Any advice on what to do with this lawn?

Hi all, newbie here, just said hello in the introductions thread.

I have just moved into a new home and for the first time, and much to my two young children's joy, I have a garden!! Now when I say I have a garden what I mean is I have is 80 foot of lawn. And when I say lawn what I mean is 80 foot of half bare, patchy, rugged lawn on VERY lumpy, bumpy ground. I have attached a photo of the lawn and I need some advice on where to begin with it.

As I say this is my first lawn to take care of and it has not been well looked after by the previous tenants. It is not obvious in the photo but the whole garden is on a slope and the ground is very lumpy and bumpy all over. Now I do not have the funds or time to take it up and level it so I am looking at what I CAN do to make it as good as possible for this summer. So to make it easier the questions are:

1. Mowing. I really need an idea on what kind of mower would be best for such uneven lumpy ground? Petrol, electric, battery?

2. Repairing the bare patches. I have read conflicting reports as to whether now is a good time to sow grass seed or not. I would like to fill in the gaps as much as possible before summer arrives. Would sowing in the next few weeks be OK?

3. Without knowing anything about grass how would I find a suitable seed that will blend into what I have already? Would a mixed seed be best?

4. Any tips on how to get any kind of even cut with so many dips and bumps in the lawn?

5. Apologies for the silly question but as the grass is so long at the moment there is a chance that there is some hidden debris, stones etc among the grass. Is it safe to cut the lawn with a modern mower and not worry too much about stones etc or should I go over the grass first to check for anything that could damage the mower.

Any help would be most appreciated. I look forward to digging in (pun intended) with the garden and spending more time here soaking up advice.

Thanks all

Rich

 

Richard

to Gardeners Corner

Below are a couple of links, which may help you with your lawn issues :

How to Fix a Bumpy Lawn

How to Level a Lawn

Let us know how you get on

 

Hello Rich and welcome to the forum.
At the moment, as you have neither time nor funds to squander and probably are not in the ''I`m going to be the worlds best horticulturist '' mood - it might be a good idea to get yourself a cheapie mower to start off with, just to keep it short.
It would be best to rake it over first for stones or anything else though - you don`t want to ruin your mower before you`ve started This is a good time to throw a little seed on the bare bits, as it is getting warmer and it should germinate quite quickly.
Your grass looks quite green in your photo, and I reckon with regular mowing - not too short though it will soon be looking good. It`s quite tough stuff

Edit..... Now would be good to start mowing, I`ve done all mine three times already

 

Walk the lawn, look for anything as you walk.
A basic electric mower will be fine if funds are tight and first cut high the recheck lawn.
The lawn has not been cut that often as it’s showing the typical signs. I would however think before applying a seed and it will need a dress over the top at least to promote growth and then time to settle in and no run and playing.
Matching grass is hard, normally when grass is uncared for you can find that some grass types dominate and can out compete the other grass types. This leads to tuffs and patches in between.
If funds are tight I would simply stick to cutting it and see how it develops.