This guy knows what he is talking about. I have watched lots of lawn leveling videos but his technique makes perfect sense. Homeowners I would strongly recommend following his technique.
@@daviddelgado8669 bro i just started a job of landscaping today i was all up nervous last night 2am watching this ughhh i hate this corona virus was laid off 2 weeks
Shoo, this takes perfectionism to a new level, but I'm into it. My lawn is SO lumpy. Drives me insane. Adding doing this to the list as I've been thinking of bringing in a steam roller... this is more my financial speed.
Hello I recently moved to Albany..and first time home owner..Well I bought a house and had no idea what I was doing.. Beautiful corner house, renovation needed but the landscape is bumpy, tree stumps in lawn, bugs, looks like mostly thatch...I found you searching for what to do to restore its beauty...Thank you for all your informing and much needed videos.. I have 2400 sq ft and its gonna take a lot of work...I appreciate you for demonstrating...
Perfect 👍!!! I am a 58 year old woman that has learned from RUclips how to fill a yard hole!! I’ve already brought soul & sand and have that rack!!! 😂 Thanks 🙏 for showing me the start and finish. Amen 🙏
That tying a rope to a 2x4 and dragging it is brilliant. I have a huge rut from a walnut tree that was removed like 40yrs ago I need to fill. This method will be my next project.
Did my first leveling. Brand new home, 1 year old and had some insane bumps and ruts. Unfortunately I used a compost/sand mix with tons of sticks and rocks that I had to rake thereafter. Still have some left. I’ll do this method afterwards.
yea its going to take me multiple years to fix my lawn, its had a tree blown out of it from a tornado, a boat parked on it for 3 years from previous owners who thought grass more or less equaled anything green, and original leveling done by a bulldozer in one pass quick as possible :) I actually twisted my ankle in a rut last year lol, but least its got grass and not just 100% clover, onion and other weeds now, thanks to you doc
Amazing video. Count me as a new subscriber. You explain things so clearly. Even for a novice like me it seems simple. I need to level my new lawn due to moles that made it all bumpy. Thanks again and keep up the good work 👍
Rodger Quinn I’ve heard they are significantly more efficient than landscape rakes...though I agree on the price, as it is the reason I’ve hesitated to try one out for myself. Building a drag for now for pennies in comparison.
How would you determine if you have a high spot that needs to be removed? If you have a high spot you don't want to "level" your yard to the high spot. This is the one question I've never seen addressed on videos for leveling your yard.
This is _exactly_ what I was looking for. Two quick questions... 1) Is there a time of year that you *should* and *should not* do this? 2) What safety glasses are you wearing in the beginning? Thank you!!
I don't think you mentioned, have your grass as short as possible when you do this. If you don't, it's visually hard to see the low spots, and dragging the dirt out isn't fun
Thanks Doc, I will be leveling over the next few weeks. I have a new lawn and the irrigation lines have settled, and I am ready to have a smooth lawn......no ankle turns.
On my last lawn I used 50-50 sand and manure. Shoveled it all over the lawn and then towed a piece of chain link fence with my lawn tractor. Seemed to work well.
Yup, really informative stuff, awesome! We have a very uneven lawn, hence why I'm here. I kinda like gently rolling hills but not channels so deep the mower can't get in. The plan is to do the rake thing but not drag a piece of wood! Cheers! 👍 - Liverpool, England!
I was sitting out front of the house Yesterday. I told myself I couldn't mow the lawn until I saw a NJ License plate. it wasn't 30 mins later and here came a car from NJ. Damn the bad luck. I had to mow.
You covered depressions in the lawn, but what about high spots? Obviously just pounding them down would just compress the soil. I have a zoysia lawn in GA that is now a year old. It is really thick and already developing a heavy thatch layer. I have watch several of your superb videos and they are very helpful. Just did not know if I should consider detaching such a young lawn? I was going to cut it short, dethatch, put down a layer of haumichar, and then the 50/50 mix to level it out. Thanks again for the great work.
