Thank you Anthony. This is why I made the video and shared it. I have learned from my mistakes. I e watched so many videos that look just like this and it always turns out perfect. I could have made it look like that but people need to know what can happen. I appreciate your positive words!
I agree, I think lawn care professionals and home owners should share all the experiences, its how we all learn! I'm the same way on my channel, no one is perfect and no one knows everything! Great comment
I WISH my lawn looked that “bad.” Respect! You do a great job and the lawn looks great! You see every flaw because you know the lawn. Most people, like me, are just impressed! And thanks for sharing your mistakes! We all learn 10x from mistakes, compared to success.
@@TheNeighborDominator you’re welcome. I’ve got a challenging lawn and one of the problems is that it’s fairly uneven. It also suffers from some very spongey area and areas where it needs a lot of too soil added. So, the concept of amending the soil is identical on my mind. I also thought I might learn more from someone who had a challenging time with a related DIY project - and I did. The video was well done, entertaining, and informative. And, you’re very personable. After watching this video, I watched one of your videos on an iron product that seems to work well, so I subscribed. Great job!
It's funny...people that drive by and see a lawn like yours say to themselves "Wow that yard looks incredible" while you're seeing every little thing that's wrong with it lol! I know the feeling...I'm the same way with mine. Nice video!
40 year old man checking in. I wish I had your energy! Thanks for keeping us updated, especially us northern climate folks with tall fescue. I will probably just use screened topsoil to level.
Underrated channel. I hope the likes and comments help the algorithm to share with more people. This is great work and looks great. The rushing through a job has happened many times on the golf course and turned out much worse!!! Looks great!
Thank you so much for the kind words. I try to do a little of everything on the channel and keep it fun. Next season is going to be full of knowledge 💣
I show it all! I showed how my brand new back yard was killed by pythium. Not only the weather but i like to believe I had something to do with it. Maybe to much nitrogen 🤷♀️
I made a HUGE mistake at a clients yard once. Did a huge Dethatch and was leveling big piles. I had a free horse manure connect and I put a truck load before sifting and adding sand for drainage. Was killing the lawn so I had to spend hours taking half of the manure out, sifting the rest, mixing it with sand and making a thin layer. Gave me terrible anxiety for a couple weeks but managed to recover and grow better than ever
😂😂 man that is a nightmare! Sifting cow shit with sand! And I thought i had it bad. I'm glad it recovered my man! Did you have to seed? I had to Hella seed
Good recovery. Lesson learned. Rushing a project can backfire. I tried to get a quick oil change done on my gf's car some years ago, trying to beat the rain. I wound up draining her transmission and adding 6qts new oil to the old. 15 minute job turned into an ordeal.
My pleasure. Thank you for watching and learning from my mistakes. People have Commented what I did wrong...I now know what I did wrong and don't want other lawn enthusiast to do the same thing I did. It's not always easy as most youtube videos make it look when throwing sand around! I appreciate you 🙏
As a former golf club superintendent, weather was one of the most challenging aspects of planning fall aeration and topdressing. Trying to coordinate a heavy topdressing when we had guaranteed sun for at least 2-3 days and no tournaments scheduled.
I now know. I had one day off and had to do it. When i woke up seen that the sky was dark i wanted to cry. I should have tarped it and waited but by then all the aerator holes would have been gone. Still should have waited
Another reason we wanna watch our 10 day forecast, I know you said you knew rain was coming, just so your subs know, best to watch your 10 day forecast before starting any project, seeding, leveling, fertilizing etc, Looks good in the end! lol lots of extra work. We all been there! lol
Great that you shared the mistake and not just the good things. It's stupid, but we all make the mistake of doing something we know it's not a good idea. I do it all the time lol. At least we look back and laugh about it.
Right! That's why I leave mistakes in videos and especially if a video goes wrong I think people should see it. I messed up my back yard and showed it. Thanks for the kind words
Great video, words of encouragement I know you wanted to get it all done at once, sometimes it takes a couple of years to level yard especially doing it by yourself. So do a spot check in the yard with that home made tool, with you dragging it around in the yard ( maybe just a little wider 8-10ft) you can see the low spots in your yard. Flag that area. Once you got all low spots flag then you can see how much sand or 70/30 mix you need to level the lawn. I hope this make sense and help you on the next project. Thanks
Oh my gosh what a lesson learned on this one. I hope nobody does something like this. That's why I made the video! Can't just show all the good stuff right!
@@TheNeighborDominator that’s right, live and learn, and share that knowledge. My favorite thing about You Tube is the ability to learn from others around the world. I appreciate your willingness to share your experience.
I planted SS9000 last fall in Oregon. It looks great. Now I need to start leveling. I think I'll use a lot less sand and amend it with some sterile potting soil. Thanks for your explanation! I'll take it slow.
The big thing is make sure no rain in the forecast and spread it out on a tarp or the driveway so the material drys. With it being clumpy and wet really made this an unsuccessful attempt at leveling
@@TheNeighborDominator I’m not done yet. Seems to be taking a lot longer than I hope because we have had so much rain. Slowly but surely I’ll get it done. One of my best decisions, buying the leveling rake. That makes it so much easier.
@@TheNeighborDominator I knew my yard way uneven but I'm off to an excellent start. I didn't realize how uneven everything was until I started this project. I have the feeling this is going to take me two summers but I'm super excited to get it underway. I truly do love the rake, that was a wise investment.
I'm trying. This season is going to be epic. Adding a minimum of 2k reel mowing, more leveling, more renovations, lots of product reviews, and alot of breaking the 1/3 rule!
Great video, just pulling the leveler around I would’ve passed out within 10 feet my hats. Off to you a job well done. It’ll look even better coming next fall if it already has been done. Thanks.
Thank you! I made a lot of mistakes but this was a big one but it turned out ok. Lesson learned. Gotta show the bad and the good so people learn from my mistakes
I did mine in the spring, should have used more sand and rolled it. Came out ok, but its super lumpy again thanks to the worms. I over seeded with rye this year also, big dreams for next year. Good to see a fellow Metro Detroiter! Keep it up.
