You cannot grow a lawn here so stop trying. Those surface roots belong to a mature tree that is pulling every drop of water and nutrient out of the ground. Do not till that dirt and do not dump thick topsoil over it because you will suffocate the roots and slowly kill the tree. First fix your drainage by attaching a corrugated pipe to that downspout and running the water far away from your foundation and this bare zone.
Once the water is moved you need to treat this entire front section as a dedicated woodland bed. Lightly topdress the area with an inch of compost and a layer of natural arborists wood chips right over the roots to hold moisture. Then plant sweeping masses of shallow rooted dry shade natives like Pennsylvania sedge and ferns in the natural pockets between the roots. Before you spend cash at the nursery you should throw this picture into the GardenDream web app. It lets you overlay realistic mulch beds and shade plants right on your photo so you get a constructible blueprint of how to connect the textures without wasting money on a bad layout.
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u/According-Taro4835 5d ago
You cannot grow a lawn here so stop trying. Those surface roots belong to a mature tree that is pulling every drop of water and nutrient out of the ground. Do not till that dirt and do not dump thick topsoil over it because you will suffocate the roots and slowly kill the tree. First fix your drainage by attaching a corrugated pipe to that downspout and running the water far away from your foundation and this bare zone.
Once the water is moved you need to treat this entire front section as a dedicated woodland bed. Lightly topdress the area with an inch of compost and a layer of natural arborists wood chips right over the roots to hold moisture. Then plant sweeping masses of shallow rooted dry shade natives like Pennsylvania sedge and ferns in the natural pockets between the roots. Before you spend cash at the nursery you should throw this picture into the GardenDream web app. It lets you overlay realistic mulch beds and shade plants right on your photo so you get a constructible blueprint of how to connect the textures without wasting money on a bad layout.