[Vegeta]

Hey folks I was pointed in the direction of this site and my god it is brilliant. Tons of great info here

I should start I suppose with the fact that I am a complete new comer to the world of gardening and lawn maintenance so please be gentle.

I bought a 3 bedroom semi detached house last year and the garden is not very big but it is in terrible condition. I would like to improve my lawn at the rear and reading a few of the threads on here I think it will take a complete overhaul.

http://www.gardenplansireland.com/forum/about287.html

I have read the above thread but it starts a little after the point which I am currently at.

There are damp spots, rushes, thistles, docks the works really. My biggest issue is the damp spots, and how to deal with them. The garden is slightly sloped towards the house and one of the wettest areas is where the lawn(well my excuse for a lawn) meets the footpath.

My main priority is to improve the drainage overall on the lawn. Once that is completed I am at a loss as where to go next.

So I am looking for advice on the following:

The best drainage options for a small garden. The more specific the better.

Once the drainage is improved how do I improve the surface I already have?
Should I get rid of everything that is currently there and start from scratch following James' post above.
If I should start from scratch how do I get rid of my current lawn. Dig it up and turn it over? Cover it all in plastic for a few weeks. Apply some form of chemical?

Or do I just use weed killer on the weeds/dig them out. Spread some No. 2 Lawn Seed mix and let nature do the rest

One of the biggest restrictions is that I will not fit any sort of big machinery into the backyard so it would have to be hand tools or small lawn mower sized power tools,

Now the drainage I would probably manage as I have read threads here and done some searches but once I have the lawn well drained I really don't know where to go in terms of improving the surface so all help would be greatly appreciated.