It’s OK grass is resilient it will grow back. Great job leveling your lawn I’ll be doing mines in the fall around September I know it’s tough work but I’ll try my best to enjoy it I gotta do the bag in the front yard
It’s looking fresh as hell though!!!! Well done, and great video. A lot of times people won’t show the mess up’s. This is the content I love seeing. The trial and error. Makes me realize we all are still learning and it’s never perfect! And I get to show my wife that’s it not just me smothering the lawn and screwing up haha
As a lawn care guy myself with a RUclips channel and try and state as often as I can, no lawn is perfect, all lawns have their trouble spots and I love when we can share our experiences, good and bad, its how we all learn!
Thank you very much for that. A few videos back you can see how bad this lawn was. I built my deck and I'm doing a patio this year. I feel you appreciate your house more when you do improvements yourself! Thank you again for the compliment. Made my day!
Fair play for posting the video, I’m planning to do exactly this next weekend, the weather forecast is crucial information you need to know, I do hope you get the lawn to where you want it be asap, good luck👍
Thank you. I just figured you see all these videos where they are dumping sand all over and it's always just perfect. I wanted to show what can happen if you rush things and have bad weather!
Thank you so much! I appreciate that. It was a struggle to fix it but i feel it turned out ok. Still not as level as id like it. We will try again this season!
I literally did the same thing in NJ like 3 weeks ago. Had a single day off, needed to get it done, poured the next day, ruined 60% of the lawn. had to put down tons of seed and thanks to the warm spell it came back. Same ss9000, looks fine but super thin / young
I'm amazed I didn't see this video last fall, just watched it and love that you made it work anyway! I've been doing a leveling project this spring too and dealing with an error in judgment as well, hopefully I'll be able to showcase my error as gracefully as you did here! Enjoy your season! And enjoy the extreme growth this year that your channel deserves!
Thank you sir turf mechanic. I appreciate your kind words. I'm a huge fan of your Channel. One of your recent ones with the break for the scissors link. I was loving it!
For any body who runs in to a similar problem, I would recommend renting a power rake. adjust it just deep enough where you're not disturbing the soil under the sand.
Feral hogs are next,I dont know where you are and you sir are a hard worker, here in Oklahoma feral hogs are detroying property, have a blessed day América
I had a plumbing pipe go I the front yard. The lateral. When I did the grass seed I washed away seed 3 different times. When your planting grass; expect to reseed.
Warm season grasses Topdressing: 1. Scalp grass, remove clippings. 2. Core aerate. 3. Broadcast 46-0-0 urea. 4. 1 ton screened riversand per 1,000 sq ft. 5. Drag smooth & water. When all green again reel-cut to 1” (zoysia) 1” or less Bermuda grass. Biggest mistake is skipping steps 1,2, & 3. You never want to put sand on grass that is higher than 1”. You want it to get into the core holes
I did the same thing to my bermuda but was able to finally filter in those pancakes spots so the grass wouldn't rot underneath. Top dressing isn't as easy as some videos make it seem. Hopefully you won't have any disease develop later on underneath.
Thank you for this comment. I've had some people say I used to much sand. I honestly ended up using only half. I wanted to save some on the side of the house for future spot leveling. It was wet, then it rained on me for 4 days. It pancaked everything! This makes me feel better!
OK I'm a novice, based in the UK and getting ready to level my lawn, I've just scarified it for the first time ever. What was your mistake? Laying sand too thick? Laying g it before a down pour? The sand not drying out? Trying to level when it was already soaked? Sorry I missed it in the video... tbf I think the lawn looked terrific, Great video and like the levelling contraption
First thing the material was wet to begin with. It was clumpy putting it down. The outer edges were dry a d went down to the canopy no problem. So spread the material out and let the sun cook it and dry it out. 2 check the forecast and have the time to do it. I had one day off and rain was coming that same day. It started raining on me. I wish I could have had 3 days off to put the sand down and dry it out. 3rd. I used half of what I had and wanted to store the rest on the side of the house that way I could have sand after it settles in. Kind of like a back stock. Put it on in smaller amounts!
I appreciate it. I just want a level lawn and it was a total fail. You learn as you go i guess. I just wanted to share this so people can learn from my mistakes😊
I did something similar to my lawn almost two weeks ago. I have a really bumpy back yard with bare spots and drainage problems. It was new sod last spring but never looked good after the first mow. I decided to get two yards of leveling sand mixed with 2 yards of garden mix and rented a peat moss spreader (not a landzie unfortunately) and spent two days spreading a thick layer over my back yard. I didn't want to spend $100 on a leveling rake so I did my best with a landscaping rake. I ran out of time and energy and never broomed it in. I just went over the top of everything with peat moss mixed with grass seed (Kentucky blue and perineal rye). It looks like crap. I'm fairly certain it's not much smoother than when I started and I'm still going to have to overseed again to fill in the bare spots. It's almost as if I just buried my lawn in dirt and started with seed. To make matters worse, there was a lot of gravel in the garden mix. The spreader filtered a lot out but the latch gate mechanism was a POS and let a lot of gravel through which I have to pick out of the lawn by hand now. Lol, I'm learning a lot though! Thanks for the video. Wish I'd have seen it two weeks before, haha! Good luck.
Trial and error T-man! That's how we learn. I video taped this thinking it was going to go well but it was a disaster and I learned. I wanted to show people the "what can go wrong" side of projects like this! I wish you and your back the best of luck picking up those rocks!
I really enjoyed this and had a couple good laughs. We’ve all made mistakes and some of us have made a big scale mistake like that where you start getting nervous and then later you realize you are really into it big time. Thanks for posting and great story telling. I’m thinking about a cool grass leveling project and wondering how I’ll get dry sand delivered.
Love the look of the lawn but now I want to look for alternatives. Water hungry turf is silly and too costly to our water supply. Well at least in central Texas it is.
I made the choice to do my whole lawn sand before this project. once you do that there is no turning back doing soil/sand/soil/sand. to many layers. if you have just soil stick with soil. I would imagine you can spot level with sand. I hope this helps!
