Novice gardener - new lawn (turf) advice (dandelions!)

Hippodrome Song Owl

At this point I'm actually quite concerned about the progress of the lawn. The dandelion leaves have taken over out the front and are gradually increasing at the back now.

I haven't used any weedkiller yet as the Weedol bottle ssays only use 2 months after laying new turf and only if grass growing well. Unfortunately just around the 2 month mark the grass seems to have taken a turn for the worse. To me it seems like there is a lot if dead grass among the green. It looks OK from a distance, but increasingly patchy, but up close even the green bits look very sparse. This seems to have happened quite rapidly over the past fortnight.

Honestly it's quite upsetting to me at this stage!

Deub

In my parent house, the solution for dandelion was simple enough: a knife (steak knife obviously). Before mowing, I would go around and cut the root (plant the knife 5cm away from the root with 45 degree angle). I would then toss the dandelion on top of the lawn so the mower would take it. That way, you don’t damage the lawn.

Hippodrome Song Owl

Any advice about the appearance of what looks like dead yellow grass among the green? This has appeared and increased rapidly over the past fortnight.