Great info, thank you sir! My yard was left a shambles by the crew involved in my addition. They lost money on my job as it was. So yard restoration was not happening...lol!
You did a nice job, but I would like to add one thing, before you add your topsoil sand mix. I find it best to break up the surface of the soil. You can aerate, use a spading fork to gently lift the soil, anything to relieve the compaction in that area. Otherwise you risk, a perched water table, as water runs through the freshly laid soil, and hits the compacted area underneath.
Thanks for the tips. I have a lawn that I swear the bumps change locations every time I mow. One week it will be there and BAM next week it's over here. Use a riding mower and without shocks the bouncing plays havoc with my back.
You answered to all of my questions! New subbie. Now... to get our front lawn and backyard organized, first to do list is to check the weather because we get so much rain, ugh.
Hi doc! My Lawn is not even is has a bump and then goes down. I watched your videos and brought sand. All I need to do is rake the sand evenly for the lawn to grow highly and evenly????
Sometimes, you have to sift everything. I use a rubber concrete float to break up the chunks and push them through the screen. Where I used to live the soil was all bad fill, so I got into the habit of sifting the soil that I dig up, and mix in some garden soil before I put it back.
Mine would take me a few years ! I have thick roots coming from the trees, weeds of all kinds, bumps, lumps, leaves, you name it. The rabbits come in the morning chew down some weeds, the birds chew up the seeds, by noon the butterflies help themselves to the flowers with the honeybees, and if I'm lucky, I get a flock of herons to "aerate" the grass. Life is good,
Hi, Doc. Thanks for this video - this is exactly the the method I will use this weekend as I fill some ruts. Question: I have a part rut that I also need to grow some new grass in. Should I fill the rut with your 50/50 mix first, then seed and cover with topsoil?
Great thing about sand is you don't have to spread it precisely. Spread is all over the rough area. Wind, rain, and insects/worms will gradually do the leveling for you. Use a light amount that sinks below the grass and you don't have to worry about it getting hot.
With a yard already this nice and literally perfecting the levels you sir have a LOT of time on your hands. But i do appreciate the how to i am actually going to use this method with laying turf
My lawn has raised about 2in in places and sunk2in in others over the years, where do I start in correcting this? The top soil is very dry but the soil and clay below holds a large amount of water.
I get my large yard sprayed every year with 5 treatments and use a Simplicity with a self leveling deck and mow 3.5 to 4 inches. Hides those little dips.
I have TTTF and have the same issue, especially now that I had a new patio poured and have ruts/tracks from a bobcat through my backyard. Will this same mixture work for what I'm trying do, considering I have TTTF?
Just bought my first home a month ago and didn’t realize how bad the lawn is until after I moved in and struggled to walk out there without tripping. It’s in a mature neighborhood with huge trees so the leaves covered up the terrible lawn. I also have some tree roots popping up, but hoping to try this come spring to even out the rest of the ruts, the entire yard is so bad, I’m going to have to call in family to come help.
I would love a video how to handle edges of the yard where they are sloped to the curb, etc. most of us have that kind of situation to deal with, much harder to level than little dips in the lawn
I had a slight slop into my shrubs like you are talking about. I bought some plastic edging, long enough to do about six feet. I then put a leveled the area with sand leaving the edge in place to keep it from washing to the shrub bed. I'll just leave it there long enough for the grass to grow up through it.
Good video. I am doing almost the same thing to my lawn right now except that I did not use the sieve to take out the larger bits from the compost I am mixing with the sand. I should have. I am only worried that the grass is buried under the materiel at places and hope the grass comes out and not die.
That gap is about normal for every few inches to a foot on my lawn. Much of the grass is in denser clusters and some spots in between are practically bare. My mini-spreader bounces all over the place when I try to put anything down.