I'm getting my yard done tomorrow by a local company. 6000 sq ft. What's your advice? I don't have a leveling rake, but I do have irrigation and a push broom. Thanks
From what I understand you have to spread some quick release fertilizer after leveling with sand that will push growth through the sand. But the rain definitely didn't help. Your hard hardwork definitely shows and the end result is amazing!
I did put some down and it worked in the thin area but that rain really pancaked it down. I never had a chance to brush it in. It was wet right off the truck. I should of just waited but that pile would of sat in my driveway blocking the cars for a week! Lesson learned. You have to dry it out!
@@TheNeighborDominator It takes about a month for sand like that to actually dry & that's with you spreading it out to no more than 3" thick on the driveway. You'll also have to pile it back up when rain is in the forecast to tarp & try to keep it dry. Even tarped you'll have run-off from the higher grade on driveway. That's when the water is wicked back up in to the pile from the bottom. It's an endless challenge & that's partly why our Topdressing service has discontinued offering leveling. Now we just spread compost for the microbes. Thanks for sharing the video.
No such thing as a silly question. Well I aerated, did sand, then seeded and it turned out good. You could seed before sand if you were doing just a light top dress. Not like what I did!
Yo, I really like that homemade leveling rake situation that you made. I am going to make one of those so I don’t have to buy one of those expensive rakes that I would use once in a blue moon.
Thanks for the support Sam! I know some don't show the bad parts of the lawn or the struggles. But anyone who is in lawncare knows they are a regular occurrence! Thank you for watching it!
In hindsight, would you have stuck with the landsie in your situation with limited time and a storm coming? It looked like it spread out a nice thin even layer you could work in
I should have, but that sand was wet and heavy to begin with. Should filled it up half way and did the whole yard! It's a cute little tool. I mainly use it for peat moss.
@@TheNeighborDominator makes sense, I ask because I have been looking for a simpler way to top dress my yard while overseeding without a top dressing machine and a landsie sounds like the best way to get nice thin even coverage
Damn that sucks. I got lucky and I recovered. I had to do a heavy overseed but we made it. But alot of it didn't make it through the. Thanks for the boost Ken!
I’m trying to figure out what the problem was in the first place. I’d die to have a lawn like that!! Our south Texas lawns could never look that amazing. I miss soft green northern grass.
S Rios -- The problem was that he applied Too Much Sand..... You want to apply some sand but it has to be able to go down onto the soil below and help fill in spots that are not level... He put on way too much sand..
I did aerate, and fertilizer, but definitely did a large amount. I have learned to watch the weather better and take time off for a project like this. The rain really did a number on me
use loam or loam mulch and only one inch. If there is a landscape yard that offer fine compost or garden soil apply 1/4 to the loam for lawn food. mow the lawn short and use a leaf rake and rake the loam in to sink the loam. then seed
thanks for the video . . I guess what I would like to know is in hind sight, would you just recommend applying dry sand or would you also suggest less amounts and if yes, what would that be in cubic ft. per say 100 sq. ft. of lawn. I have a large lawn (over an acre) and I am too am trying to lawn level but my yard is so lumpy. I am applying about 3 yards of material per 1000 sq. ft. and its still just disappearing into the turf. I added about 12 yards overall last summer and I was thinking of going much heavier this year, but I am on the fence about it. Not sure if i have to bit the bullet and just do a massive spread or just keep chipping away at it.
I personally will be chipping away at it. Doing a heavy cover was not for me. But maybe if you have that warm season grass that can but right through go heavy but my prg was struggling. I would definitely spread out your material so it dries. I had no choice, it was about to rain and I had one day off of work and it was that day! With 4 kids and full time...you just have to make it work🤷♀️
I appreciate that my friend. I know my yard isn't really bad but i reel mow that section and it was very uneven. It makes it not pleasant to mow. Thank you for the compliment!
Made the same mistake with my first Top Soil leveling project. Snuffed out half the lawn. With a good over seed ended up growing back. Cool season grass will not grow through if you smother it.
You are 100% correct. I learned that one the hard way. You see a lotnof these youtuber guys doing it, some cool season. They must be overseeding off camera! Thanks fpr tuning in! I appreciate it!
You are 100% correct. I learned that one the hard way. You see a lotnof these youtuber guys doing it, some cool season. They must be overseeding off camera! Thanks fpr tuning in! I appreciate it!
HA - Yeah I did this before. I let it dry up for a few days and then I rented the largest leaf blowers on wheels, pointed it downward and blew it all over the yard - took forever but worked really well. If you think about it wind dries up sand so extreme wind dries out sand pretty well. If anyone does this wear long sleeves, pants a hat, ear protection (to keep sand out of your ears) and eye protection.
In the northeast where i live i was going to level my lawn with sand that was delivered that looked just like that and i'm like this doesn't seem like this is going to work. I researched and found the closest sand to what is used on golf courses (pure white sand) didn't clump or stick together and it worked amazing 50' x 80' area 4000lbs+ of sand and you could hardly tell. It was just flat after like walking on a carpet.
I wanted the golf course sand but the landscape companies around me didn't have access to it. At least that's what they said. I was willing to pay for it to do the job the correct way! I envy you!
I used SS9000 to match my lawn. It's a perennial rye grass. It is the fastest germinating I've ever seen. But I haven't done any trials because I'm not a scientist
Man! That was scary! I want to start reel moving, maybe I will do the leveling in spring. Do you know any place to get Barenbrug RPR, I want to overseer my KBG with RPR, level and start doing reel moving
Mr. Smifth...Thank you for the kind words. The channel has come along way, I'm starting to feel more comfortable in front of the camera and editing is starting to make more sense! Thank you for watching and commenting!
Thank You Dub! I definitely got lucky. I will definitely be letting it dry out next time. My lawn looked horrible for a while. Even smothered and killed it in areas. Lighter and leveling overtime is key I believe for next time.
Thanks man. I just wanted people to not do what i did. There are a lot of videos of this process and it always turns out perfect. I like to show everything! Thankyou for the nice comment!
