I'm a new home owner and I have no idea how I should start to care for my lawn. Should I fertilize before seeding? Should I kill weeds first? Should I used a shade friendly seed? What about aerating the lawn? I basically would like to know what steps I should be taking to grow a beautiful green and weed-free lawn.
Lawn info: I live in the upper mid-west. The lawn is mostly shaded by very tall trees around the perimeter. The soil seems to be pretty damp as I had an enormous mushroom problem last fall (if those two are related). The grass seems to be pretty thinly spaced with soft soil underneath. I am planning on removing some landscaping around the house that has rocks/pebbles and instead plant grass from scratch.