Thanks for the video. Couple questions... (1) What if some of the ruts are dead grass. Is it ok to mix seed into those areas as well? (2) Does the lawn have to be cut short in order to do the plywood leveling method? I guess it makes it easier but is it necessary? Thanks for the input!
Hey, Doc. Great video. I have an issue in our front lawn of our new home. It was nice and flat until about a week ago and now it has a depression in the middle about 5 feet wide and 20 feet long. It looks like someone buried a horse there. It probably drops about 6 inches at the lowest point. The house was built last year. Is this just normal settling or could it be a more serious issue? I'm just trying to get the cause figured out. I don't want to fix and have it come back if there's another cause for it other than settling. Thanks for any info.
Should you mow the lawn at normal height or lower before you do this? How about dethatching before you start? Should you fertilizer the lawn before/after or not needed? I need to rise my backyard lawn about 2 inches on one side, it's not flat. Thank you for the video.
I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but it took me 20 years to figure out that my 600-pound mower was making shallow ruts. Now I let the lawn dry out an extra day or 2 before cutting.
I've got a dog that has run some deep ruts in my back yard. It is also on a steepish slope, about 20 degrees if I was too guess. What would be the easiest way to fix that?
Hello from Loganville Doc. I moved to GA last year from MN so thank you for your channel to learn how to care for Bermuda (not in MN ;). The house we bought 's lawn was neglected. I need to perform everything from all of your videos, lol. Where should I start? I presume fighting the weeds, then Humichar and fertilizer, then leveling? Thank you in advance.
Wow. I wish that was all I was facing. I have about an acre of land that has been a fallow fescue "field" for around 10 years. Prior to this I was able to mow it with an acceptable amount of bumpiness (it's a field/lawn). Now however, as I am getting back to this mess (it's actually my 88yr old father's land next to mine), I have put my new Cub Cadet through too much punishment to get it mowed even once. This video doesn't even begin to compare with that field. I am hoping to avoid hiring a large grader, or a regular tractor with a tiller box attached to the PTO. So far I managed to get most of the grass cut, but there were numerous times my mower deck got hung up on root ball clumps. I used a knife, ax, and garden fork to cut away and break up the clumps under the mower deck until I could finally get the lawn tractor to move again. The lawn/field has 8"-18" diameter clumps of root balls which brought the soil up within them. The soil surrounding is bare and 4"-7" lower, as the grass/weeds were too thick to for anything to grow. I had first blamed my brother's dogs for digging (which they had), but there is no way that explains the current state of affairs there. Oddly enough, I feel I actually need to scalp the top areas...there's more than enough seed there to start regrowth. Lacking big machinery, I have also considered using RoundUp for a total kill so the root balls will be easier to break up. I think a garden tiller would require too much time and effort on this acre, but more doable if the root clumps were dead. I want to end up with a cut-able lawn again. Another thought is if I had mountains of woodchips from a tree service, I could layer that over the entire area about 12" high. That would definitely soften the ground so I could do some serious rolling. This is a project that I expect to take several seasons to get under control. If anyone has ever dealt with this kind of issue, please offer useful advice.
Good video for the homeowner.. It looks like you are in a warmer climate that I, would the 50/50 mix still be good for upstate New York, Rochester area...
I'm not doc, or an expert, but I would use top soil and sand for that. Top soil is really cheap, no point in wasting money. Use potting soil for leveling
I call those spots character. My yard has lots of character
This guy knows what he is talking about. I have watched lots of lawn leveling videos but his technique makes perfect sense. Homeowners I would strongly recommend following his technique.
Midnight and i'm watching How to level a lawn....
I live on the third floor of an apartment...
TY RUclips.
beautiful
Hahahaha I'm watching at 12:30am.....your not alone hahahaha
@@daviddelgado8669 bro i just started a job of landscaping today i was all up nervous last night 2am watching this ughhh i hate this corona virus was laid off 2 weeks
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Good choice! 😉
Shoo, this takes perfectionism to a new level, but I'm into it. My lawn is SO lumpy. Drives me insane. Adding doing this to the list as I've been thinking of bringing in a steam roller... this is more my financial speed.
