New lawn for front garden- complete novice here!

[EggInABap]

Ok so in a few weeks I am having new windows and doors put in and am now thinking what a shame to have a lovely looking house with such a terrible mess of a front garden.

It is pretty small (about 1.5 metres squared on both sides of path leading up to door) but overgrown with rose bushes and weeds, the ground is incredibly uneven which makes it virtually impossible to mow what grass we have, no matter what we have done to try to make it look presentable it never does.

So I am thinking I would like to dig the whole lot up and lay turf down so it at least looks presentable and tidy with the ground evened out.

When I say I am a complete novice I mean I don't own any gardening tools, haven't a clue what I'm doing and just looking for a little guidance. Do I dig everything up, even the groud out with a rake, lay some top soil then roll out some turf on top? That sounds pretty simple but I'm probably missing something.

What about grass seeds, would that be better? Although our neighbourhood is full of cats and I'm pretty sure it would turn into one huge litter tray whilst waiting for grass to grow.

Finally is this even a good time of year to be doing this?

Please help me experts.

Well I don't mind as it's only a small space and I'm not sure what else to do with it other than have grass. I just want it to look tidy!

I would dig it up, level it out and plant it up with some evergreen shrubs. Soe flowering, some non-flowering. Then, apart from the odd trim and the odd weed, it will not need much in the way of maintenance and will look nice.

Less work than lawn which quickly looks rubbish if left to grow too long, and perhaps more interesting to look at.

Some, not Soe

I'd agree it's pretty small to mow - by the time you get the mower round to the front garden and turn around a couple of times, you'll wonder why you bothered!

If you do what BehindLockNumberNine says and put some mulch down, it'll be much easier to keep looking nice. I'd also recommend putting a layer of weed-supressing fabric down after it's all dug and level - you can then cut an X in it to put plants in, then tip mulch over it between the plants. Nice and tidy!

Is putting gravel down an option? You need to prepare the ground and put down membrane to stop weeds coming through. We did this, used a lovely pale green/grey type of slate stuff as the 'gravel', the a 'statement' large evergreen plant in a pot. Looks great, wasn't too expensive and is low maintenance.