But I always end up with more weeds than grass Does anyone have any tips on how long to wait and how to deal with the weeds before sowing the actual lawn?

If you are using seed (rather than turf) don't even think about it before March. But you can start now by killing off any weeds with 2 doses of weedkiller 14 or more days apart - one that does not stay in the soil such as roundup. 7 (or more) days after the second application you can dig / rotovate the ground (as soon as the soil is workable - it has dried out a bit and does not stick all over your boots when you walk on it) The rest you will do nearer the time of sowing the seed - rolling it, raking it to a fine tilth etc. remember sowing the seed is the easy bit. It is the ground preparation in advance that pays dividends. The more effort you put into this the better the finished lawn will be.

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Mike

Once the lawns is sown and has grown, the hard work starts.

If you cut the grass too short, you get weeds. A groundsman once gave me some good advice. He said to cut the grass at the start of the season with the grass box on. Then cut it twice a week without the grass box so that the cuttings are a fine powder and do not clump together. They then refertilise the grass and because you dont have to empty the box, cutting the grass is much less of a chore and much more of a gentle walk.