Landscaping Expertise Wanted...Please

[Manco Snead]

Greetings,

Hoping to to get some advice from people with alot of landscaping experience/plant knowledge. Recently purchased OOS/Iowa duplex which had a long neglected lawn which resulted in woody stemmed plants growing. Those plants have been cut down, but thick woody stems remain. The one quote I have to make the stems go away permanently, from a seemingly knowledgeable landscaper, is $4500. This entails tilling 8" down 2 separate times, then reseeding for lawn to grow back. I'm looking to not pay this much.  Any ideas? Much thanks. Photos below.

[Michael Radney]

I'm not a landscaper but I've done a few major landscaping jobs after renovating properties.  Tilling can work but it will spread old weed seeds like @Julie Hartman said.  When you till that deep, you'll have to level and re-flatten it with something like a drum roller or else the soil with settle unevenly after it rains a few times.  If the backyard is all weeds, personally I'd just apply glyphosate to the woody stems while freshly cut and the rest of the yard.  I'd come back in two weeks and, if needed, respray any areas that still showed growth.  I try to avoid using glyphosate when possible but sometimes I find it's still the best thing for pressing reset on a yard.  

Four weeks after the last glyphosate application, I'd clear all the dead vegetation.  If you can get a skidsteer in that backyard, I'd rent one and a Harley rake (it'll pull up the weeds, till the top few inches and rough level the topsoil).  Then hand rake it to even the topsoil out and remove any remaining debris.  Reseed with lime and fertilizer.  Top dress your seeds with some straw or peat moss.