Total novice - massive garden!

Hello everyone. Firstly, thanks for taking time to read this.

So, some context. Well I have been in my house a year or so. It has a massive garden which when I moved in was completely overgrown with lots of brambles, lots of trees everywhere and random patches of wood chip/gravel/decking etc. Basically a mess! However, I moved in with my girlfriend and it seemed like it would be a fun little (ok huge!) project to take on. Unfortunately though, she moved out after a few months, leaving me a bit short on manpower and cash, as well as the help and support of her parents who are very keen gardeners.

So, anyway, a couple of months ago I had some pros come in and do a "blitz" where they cut back a lot of overgrown bushes, took out trees etc, which was very helpful. Now, I would basically like to make all green areas into one big lawn. I'm not so taken with the idea of planting any new features, I'd just like the simplicity of having lawn so it is easy to deal with, also so it is left fairly "blank" for any potential buyers when I sell in a few years time.

Though ca. 75% of the garden is grass (of sorts!) there are large areas where the ground is either bare, covered in wood chip, or over-run with brambles, and other kind of weed type plants which I'm not really sure what they are! I have started digging out a lot of these weeds, but really I guess I'd like to know what the best way is to get this out and convert it to lawn. It's fine me digging up some dandelions and such, but I'm not really sure as such where *exactly* I'm going. I've uploaded here:
Flickr: granadino2011's Photostream

a variety of photos that I hope explain a little of where I'm coming from, if you can offer any help or advice I would be extremely grateful. And of course any further info or photos required I'll be happy to help where I can!

 

it's a big job, judging from the photos

however, with the right tools and equipment, it can be sorted in quick time

clear as much of the growth on the top as possible ... hire a rotivator (for as little as £25/day, depending where you live), but here is one I found on google that costs just over £100 a day ... looks like a good large one:
HSS Hire - Cultivator Hire and Rent


rotivate the soil but no need to go too deep ... level off with a rake ... roll flat

get some seed and hire a seed disperser machine (not sure what they call them) ... I normally spread the seed by hand, but am heavy handed and always use much more than calculated ... here is a site I found that has different lawn seed types with a calculator ..

Lawn UK

buy a few tonnes of topsoil (they normally deliver, and it is not too expensive) .... add topsoil over the seed just to cover

water well, and grass should be visible in approx 10-14 days depending on the seed type and the weather

continue to water well, and mow when it is nearly 3 inches high

after the 1st mow, add a slow release fertilizer that is high in P and K and continue to water well

3-4 days hard work for 1 person, based on the pics you have posted ... best get the BBQ out, invite some mates around and get them to help ... BBQ and beers for later that day ... can be done on a weekend with a few mates helping

get a quote from the professionals for instant lawn/turf and compare the prices of seeding yourself or getting the pro's to do it

once the lawn is established, there will be loads of weeds .... most lawn weedkillers I have seen do not recomend that you use weedkiller on lawn that is less than 6 months old

once the lawn is established (after 6 months), it may be wise to get a company like greenthumb to come and apply lawn feed/weedkiller every 4 months ... they are pretty cheap

or .... you are single, so advertise on a dating site stating that you seek to meet a 'farmer type girl' ... may be your cheapest bet

 

Re Rotovator
It is well worth putting a request on Freecycle for a loan of one

I am old and not up to how all these sites work, but one of my
daughters, stuck a garden request up, and the replies were, that
x had x and was willing to lend it out
Although money exchange is a NO NO a large bar of Chocolate is
the going rate, even when picking up the free stuff

Do not ask me how or what is freecylce I aint a clue, but it is worth a
shot before paying a tool hire firm a daily rate

Jack McHammocklashing