I feel your pain. I think Detroit has become the new Seattle with all the rain we have gotten of the past 2 months. Where did you get your sand from? Just wondering because I plan to level next spring.
I know the rain has been killer. I go to dales in Roseville. They are amazing. I am buddies with the bossman so when you are ready let me know I might be able to get you a deal. Regardless their product is quality.
Takes a real man to share mistakes but it’s the best teacher and we all make them 👍🏼
Thank you Anthony. This is why I made the video and shared it. I have learned from my mistakes. I e watched so many videos that look just like this and it always turns out perfect. I could have made it look like that but people need to know what can happen. I appreciate your positive words!
I agree, I think lawn care professionals and home owners should share all the experiences, its how we all learn! I'm the same way on my channel, no one is perfect and no one knows everything! Great comment
i like this guy. i wish he was my neighbor
Respect to you for showing your mistake. We all learn that way.
Thank you for saying that. That is why i posted it. I could have just shown the end result but figured it would help people!
I WISH my lawn looked that “bad.” Respect! You do a great job and the lawn looks great! You see every flaw because you know the lawn. Most people, like me, are just impressed! And thanks for sharing your mistakes! We all learn 10x from mistakes, compared to success.
Thank you so much for the kind words. Can i ask you a question? What made you click on this video and what was it that made it interesting to watch?
@@TheNeighborDominator you’re welcome. I’ve got a challenging lawn and one of the problems is that it’s fairly uneven. It also suffers from some very spongey area and areas where it needs a lot of too soil added. So, the concept of amending the soil is identical on my mind. I also thought I might learn more from someone who had a challenging time with a related DIY project - and I did. The video was well done, entertaining, and informative. And, you’re very personable. After watching this video, I watched one of your videos on an iron product that seems to work well, so I subscribed. Great job!
@kanenomoja do you have any topics you would like me to go over or experiment with? My season is coming to an end but it's not over yet!
My lawn got so much moss in it u could roll it up like a carpet and put it down elsewhere 😅
You don't learn and grow by doing things right. You learn the most from things you do wrong. Thank you for sharing this.
This is true. This is why i share my mistakes so others can learn from me. Can't always show the good!
There are two things I learned from your video. 1) What not to do. 2) You are one hard working dude! Thanks for the Video.
Thank you! That is why I posted the video. I don't want anyone to ever go through that! Can't show all the good right? Thank you for commenting!
It's funny...people that drive by and see a lawn like yours say to themselves "Wow that yard looks incredible" while you're seeing every little thing that's wrong with it lol! I know the feeling...I'm the same way with mine. Nice video!
Hahaha I appreciate that. My neighbors kept asking why I was doing this to my lawn. "What was wrong with it!"
The “grass isn’t always greener on the other side”.
Good for you for keeping it REAL! At least you solved the problem and the lawn now looks GREAT!
40 year old man checking in. I wish I had your energy! Thanks for keeping us updated, especially us northern climate folks with tall fescue. I will probably just use screened topsoil to level.
Underrated channel. I hope the likes and comments help the algorithm to share with more people. This is great work and looks great. The rushing through a job has happened many times on the golf course and turned out much worse!!! Looks great!
Thank you so much for the kind words. I try to do a little of everything on the channel and keep it fun. Next season is going to be full of knowledge 💣
Also, always happy to give you techniques on how to do it now that you don’t know good things
I'm always down for new tips!
Thanks for sharing. All of these videos never show any screw ups.
I show it all! I showed how my brand new back yard was killed by pythium. Not only the weather but i like to believe I had something to do with it. Maybe to much nitrogen 🤷♀️
I made a HUGE mistake at a clients yard once. Did a huge Dethatch and was leveling big piles. I had a free horse manure connect and I put a truck load before sifting and adding sand for drainage. Was killing the lawn so I had to spend hours taking half of the manure out, sifting the rest, mixing it with sand and making a thin layer. Gave me terrible anxiety for a couple weeks but managed to recover and grow better than ever
😂😂 man that is a nightmare! Sifting cow shit with sand! And I thought i had it bad. I'm glad it recovered my man! Did you have to seed? I had to Hella seed
Good recovery. Lesson learned. Rushing a project can backfire. I tried to get a quick oil change done on my gf's car some years ago, trying to beat the rain. I wound up draining her transmission and adding 6qts new oil to the old. 15 minute job turned into an ordeal.
Thanks for the video! watching you explain your mistakes is going to save me a lot of work and time. Thanks for sharing!
My pleasure. Thank you for watching and learning from my mistakes. People have Commented what I did wrong...I now know what I did wrong and don't want other lawn enthusiast to do the same thing I did. It's not always easy as most youtube videos make it look when throwing sand around! I appreciate you 🙏
As a former golf club superintendent, weather was one of the most challenging aspects of planning fall aeration and topdressing. Trying to coordinate a heavy topdressing when we had guaranteed sun for at least 2-3 days and no tournaments scheduled.
I now know. I had one day off and had to do it. When i woke up seen that the sky was dark i wanted to cry. I should have tarped it and waited but by then all the aerator holes would have been gone. Still should have waited
Another reason we wanna watch our 10 day forecast, I know you said you knew rain was coming, just so your subs know, best to watch your 10 day forecast before starting any project, seeding, leveling, fertilizing etc, Looks good in the end! lol lots of extra work. We all been there! lol
I just had bad timing. I had surgery, one day off, and rain. I should have waited! I learned
@@TheNeighborDominator I know, sometimes we have no choice but for you that was a big one lol
In the end, the stripes still look great! You live and learn from mistakes and now you know what not to do the next time you do this type of a project
100% I learned this time around. I'll be watching the forecast and taking more days off!
Great that you shared the mistake and not just the good things. It's stupid, but we all make the mistake of doing something we know it's not a good idea. I do it all the time lol. At least we look back and laugh about it.
Right! That's why I leave mistakes in videos and especially if a video goes wrong I think people should see it. I messed up my back yard and showed it. Thanks for the kind words
Learning the land. Mistakes happen. The weather always wins. 👊🏼👍🏼
The weather destroyed me, then picked me right back up. I dodged bullet on this one!
