Tackling the "lawn"

I've been tackling the ery neglected garden at my new rental flat for the last couple of months, and having finally got the overgrowth under control I'm starting to turn my attention to the lawn (for want of a better word). It was in a fair state when we first saw the flat last November - at least half a foot high and full of weeds - so our landlady either strimmed or mowed it back before we moved in. It was then covered in a fine layer of leaves/brambles/bark from her attempt to cut back the worst of the surrounding overgrowth. And to cap it all my hens spent 6 weeks merrily digging up one corner until there was a space freed up to move them to.

So it now looks like this:



My gut feeling is to scrap the whole thing and start over. It's not a large space, no more than 10m2, so not an impossible undertaking, but I'm not really sure where to start! I'm leaning more towards turf than seed - I'd really like it to be usable this summer, and I'm not sure seed would have enough time to establish for that? I'll also need to be able to cross it twice daily to access the hens, which I assume would be less damaging for turf than new seed growth?

Should I just dig up the whole area and turn the soil beneath what's there currently? Whatever I do has to be completely manual, there's no access to the garden other than through our flat (and, as I said, very small area). I've never even mown a lawn before so I'm at a bit of a loss!

 

@2nd_bassoon.

The lawn is quite small and looks pretty level so turfing or seeding shouldn't be too difficult.

Personally, I would weedkill the entire lawn with a strong glyphoste-only weedkiller. Bayer Super Strength sachets may do the trick but higher than recommended doses may be required (but I didn't advocate that ). The lawn appears to have lots of dandelions and even worse, possibly Lesser celandine or wild violets, which are seriously tough to kill. Also, if there are any weed grasses such as couch grass, these will also be killed off. After weedkilling, leave lawn alone for a couple of weeks.

If you're gonna cross the lawn twice a day, turf seems a better option as long as you put planks across where you're walking and move them around so that the any one area of grass underneath doesn't get squashed and gets some light.

The soil will need some rotorvationl/loosing up, and is possible with a manual (or electric tiller) as the lawn is so small. Also, aerate it and buy some decent screened topsoil for laying the turf on . If your soil is heavy clay and constantly damp, there may be more work involved though

 

Thanks @Mowerman, that's very helpful. I hadn't thought about weedkilling, will look into options there - the hens don't have access to the lawn (thanks Defra) but they are right next to it so will check on overspill etc. There are definitely wild violets in there, having googled some pictures this morning those leaves match the ones that keep sneaking up on the cleared beds.

Luckily I seem to have quite good soil here on the whole, it looks claggy and compacted at the moment where it's been walked all over but thus far I've found a few goes with a fork frees it all up nicely. I'm in the west country though so constant dampness is pretty much a given at the moment!