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The previous owner had a trampoline over one patch of grass, and there used to be a huge conifer over another area. Also, i accidently sprayed an area of the lawn with glyphosate, so it looks like all the patch has gone yellow and died. The covered parts have hard soil and the odd clump of grass coming out but they are mostly barren. What's the best way, and best time of the year, to get this lawn back in shape?
Too late for seed in the UK, I'm afraid, although down south or in the west country you might have got away with it. You can seed in late March/early April, but, it looks like you've got children; grass seedlings cannot be walked on normally for 3 months, and certainly won't survive children's feet or normal play during that time, which would mean your roping off the area and keeping everyone and everything off it till the end of June. And that, I suspect, will be highly inconvenient, but if you decide to seed, use play lawn or any seed with short leaved rye grass in the mix.
October is, though, the best month for laying turf in the UK, provided the ground is not waterlogged, so you might want to consider that instead, because that can be used more or less normally after 4 to 6 weeks. Whether you want to seed or returf, preparation is required, and that involves digging it over, removing any weed roots, levelling, walking over it closely on your heels to get out soft spots, raking it over, relevelling, then raking up the top inch to give a fine tilth, and then either seeding or turfing. Regarding the area where you spilled glyphosate, if that was within the last week or so, wait another 2 weeks to prepare the area.
Looks like Midlands UK would be considered cool northern type grasses. I'm not as familiar with them as I only maintain a hot southern type lawn.
Generally, you can seed in the fall or spring, however you may be a little too late for seeding during the fall. You want plenty of time for your grass to grow and establish before it gets too cold out. I'd recommend waiting until spring. Generally just after the last spring freeze is good time to start. I found this website which allows you to browse for the last spring freeze dates for various parts of the UK.
If your ground is pretty hard, it may be compacted. I'd recommend core aeration before seeding. Compacted or not, it's always good to aerate. Sprinkling some compost down along with the seed can help. I wouldn't fertilize right away though. If you do any fertilization, always take a soil sample first to determine what your yard needs. Too much fertilizer is just as bad as too little.
Here's a good short video on when to seed. Here's a good short video on how to grow grass seed.