Great video, words of encouragement I know you wanted to get it all done at once, sometimes it takes a couple of years to level yard especially doing it by yourself. So do a spot check in the yard with that home made tool, with you dragging it around in the yard ( maybe just a little wider 8-10ft) you can see the low spots in your yard. Flag that area. Once you got all low spots flag then you can see how much sand or 70/30 mix you need to level the lawn. I hope this make sense and help you on the next project. Thanks
70/30 mix. What is the 70? What is the 30? Thanks
@@brodygoalie play sand, masonry sand. Play sand is cheaper
@@ericstinnett9182 understood but I heard medium Sand made by quicrete is the best to use for bedt results. Please advise. Thanks
@@brodygoalie 70 percent top soil 30 percent sand
Mistakes are great lessons, especially when you share them - thank you!
Oh my gosh what a lesson learned on this one. I hope nobody does something like this. That's why I made the video! Can't just show all the good stuff right!
Awe, happens to the best of us especially when we are determined to get a job done quickly. Thanks for sharing, I have some leveling to do.
I appreciate the comment. That is why I posted it. I messed up but wasn't going to quit until I fixed it. When there is a will there is a way!
@@TheNeighborDominator that’s right, live and learn, and share that knowledge. My favorite thing about You Tube is the ability to learn from others around the world. I appreciate your willingness to share your experience.
I planted SS9000 last fall in Oregon. It looks great. Now I need to start leveling. I think I'll use a lot less sand and amend it with some sterile potting soil. Thanks for your explanation! I'll take it slow.
The big thing is make sure no rain in the forecast and spread it out on a tarp or the driveway so the material drys. With it being clumpy and wet really made this an unsuccessful attempt at leveling
I'll be installing a new lawn this spring and will copy your leveling pallet tool to spread the topsoil. Great design simple but effective. Thank You!
I'm glad i could help. It is simple and effective. I made it out of scrap wood! Thank you for watching!
I need to do that. Mine is going down before I lay the sod for leveling and drainage purposes. Glad I got to see how its going to be to do. Thanks.
The sand has to be dry. No moisture at all. It was a nightmare! Thank the lucky stars my seed came in at the last minute
You are going to love that provista. It’s absolutely bananas how nice looking it is
Jordan I can't wait to install it next Spring. Thanks for posting the pictures 👍💚🦸
@@Striperman no problem at all! I’m excited to see it
Great vid. Thanks. I wish I'd found it earlier. Just did this to my lawn, nothing coming through after two weeks. Damn. Guess it's time to re-seed!
Was the sand wet at all? Mine got soaked and the grass couldn't come through! I hope it pops for ya!
Man nice recovery from all your hard work!
Thanks Steve. The weather gods were in my favor at the end. Lots of luck involved!
I appreciate your advice, that is what my plan is to do this weekend. I am using soil and sand.
How did it turn out?
@@TheNeighborDominator I’m not done yet. Seems to be taking a lot longer than I hope because we have had so much rain.
Slowly but surely I’ll get it done.
One of my best decisions, buying the leveling rake. That makes it so much easier.
@@TheNeighborDominator I knew my yard way uneven but I'm off to an excellent start. I didn't realize how uneven everything was until I started this project. I have the feeling this is going to take me two summers but I'm super excited to get it underway.
I truly do love the rake, that was a wise investment.
Loved the 1/3 rule comment (can totally relate). I think your persistence will get you through any short term issues. Keep up the good fight.
I'm trying. This season is going to be epic. Adding a minimum of 2k reel mowing, more leveling, more renovations, lots of product reviews, and alot of breaking the 1/3 rule!
Great video, just pulling the leveler around I would’ve passed out within 10 feet my hats. Off to you a job well done. It’ll look even better coming next fall if it already has been done. Thanks.
Thank you! I made a lot of mistakes but this was a big one but it turned out ok. Lesson learned. Gotta show the bad and the good so people learn from my mistakes
I did mine in the spring, should have used more sand and rolled it. Came out ok, but its super lumpy again thanks to the worms. I over seeded with rye this year also, big dreams for next year. Good to see a fellow Metro Detroiter! Keep it up.
Those damn worms! I feel ya on that. When I woke up the next day the castings were all over the place! Where ate you located at?
@@TheNeighborDominator Royal Oak
@@DeadphishyEP3 that is where I lived just a moment ago!
It’s OK grass is resilient it will grow back. Great job leveling your lawn I’ll be doing mines in the fall around September I know it’s tough work but I’ll try my best to enjoy it I gotta do the bag in the front yard
Thank you! The part by my flowers struggled really bad. I am seeing it now. Maybe I should do a video of the after math up close!
This was such good information. I was thinking about doing sand on my uneven backyard and you convinced me otherwise!
Light applications over time would be key. You see these videos of people dumping and all over and it turns out perfect. I beg to differ!
It’s looking fresh as hell though!!!! Well done, and great video. A lot of times people won’t show the mess up’s. This is the content I love seeing. The trial and error. Makes me realize we all are still learning and it’s never perfect! And I get to show my wife that’s it not just me smothering the lawn and screwing up haha
Bro! I just put two and three together. We talk all the time on Instagram😂🤣😂🤣I'm an idiot!
Hahaha yea for like two years now hahaha
As a lawn care guy myself with a RUclips channel and try and state as often as I can, no lawn is perfect, all lawns have their trouble spots and I love when we can share our experiences, good and bad, its how we all learn!
I admire the hell out of you sir. You have a beautiful house and yard and you spend a lot of time and energy trying to improve it. Nice video !
Thank you very much for that. A few videos back you can see how bad this lawn was. I built my deck and I'm doing a patio this year. I feel you appreciate your house more when you do improvements yourself! Thank you again for the compliment. Made my day!
Fair play for posting the video, I’m planning to do exactly this next weekend, the weather forecast is crucial information you need to know, I do hope you get the lawn to where you want it be asap, good luck👍
Thank you. I just figured you see all these videos where they are dumping sand all over and it's always just perfect. I wanted to show what can happen if you rush things and have bad weather!
