Just bought a house whose garden has been left to its own devices for a
good length of time. I want to bring the lawn vaguely back under
control this coming season - how best to go about this? The grass has
grown out and has collapsed under its own weight into a fairly flat,
soggy mess. Feels like it needs raking and blow-drying, then it could
be attacked with a strimmer or mower maybe!

I'm aware that for a proper job I have no option but to start from
scratch with seed or turf, but that ain't going to happen any time soon
as there are other priorities!

Any advice as to how I can get the jungle back to some semblance of a
lawn this year would be much appreciated!

David