Anything will help. Just don't leave it bare. You can spread out the chopped up leaves - or at least some of them - for a mulch and let them compost in place. You can use the buckwheat and alfalfa seeds too. It's late but they might still come up and even if they don't they sure won't hurt anything. Cover it with straw or hay or whatever you can get. Dave

Forgot to add: If we do decide to hire someone to do the prep work, what service should we pay for? Aerating, slit seeding, tilling? Does the dead vegetation have to be removed before these things are done? It is fairly thick in places. If we go for the works and hire someone to plant seed as well - any guesses as to the cost? Thanks.

With grass that nice in March, you might like to leave it and use your patio for container gardening! :-) But for your question, I agree as Allen says. Map out your sun directions and with the houses looking quite close together, be aware of any shady spots throughout the day. Afternoon shade is still OK so you'll just need to decide which corner or side of the yard that you want to use. You also mentioned shrubs and such, so my assumption about veggie or flower gardening might not be what you're interested in. However, the same idea of mapping out your yard will still apply when you decide on trees, shrubs, flowers, or veggies.

I second the vote for rabbit or deer..... rabbit ate my starter broccoli plants b4 i even got them in the ground.... left an inch of stem and one single plant. Last year, deer or rabbits came up in my front yard (we have woods in back and on sides of us) and ate the gorgeous leaves off my hostas. :( This year... I moved them. LOL