You actually did amazing job! You should be proud of yourself 😊
Thank you so much! I appreciate that. It was a struggle to fix it but i feel it turned out ok. Still not as level as id like it. We will try again this season!
@The Neighbor Dominator looks really beautiful and professional. I need to fix my yard and your video helped me a lot!
I literally did the same thing in NJ like 3 weeks ago. Had a single day off, needed to get it done, poured the next day, ruined 60% of the lawn. had to put down tons of seed and thanks to the warm spell it came back. Same ss9000, looks fine but super thin / young
Same same. We got lucky with the warm spell. That ss9000 germinates so fast right!
You are an o,k, guy, honest people are the best, may GOD bless you.
🙏 Thank you for your amazing words. I just wanted people to avoid the mistakes i made to save them time and headache!
I'm amazed I didn't see this video last fall, just watched it and love that you made it work anyway! I've been doing a leveling project this spring too and dealing with an error in judgment as well, hopefully I'll be able to showcase my error as gracefully as you did here! Enjoy your season! And enjoy the extreme growth this year that your channel deserves!
Thank you sir turf mechanic. I appreciate your kind words. I'm a huge fan of your Channel. One of your recent ones with the break for the scissors link. I was loving it!
@@TheNeighborDominator lol, I have used those scissors on camera almost more often than any other piece of equipment! 😄
Detroit Holding it down I use Dale's landscaping as well great company 👍 I'm just an amateur with no special equipment but still giving it a go
DETROIT! Dales is legit. They are my go to everytime!
For any body who runs in to a similar problem, I would recommend renting a power rake. adjust it just deep enough where you're not disturbing the soil under the sand.
I had my power rake and it was not cutting it but then again I had too much wet sand!
Thanks for keeping it real brother. Looks pretty sweet now though ! No pain, no gain 😀
Thanks Scott! I was so sore the next two days. I work like I'm 18 and then I feel the 38 the next day😂🤣
@@TheNeighborDominator I hear ya !!
🤣🤣🤣
Nice job man, way to bring it back!
I got so lucky my seed came in. If it didn't oh man! The lawn was yellow and the grass just couldn't muscle it's way through the wet sand
Feral hogs are next,I dont know where you are and you sir are a hard worker, here in Oklahoma feral hogs are detroying property, have a blessed day América
I'm in Michigan. I appreciate the kind words. I hope these hogs don't make it this way!
I had a plumbing pipe go I the front yard. The lateral. When I did the grass seed I washed away seed 3 different times. When your planting grass; expect to reseed.
Warm season grasses Topdressing: 1. Scalp grass, remove clippings. 2. Core aerate. 3. Broadcast 46-0-0 urea. 4. 1 ton screened riversand per 1,000 sq ft. 5. Drag smooth & water. When all green again reel-cut to 1” (zoysia) 1” or less Bermuda grass. Biggest mistake is skipping steps 1,2, & 3. You never want to put sand on grass that is higher than 1”. You want it to get into the core holes
I hope to be a warm season lawn guy one day. I'm still stuck in Michigan!
You didn't lose out ! Lawns that more level and in time things will work out !
@@_Lazare 🙏🏽🙏🏽❤️. I now have to do this to 18,000 sq ft now!
I did the same thing to my bermuda but was able to finally filter in those pancakes spots so the grass wouldn't rot underneath. Top dressing isn't as easy as some videos make it seem. Hopefully you won't have any disease develop later on underneath.
Thank you for this comment. I've had some people say I used to much sand. I honestly ended up using only half. I wanted to save some on the side of the house for future spot leveling. It was wet, then it rained on me for 4 days. It pancaked everything! This makes me feel better!
OK I'm a novice, based in the UK and getting ready to level my lawn, I've just scarified it for the first time ever.
What was your mistake? Laying sand too thick? Laying g it before a down pour? The sand not drying out? Trying to level when it was already soaked? Sorry I missed it in the video... tbf I think the lawn looked terrific, Great video and like the levelling contraption
First thing the material was wet to begin with. It was clumpy putting it down. The outer edges were dry a d went down to the canopy no problem. So spread the material out and let the sun cook it and dry it out. 2 check the forecast and have the time to do it. I had one day off and rain was coming that same day. It started raining on me. I wish I could have had 3 days off to put the sand down and dry it out. 3rd. I used half of what I had and wanted to store the rest on the side of the house that way I could have sand after it settles in. Kind of like a back stock. Put it on in smaller amounts!
Man. Don’t be so hard on yourself. Your lawn looks fantastic
I appreciate it. I just want a level lawn and it was a total fail. You learn as you go i guess. I just wanted to share this so people can learn from my mistakes😊
I did something similar to my lawn almost two weeks ago. I have a really bumpy back yard with bare spots and drainage problems. It was new sod last spring but never looked good after the first mow. I decided to get two yards of leveling sand mixed with 2 yards of garden mix and rented a peat moss spreader (not a landzie unfortunately) and spent two days spreading a thick layer over my back yard. I didn't want to spend $100 on a leveling rake so I did my best with a landscaping rake. I ran out of time and energy and never broomed it in. I just went over the top of everything with peat moss mixed with grass seed (Kentucky blue and perineal rye). It looks like crap. I'm fairly certain it's not much smoother than when I started and I'm still going to have to overseed again to fill in the bare spots. It's almost as if I just buried my lawn in dirt and started with seed. To make matters worse, there was a lot of gravel in the garden mix. The spreader filtered a lot out but the latch gate mechanism was a POS and let a lot of gravel through which I have to pick out of the lawn by hand now. Lol, I'm learning a lot though! Thanks for the video. Wish I'd have seen it two weeks before, haha! Good luck.
Trial and error T-man! That's how we learn. I video taped this thinking it was going to go well but it was a disaster and I learned. I wanted to show people the "what can go wrong" side of projects like this! I wish you and your back the best of luck picking up those rocks!
I really enjoyed this and had a couple good laughs. We’ve all made mistakes and some of us have made a big scale mistake like that where you start getting nervous and then later you realize you are really into it big time. Thanks for posting and great story telling. I’m thinking about a cool grass leveling project and wondering how I’ll get dry sand delivered.