Lots of work, you just convinced me to pave my entire property
I laughed out loud when I saw his definition of ‘deep rut’. Dude has definitely not seen my lawn!!
Hello
I recently moved to Albany..and first time home owner..Well I bought a house and had no idea what I was doing.. Beautiful corner house, renovation needed but the landscape is bumpy, tree stumps in lawn, bugs, looks like mostly thatch...I found you searching for what to do to restore its beauty...Thank you for all your informing and much needed videos..
I have 2400 sq ft and its gonna take a lot of work...I appreciate you for demonstrating...
I sat and watched this entire video! I learned a lot from you. You are a good speaker too. Nicely done!!!!
Thanks Doc. This is great! You explained this very well. I'm plagued with deep ruts in the pacific northwest. Can't wait to fix this right now!
Perfect 👍!!! I am a 58 year old woman that has learned from RUclips how to fill a yard hole!! I’ve already brought soul & sand and have that rack!!! 😂 Thanks 🙏 for showing me the start and finish. Amen 🙏
That tying a rope to a 2x4 and dragging it is brilliant. I have a huge rut from a walnut tree that was removed like 40yrs ago I need to fill. This method will be my next project.
Did my first leveling. Brand new home, 1 year old and had some insane bumps and ruts. Unfortunately I used a compost/sand mix with tons of sticks and rocks that I had to rake thereafter. Still have some left. I’ll do this method afterwards.
I've watched a lot of video on how to fix the lawn; this is the best one by far simple and right.
Your backyard and general landscaping is incredible. Thanks for the tutorial. I’m going to try everything you recommended in this video.
This is the best leveling video I’ve seen
Thank you. I just bought a house and I have so many dips in the yard. I didn’t realize I need the mix. I’m now feeling encouraged
yea its going to take me multiple years to fix my lawn, its had a tree blown out of it from a tornado, a boat parked on it for 3 years from previous owners who thought grass more or less equaled anything green, and original leveling done by a bulldozer in one pass quick as possible :) I actually twisted my ankle in a rut last year lol, but least its got grass and not just 100% clover, onion and other weeds now, thanks to you doc
Amazing video. Count me as a new subscriber. You explain things so clearly. Even for a novice like me it seems simple. I need to level my new lawn due to moles that made it all bumpy. Thanks again and keep up the good work 👍
This dude would have a heart attack if he came to my house, lol
I bought a levelawn from Amazon and it was fantastic for this very thing.
I just think they seem wildly expensive for what they are.
Rodger Quinn I’ve heard they are significantly more efficient than landscape rakes...though I agree on the price, as it is the reason I’ve hesitated to try one out for myself. Building a drag for now for pennies in comparison.
How would you determine if you have a high spot that needs to be removed? If you have a high spot you don't want to "level" your yard to the high spot. This is the one question I've never seen addressed on videos for leveling your yard.
This is _exactly_ what I was looking for. Two quick questions...
1) Is there a time of year that you *should* and *should not* do this?
2) What safety glasses are you wearing in the beginning?
Thank you!!
I like the mixture
Totally makes sense
I will use your method with potting soil and play sand mixture
Great job
I don't think you mentioned, have your grass as short as possible when you do this. If you don't, it's visually hard to see the low spots, and dragging the dirt out isn't fun
Does it depend on the type of grass? My house is in Ohio. Is this guy in Florida? His grass seems very low.
Thanks Doc, I will be leveling over the next few weeks. I have a new lawn and the irrigation lines have settled, and I am ready to have a smooth lawn......no ankle turns.
This is a great video that you for sharing Doc! Very clear and simply explained, well demonstrated.
On my last lawn I used 50-50 sand and manure. Shoveled it all over the lawn and then towed a piece of chain link fence with my lawn tractor. Seemed to work well.
