The house I moved into has 9 years of ground cover. How do I convert it to a healthy lawn? Where do I start?

I know nothing NOTHING about yard care. Only that I am not a real fan but that could just be lack of exposure. I love how a finished product looks though. I can't identify anything in the ground cover but onions and dandilions. There's random crocus's and tulips and daffodils in the yard. And it grows soooo fast. Any help would be appreciated.

The house I moved into has 9 years of ground cover. How do I convert it to a healthy lawn? Where do I start?
What kind of ground cover? Blooming plants? woody plants? Is there landscape fabric under the plants?



If it is just weeds, I would start by killing off all the weeds with a weed killer that kills everything. After the stuff is dead, then rototill the whole yard. Rake it smooth, removing the clumps of roots. Yes, it is hard work. If the soil looks poor, add some compost, chicken manure, or something to build it up. Then plant grass, roll it with a roller, and water. Or have a company spray hydroseed.



If it is already grass with some weeds in it, then just use a weed %26amp; feed product until the weeds disappear. A much easier way to go.



Remember that a lawn is a lot of work as well. If it is blooming plants, maybe you could consider leaving it and just weeding out the dead stuff and killing the weeds.



Just remember when you fertilize, give it lots of water or it will burn up.



Your local garden shop should be able to give you some advice as well. Good luck!
Reply:First, there might be a reason that there is groundcover rather than grass. One reason might be poor soil another might be that there was a drainage problem there and groundcover was planted to stop erosion. If you do want to convert it only convert what you are willing to mow. My suggestion would be to create a plan. HGTV has some pre-drawn plans that have plants that live off very little water and come back every year. You might want to check that out.