Man I have never been so scared. I wanted to show what it's really like when it goes wrong!
Love the look of the lawn but now I want to look for alternatives. Water hungry turf is silly and too costly to our water supply. Well at least in central Texas it is.
Thank you! We can pump from the lake over here. What type of grass do you have down there
Dude, awesome editing skills. Great video.
Thank you for the kind words! I'm trying with the editing stuff. Self teaching is kind of hard when you suck with technology! Thank you!
Oh man. I ordered too much sand.....ahhhhh....just put it on the lawn.😂😂. Thanks for sharing. That can happen to everyone. Cheers.
Gotta share the good the bad and for sure the UGLY! Thanks 🙏
When doing a leveling project is is best to mix with solid or just straight sand
I made the choice to do my whole lawn sand before this project. once you do that there is no turning back doing soil/sand/soil/sand. to many layers. if you have just soil stick with soil. I would imagine you can spot level with sand. I hope this helps!
Looks Ok to me, how did in turn out for level?
It was OK. I had to remove a lot. I have to do it again but with a lotv less material! 🤣
I'm getting my yard done tomorrow by a local company. 6000 sq ft. What's your advice? I don't have a leveling rake, but I do have irrigation and a push broom. Thanks
What type of grass? Or is it just dirt already?
@@TheNeighborDominator mature Bermuda lawn. They DID use a drag rake an d a ton has already settled in. I was surprised.
@jameyhaz with bermuda that stuff thrives in the sand. It grows right through it. Im a cool season lawn and i smothered my Perennial Ryegrass 🤣
From what I understand you have to spread some quick release fertilizer after leveling with sand that will push growth through the sand. But the rain definitely didn't help. Your hard hardwork definitely shows and the end result is amazing!
I did put some down and it worked in the thin area but that rain really pancaked it down. I never had a chance to brush it in. It was wet right off the truck. I should of just waited but that pile would of sat in my driveway blocking the cars for a week! Lesson learned. You have to dry it out!
@@TheNeighborDominator It takes about a month for sand like that to actually dry & that's with you spreading it out to no more than 3" thick on the driveway. You'll also have to pile it back up when rain is in the forecast to tarp & try to keep it dry. Even tarped you'll have run-off from the higher grade on driveway. That's when the water is wicked back up in to the pile from the bottom. It's an endless challenge & that's partly why our Topdressing service has discontinued offering leveling.
Now we just spread compost for the microbes.
Thanks for sharing the video.
Your lawn was already beautiful
Wormy i appreciate that! I really want a flat lawn but i screwed up on this one🤣 thank you for commenting!
Silly question, Would you recommend aerating first then laying seed followed by sand? Or sand then seed? Trying to get my lawn thicker
No such thing as a silly question. Well I aerated, did sand, then seeded and it turned out good. You could seed before sand if you were doing just a light top dress. Not like what I did!
@@TheNeighborDominator I plan on doing a 4000 sq ft bag of seed in a 700 sq ft yard lol
Still looks good brother! Mistakes happen but gotta do what ya gotta do. I need to take on the task as well. Maybe next Fall. Take care!
Thank you! I will be doing it consistently throughout the season next year in small dosages. I want a perfectly level lawn one day!
Good recovery
Thank you! I got lucky I was able to get seed
Yo, I really like that homemade leveling rake situation that you made. I am going to make one of those so I don’t have to buy one of those expensive rakes that I would use once in a blue moon.
Thanks Tyler! I learned it from my friend short cut lawn. I made it from scrap wood from my deck build. Really easy. Thanks for commenting!
What type/brand of lawn mower are you using?
It is called an Allett Liberty-43. Since then i have upgraded to an Allett Stirling-51. It has an interchangeable cartridge system.
Good on ya for showing the mistakes mate, all good in the end ay!
Thanks for the support Sam! I know some don't show the bad parts of the lawn or the struggles. But anyone who is in lawncare knows they are a regular occurrence! Thank you for watching it!
In hindsight, would you have stuck with the landsie in your situation with limited time and a storm coming? It looked like it spread out a nice thin even layer you could work in
I should have, but that sand was wet and heavy to begin with. Should filled it up half way and did the whole yard! It's a cute little tool. I mainly use it for peat moss.
@@TheNeighborDominator makes sense, I ask because I have been looking for a simpler way to top dress my yard while overseeding without a top dressing machine and a landsie sounds like the best way to get nice thin even coverage
Still looks good!
Thanks Grace! We had a week of warmth come through Michigan with abnormally high temps to help the seed grow! I got so lucky
lol congrats on your new beach. you got the badass mower though. so you're forgiven
Hahahah right! Thanks Valley Girl. I now have a volleyball net up front!🤣
@@TheNeighborDominator you rock, and i subbed.
@@valleygirl670 i appreciate that. What kind of videos do you look for so I can create one!
Dang dude, that was a lot of work in a short amount of time. The rain definitely jacked you up, but those stripes are wicked. Cheers dude
Whats your mower.. looking to switch
It was a Liberty-43 by allett. I don't suggest it. What are you using now?
@@TheNeighborDominator gas.. wanting to go to reel
What is the mower you are using?
I'm using the brush attachment on my Allett liberty 43. Mason sand is what i was told to use because there are no stones in it
What type of lawnmower did you use?
It's an Allett Liberty 43. I just upgraded to the Stirling 51. The are beautiful machines
don't feel bad I live in Florida, an did the same thing to my lawn. it killed it, so I had to lay sod an still have all kinds of holes.
Damn that sucks. I got lucky and I recovered. I had to do a heavy overseed but we made it. But alot of it didn't make it through the. Thanks for the boost Ken!
I’m trying to figure out what the problem was in the first place. I’d die to have a lawn like that!! Our south Texas lawns could never look that amazing. I miss soft green northern grass.
I appreciate the kind words. I reel mow and want my lawn to be level like a pool table. It makes it easier to mow. I'm also crazy 🤪
S Rios -- The problem was that he applied Too Much Sand..... You want to apply some sand but it has to be able to go down onto the soil below and help fill in spots that are not level... He put on way too much sand..