1- 2 inches ? What about 1-2 feet?
Yup, really informative stuff, awesome! We have a very uneven lawn, hence why I'm here. I kinda like gently rolling hills but not channels so deep the mower can't get in. The plan is to do the rake thing but not drag a piece of wood! Cheers! 👍 - Liverpool, England!
Just like to say doc you're video have improved and the beard is starting to fill in nicely 😊👍👍
I was sitting out front of the house Yesterday. I told myself I couldn't mow the lawn until I saw a NJ License plate. it wasn't 30 mins later and here came a car from NJ. Damn the bad luck. I had to mow.
I would've went with Hawaii myself.
This is AWESOME for the typical family home and yard - it is NOT going to work on my 20 acre lawn (former horse ranch)... but I love it!
You covered depressions in the lawn, but what about high spots? Obviously just pounding them down would just compress the soil. I have a zoysia lawn in GA that is now a year old. It is really thick and already developing a heavy thatch layer. I have watch several of your superb videos and they are very helpful. Just did not know if I should consider detaching such a young lawn? I was going to cut it short, dethatch, put down a layer of haumichar, and then the 50/50 mix to level it out. Thanks again for the great work.
Great info, thank you sir! My yard was left a shambles by the crew involved in my addition. They lost money on my job as it was. So yard restoration was not happening...lol!
I have almost 2 acres. I think I will die of old age before I finish the whole thing! I'm going to try around my home first.
Jason Tompley if you can afford 2 acres then you can afford a gardener mate.
Alan Johnson not necessarily
You did a nice job, but I would like to add one thing, before you add your topsoil sand mix. I find it best to break up the surface of the soil. You can aerate, use a spading fork to gently lift the soil, anything to relieve the compaction in that area. Otherwise you risk, a perched water table, as water runs through the freshly laid soil, and hits the compacted area underneath.
Thanks for the tips. I have a lawn that I swear the bumps change locations every time I mow. One week it will be there and BAM next week it's over here. Use a riding mower and without shocks the bouncing plays havoc with my back.
It may be worm castings (worm poop). If so, use Carbaryl to kill them.
You answered to all of my questions! New subbie. Now... to get our front lawn and backyard organized, first to do list is to check the weather because we get so much rain, ugh.
very nice job on your lawn. thank you for your video,I took a lot of information from this video that i will use to fix my front yard. Thanks again
Should mix grass seed in with the 50/50 mix,water 4 times a day,you’ll have your garden perfect within 21 days
When you level the lawn do you go back and put some grass seed in the leveling you did that was 3-4 inches?
Hi doc! My Lawn is not even is has a bump and then goes down. I watched your videos and brought sand. All I need to do is rake the sand evenly for the lawn to grow highly and evenly????
Straight forward..no BS, you got my subscription 👍🏼 thanks
Thanks for video. Video was really in depth and explained really thoroughly 👍will try this this year.
Sometimes, you have to sift everything. I use a rubber concrete float to break up the chunks and push them through the screen. Where I used to live the soil was all bad fill, so I got into the habit of sifting the soil that I dig up, and mix in some garden soil before I put it back.
This could be something that could take me a few days. My lawn is like a baby roller coaster. Lots of divots and thick tree trunks.
Ditto. My lawn mower pops wheelies and three wheels when I’m mowing the back yard.
Mine too, I’d love to have a lawn as level as his before he started leveling it.
me too I need a seatbelt for my rider mower lol
Mine would take me a few years ! I have thick roots coming from the trees, weeds of all kinds, bumps, lumps, leaves, you name it. The rabbits come in the morning chew down some weeds, the birds chew up the seeds, by noon the butterflies help themselves to the flowers with the honeybees, and if I'm lucky, I get a flock of herons to "aerate" the grass.
Life is good,
Lots of great tips and info in this video. Have a couple spots in my meyer zoysia I need to level out. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction.
Great Video. Thanks very much. I had no idea how to tackle this job and your information is so helpful.
