it with damp epsom salt and a black trash bag, been covered for about 6 months or so, haven’t checked on it yet)
Handle the weeds (pictures of types of weeds attached, what kind of weeds am I working with here? Seems like they will be challenging to get rid of)
Aerate
Reseed
Fertilize and water as needed

My questions are below.

Can a properly seeded and fertilized lawn eradicate weeds and keep them away?

Any opinions on zoysia vs bermuda? Looking for a low maintenance high durability grass, that is as soft as possible (at least as soft as you can get it Texas)

Does the front really need to be killed off? What generally constitutes having to kill the entire lawn before seeding? the lawn up front is significantly worse than the back, and barely grows at all.

What should I use to level the beg deep spots (atleast 6-8” of deviation from the level spots)? Top solid? Fill dirt? If I use top soil will I have to cover the entire lawn in a new layer of top soil for it not to grow better in certain areas than others?

Am I missing any major steps?

I’ve also read about laying down an entire new layer of soil and tilling it up, but I’d ideally like to avoid this if it’s not necessary. Again, don’t need it to look like a golf course.