Garden Newbie - Advice on growing a grass lawn

[DazerUK]

I moved into a new flat in October last year which has a small attached garden.

The previous owners had been absent for a while so the garden was overgrown and full of weeds. I treated the garden with weedkiller which has killed everything back. I can now see the garden is fairly uneven and needs levelling out.

Once levelled I'd like to grow a new lawn.

Due to the orientation of the flat, the garden unfortunately doesn't get much sunlight.

Does anyone have any device on what type of grass would be suitable for an area that doesn't get much sunlight and when should I actually sow?

It'd be nice to have something ready for when the warm weather arrives.

[trader4]

Look in the garden center or online for grass mixes that are labled for "dense shade". They use varieties that have tolerance for shade. Typical grass types used are chewing fescue, red fescue, etc. But if it's extremely shady, eg the north side of a house, it can be impossible to grow grass and other ground cover is better suited.

You can seed as early as you like. Some folks actually seed around the last snow fall on the theory that the freezing and thawing of the soil creates cracks and the seed winds up in those cracks. But I would highly recommend that you rend an overseeder which is a machine that cuts grooves in the soil and drops the seed. That will give you a much higher germination over just spreading the seed around. If the ground is compacted, rent a core aerator first.

Early Fall would have been the best time to renovate. In Spring you have more competition from weeds, higher water reqts, and less time for the grass to establish before summer stress.