Quarantine life brought me here and I couldnt be happier lol
Where's all the clovers, crab grass and thatch? This looks nothing like what I'd be working with..ha.
Same! And now I'm guessing we'd need to remove all those things before trying to level.... And the do we seed after that!? Sooo much work to do.
Hi, Doc. Thanks for this video - this is exactly the the method I will use this weekend as I fill some ruts.
Question: I have a part rut that I also need to grow some new grass in. Should I fill the rut with your 50/50 mix first, then seed and cover with topsoil?
Wow trying this on my mother’s super bumpy lawn, thank you.
Great thing about sand is you don't have to spread it precisely. Spread is all over the rough area. Wind, rain, and insects/worms will gradually do the leveling for you. Use a light amount that sinks below the grass and you don't have to worry about it getting hot.
With a yard already this nice and literally perfecting the levels you sir have a LOT of time on your hands.
But i do appreciate the how to i am actually going to use this method with laying turf
its all about staying busy, always improving
Man, you just saved my lawn, caz I was thinking to fill up it with pure sand only and I've got deeps 2''-3''. Thanks for you advise!
My lawn has raised about 2in in places and sunk2in in others over the years, where do I start in correcting this? The top soil is very dry but the soil and clay below holds a large amount of water.
I get my large yard sprayed every year with 5 treatments and use a Simplicity with a self leveling deck and mow 3.5 to 4 inches. Hides those little dips.
I have TTTF and have the same issue, especially now that I had a new patio poured and have ruts/tracks from a bobcat through my backyard. Will this same mixture work for what I'm trying do, considering I have TTTF?
Just bought my first home a month ago and didn’t realize how bad the lawn is until after I moved in and struggled to walk out there without tripping. It’s in a mature neighborhood with huge trees so the leaves covered up the terrible lawn. I also have some tree roots popping up, but hoping to try this come spring to even out the rest of the ruts, the entire yard is so bad, I’m going to have to call in family to come help.
I have a big pile of soil left over from when I leveled the ground under my new back yard patio. Might as well put it to good use. :)
what about a clay based soil, will the sand become an issue ? (I have a Fescue lawn)
I'd like to take a 2 X 4 to the moles causing the gaps in my yard
Such a beautiful back yard. Great video thanks Doc.
Great video. However, we don't have that type of grass here. Should I follow the same procedure with a bluegrass mix?
I wanted to ask the same question, we use Blue grass in NJ too.
You get a "Free Man that Can" with every bag 👍
Thanks for the video. Looks like i will be doing this as a quarantine task
thank you Doc, really helpful as i have a lot of these and will be my next project
My lawn is a hill so no leveling but I do have water ruts so this is great for me. Thanks.
I would love a video how to handle edges of the yard where they are sloped to the curb, etc. most of us have that kind of situation to deal with, much harder to level than little dips in the lawn
I had a slight slop into my shrubs like you are talking about. I bought some plastic edging, long enough to do about six feet. I then put a leveled the area with sand leaving the edge in place to keep it from washing to the shrub bed. I'll just leave it there long enough for the grass to grow up through it.
Striving for the perect level lawn!
I’ll take that beautiful pool sir lol. Great vid! Thanks!
In the time that you had that 2 x 4 lying out while doing your leveling it would have warped into a "U" here in middle GA.
I am planning on over seeding my yard. Would it be ok to this right after or should I wait?
wow that is on a whole different level of lawn specialist
Thanks for sharing Doc, very good information. Love it.
Good video. I am doing almost the same thing to my lawn right now except that I did not use the sieve to take out the larger bits from the compost I am mixing with the sand. I should have. I am only worried that the grass is buried under the materiel at places and hope the grass comes out and not die.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I like your board, rope, and eyelet tool.
That gap is about normal for every few inches to a foot on my lawn. Much of the grass is in denser clusters and some spots in between are practically bare. My mini-spreader bounces all over the place when I try to put anything down.
