Help with my lawn

Hi,
I moved house nearly 1 and half years ago and I've inherited a poor lawn. When we arrived the lawn hadn't been cut for probably a year so you could imagine the mess. Just would like some advice on the care to get it back to being good ...what to use first when to use it and next steps to give it a chance. I've uploaded a couple of photos which shows what it's mostly like all over the lawn. Lawn has always felt damp under foot even during the summer ..thanks in advance for any help

 

Some nice shots of creeping buttercup, plantain and moss, with a couple of bits of grass!
It's always a nightmare taking on some one elses mess, but all is not lost. Treat now with a weed and feed for lawns, there is one for spring but the name escapes me...it has added iron sulphate. it turns the moss black in days. You'll need a good few applications to really get the ranunculus repens under control. Next it'll be scarifying, top dressing, over seeding and bird scaring. It's worth it in the long run.
Another method is systemic weed killer, level the ground and lay new turf. You get greater satisfaction from first method

 

If it's feeling damp underfoot, spiking/coring will likely help. It's probably compacted and needs a bit of aerating. No arguments with what everyone else has said.

 

There is a lawn weed feed plus moss killer on the market. When treating a lawn, we always recommended treating the whole lawn and if you have moss, then don't scarify until the moss is killed off. But what people tend not to do, is feed their lawns in Autumn. Due to the short days in winter we tend to neglect the lawn. Feeding your lawn in Autumn is arguably the most important feed you can give your lawn.

 

Thanks for the responses very much appreciated. I'll give it a go hopefully get it on the mend

 

Sounds compacted, anyone local that is good at lawn care?
If it’s compact it will need to be aerated and if you spray the moss then scarify you will end up with a very bare area so you need to weigh up costs of dressing and seeding or starting fresh, the work involved and so on.
It really depends on what you are after.

If you just want to keep it simple and see if you can work of a limited budget I would be inclined to feed the grass first, this will promote the weed growth too then apply a liquid weed killer once temps are higher and the grass is stronger. Herbicides work best on actively growing plants so you get better results and it cuts on applications which is better for the environment.
with the moss you have 2 ways to go, spray iron as it looks fairly dense, scarify after around 2 weeks and be gentle or you use a granular moss killer like MO Bacter that eats the moss away without the need to remove it although this will need several applications.
I would probably stay clear of a feed and iron granular application as the percentage of iron is low in most of them. If you have never applied granular you could end up with more work if it’s applied on the heavy side.

If it were me I might be inclined to see who’s local and get some thought on the state of the ground which will lead you to where you want to go.

 

can I ask would you cut your lawn before treating with feed and weed.

 

Yes I would, but give it about three days before applying

 

A light cut is fine but no more as it’s the first cut I imagine. If however it’s a liquid foliar feed then You don’t have to cut first.

 

i will be using westland aftercut all in one

but first I will give it a light cut the next fine day as suggested then leave it 3 days as "flounder" recommends before applying.
the job on the cards for this weekend is to core aerate.

Thanks for all your help