We always airrated first, then fertilized, then top dressed masons sand on the lawn with a drag in small amounts!.
I did aerate, and fertilizer, but definitely did a large amount. I have learned to watch the weather better and take time off for a project like this. The rain really did a number on me
Get it!!!
What kind of seed are you using
SS9000 perennial rye grass blend from seed super store
use loam or loam mulch and only one inch. If there is a landscape yard that offer fine compost or garden soil apply 1/4 to the loam for lawn food. mow the lawn short and use a leaf rake and rake the loam in to sink the loam. then seed
Even if my lawn is already 80% sand already
thanks for the video . . I guess what I would like to know is in hind sight, would you just recommend applying dry sand or would you also suggest less amounts and if yes, what would that be in cubic ft. per say 100 sq. ft. of lawn. I have a large lawn (over an acre) and I am too am trying to lawn level but my yard is so lumpy. I am applying about 3 yards of material per 1000 sq. ft. and its still just disappearing into the turf. I added about 12 yards overall last summer and I was thinking of going much heavier this year, but I am on the fence about it. Not sure if i have to bit the bullet and just do a massive spread or just keep chipping away at it.
I personally will be chipping away at it. Doing a heavy cover was not for me. But maybe if you have that warm season grass that can but right through go heavy but my prg was struggling. I would definitely spread out your material so it dries. I had no choice, it was about to rain and I had one day off of work and it was that day! With 4 kids and full time...you just have to make it work🤷♀️
Your lawn looking “bad” still looks 10x better than mine.
I appreciate that my friend. I know my yard isn't really bad but i reel mow that section and it was very uneven. It makes it not pleasant to mow. Thank you for the compliment!
Made the same mistake with my first Top Soil leveling project. Snuffed out half the lawn. With a good over seed ended up growing back. Cool season grass will not grow through if you smother it.
You are 100% correct. I learned that one the hard way. You see a lotnof these youtuber guys doing it, some cool season. They must be overseeding off camera! Thanks fpr tuning in! I appreciate it!
You are 100% correct. I learned that one the hard way. You see a lotnof these youtuber guys doing it, some cool season. They must be overseeding off camera! Thanks fpr tuning in! I appreciate it!
Oh man! That’s a huge bummer! Looks good now tho! You pulling that sled made me tired man! Haha
What kind of lawnmower was that at the end?
An Allett Liberty-43
@@TheNeighborDominator thanks
HA - Yeah I did this before. I let it dry up for a few days and then I rented the largest leaf blowers on wheels, pointed it downward and blew it all over the yard - took forever but worked really well. If you think about it wind dries up sand so extreme wind dries out sand pretty well. If anyone does this wear long sleeves, pants a hat, ear protection (to keep sand out of your ears) and eye protection.
That is a fantastic idea. I wish i would have thought of this before!
In the northeast where i live i was going to level my lawn with sand that was delivered that looked just like that and i'm like this doesn't seem like this is going to work. I researched and found the closest sand to what is used on golf courses (pure white sand) didn't clump or stick together and it worked amazing 50' x 80' area 4000lbs+ of sand and you could hardly tell. It was just flat after like walking on a carpet.
I wanted the golf course sand but the landscape companies around me didn't have access to it. At least that's what they said. I was willing to pay for it to do the job the correct way! I envy you!
Nice lawn!! What seed did you overseed with?
I used SS9000 to match my lawn. It's a perennial rye grass. It is the fastest germinating I've ever seen. But I haven't done any trials because I'm not a scientist
"Mom, the weird guy next doors having sand dumped all over their drive again!"
That is exactly what they are saying. No dought in my mind!
Thank you for showing this. People think this is easy and a great idea all the time but it's not.
Right! I thought I would show the bad stuff and difficulties of doing it like everyone else. I've learned less of more!
Man! That was scary! I want to start reel moving, maybe I will do the leveling in spring. Do you know any place to get Barenbrug RPR, I want to overseer my KBG with RPR, level and start doing reel moving
I can get you in touch with someone from barenbrug for sure. Let me know when you want to get the seed and how much!
1st time on your channel
Good video bro 👌🏽
Mr. Smifth...Thank you for the kind words. The channel has come along way, I'm starting to feel more comfortable in front of the camera and editing is starting to make more sense! Thank you for watching and commenting!
Nice how much did that cost to be delivered?
It was 250 screened and delivered. Was a good deal
@@TheNeighborDominator dang that is a great deal thanks 👌🏾
Thats my luck. A hurricane would come as I start renovating my lawn. Hahaha.
Right! It was my only day off that week then surgery. I said screw it LETS GO!
Looks amazing
Thank You Dub! I definitely got lucky. I will definitely be letting it dry out next time. My lawn looked horrible for a while. Even smothered and killed it in areas. Lighter and leveling overtime is key I believe for next time.
Doing stupid stuff when nobody is watching is bad enough but, this dude makes a video. He's a rock star. Getcher money and yoour chicks for free...
Thanks man. I just wanted people to not do what i did. There are a lot of videos of this process and it always turns out perfect. I like to show everything! Thankyou for the nice comment!
Yes we all learn from our mistakes Sometimes more is not better Baby steps 👍🇺🇸🇨🇦🇺🇸
100% my friend. I watch all these other videos of people doing this with 100% success. I thought I would share what happened to me!
The Lawn Whisperer used a Landsy for spreading the sand. Also, you could’ve thrown it using the shovel. That was just too much sand.
I think so too. I used only a yard and a half. I had the rest on the side of the house. I have learned on this one!
I feel your pain. I think Detroit has become the new Seattle with all the rain we have gotten of the past 2 months. Where did you get your sand from? Just wondering because I plan to level next spring.
I know the rain has been killer. I go to dales in Roseville. They are amazing. I am buddies with the bossman so when you are ready let me know I might be able to get you a deal. Regardless their product is quality.
I don’t know looks good to me
Hola! Que tipo de arena es la que aplicó? O es algún tipo de arena o tierra especial?