Leveling the ground

Firm, then level

Freshly cultivated soil is full of air pockets. If you level it straight away, it settles unevenly later and the lawn ends up wavy. Firm it first: walk over the whole area in short, shuffling steps with your weight on your heels, or use a light roller.

Raking

1. Rake in one direction, pulling soil from the high spots into the low ones.
2. Rake again at right angles.
3. Remove stones and clods that come to the surface.
4. Check with a long straight board: pull it across the surface and fill where light shows underneath.
5. Firm and rake once more. Repeat until treading barely leaves a footprint and the surface is even.

The finished bed

The top centimeter should be fine and crumbly, like coarse breadcrumbs, over firm soil below. That is the texture seed needs: enough loose soil to cover it, firm enough underneath to hold moisture.

From here the order is: kill off the weed flush, set up watering, spread starter fertilizer, roll lightly and sow.