Advice please on whether to use turf or seed for a new lawn?

Seed will be very much cheaper than turf. If you use seed, the birds will love you! If turf, then it needs to be watered regularly and don't stand on it for about six weeks I think is the advice. Dandelions are thugs and will invade your garden out of sheer spite! I've never managed to wipe them out and I have tried very hard

We’ve been fighting a losing battle with dandelions for years - digging them out, poisoning them - hopeless. You only need a bit of root left in, or a few seeds blown from someone else’s garden and they’re back again! As for seed or turf, if it’s a large area, I’d go for decent turf. I am always reminded of my dear late sister who went into a local garden shop to ask for some grass seed for her pocket hanky sized garden. She was asked what sort she wanted. She said “The sort that has daisies in it!”

I think it depends on how much money you have spare! Turf is quick and costs, seeds are much cheaper and take time. Swings and roundabouts come to mind.

How big an area are you talking about?

If you can bear not to have a lawn to look at over the winter you could cover the area with black landscape fabric which should deal with the dandelion roots and then turf it in the spring.

Thanks for the advice it’s about 5 m² so not a huge area....

Seeds make a wonderful lawn but you have to be patient. If you use turf it needs to be completely flat underneath before laying. There are different types of grass so you need to decide whether to go for a finer type or a tough type. It depends on how much use it will get. You can buy dandelion grubbers I think they're called. They get right down to the roots. You push the thing into the ground, twist and pull gently out. I love doing it.

I created a lawn from seed having rotovated and raked the area first - I had some help. It had been head high with nettles, docks, willow herb and brambles before this and I was worried that the weeds would come back but once the grass grew and begun to be cut, the mowing kept the weeds at bay. Nothing likes being mowed very much, apart from grass, but a few dandelions and daisies do survive. I don't mind them though.