Thanks for the video. Couple questions... (1) What if some of the ruts are dead grass. Is it ok to mix seed into those areas as well? (2) Does the lawn have to be cut short in order to do the plywood leveling method? I guess it makes it easier but is it necessary? Thanks for the input!
Second time watching this one. Thank you Man o’ knowledge.
Can screened top soil be used instead of potting soil?
Hey, Doc. Great video. I have an issue in our front lawn of our new home. It was nice and flat until about a week ago and now it has a depression in the middle about 5 feet wide and 20 feet long. It looks like someone buried a horse there. It probably drops about 6 inches at the lowest point. The house was built last year. Is this just normal settling or could it be a more serious issue? I'm just trying to get the cause figured out. I don't want to fix and have it come back if there's another cause for it other than settling. Thanks for any info.
Should you mow the lawn at normal height or lower before you do this? How about dethatching before you start? Should you fertilizer the lawn before/after or not needed? I need to rise my backyard lawn about 2 inches on one side, it's not flat. Thank you for the video.
I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but it took me 20 years to figure out that my 600-pound mower was making shallow ruts. Now I let the lawn dry out an extra day or 2 before cutting.
I've got a dog that has run some deep ruts in my back yard. It is also on a steepish slope, about 20 degrees if I was too guess. What would be the easiest way to fix that?
Does it matter the length of your grass before you do this? Should I cut my grass really short right before?
Look! Hopscotch in the lawn. Cool.
Definitely making a drag today. Thanks for the tip
What if it's deep enough to cover the grass completely? Put seed on top? Great video, simple.
Hello from Loganville Doc. I moved to GA last year from MN so thank you for your channel to learn how to care for Bermuda (not in MN ;). The house we bought 's lawn was neglected. I need to perform everything from all of your videos, lol. Where should I start? I presume fighting the weeds, then Humichar and fertilizer, then leveling? Thank you in advance.
Should I do this before Spring? Should I mow my lawn short?
How do you level like a 6-12” hole where a stump use to be? Would you use the same mix or put down some stone for the first layer?
Would adding pre emergent to the sand soil mix be a good idea? Just in case the top soil is bringing in weeds with it?
Great advice on how to level your lawn properly. I know what I'm doing over the next few days. Thanks Doc!
when you calculate your ratios for a soil/sand mix, are you using weight or volume?
Wow. I wish that was all I was facing. I have about an acre of land that has been a fallow fescue "field" for around 10 years. Prior to this I was able to mow it with an acceptable amount of bumpiness (it's a field/lawn). Now however, as I am getting back to this mess (it's actually my 88yr old father's land next to mine), I have put my new Cub Cadet through too much punishment to get it mowed even once. This video doesn't even begin to compare with that field.
I am hoping to avoid hiring a large grader, or a regular tractor with a tiller box attached to the PTO. So far I managed to get most of the grass cut, but there were numerous times my mower deck got hung up on root ball clumps. I used a knife, ax, and garden fork to cut away and break up the clumps under the mower deck until I could finally get the lawn tractor to move again. The lawn/field has 8"-18" diameter clumps of root balls which brought the soil up within them. The soil surrounding is bare and 4"-7" lower, as the grass/weeds were too thick to for anything to grow. I had first blamed my brother's dogs for digging (which they had), but there is no way that explains the current state of affairs there. Oddly enough, I feel I actually need to scalp the top areas...there's more than enough seed there to start regrowth.
Lacking big machinery, I have also considered using RoundUp for a total kill so the root balls will be easier to break up. I think a garden tiller would require too much time and effort on this acre, but more doable if the root clumps were dead. I want to end up with a cut-able lawn again. Another thought is if I had mountains of woodchips from a tree service, I could layer that over the entire area about 12" high. That would definitely soften the ground so I could do some serious rolling. This is a project that I expect to take several seasons to get under control. If anyone has ever dealt with this kind of issue, please offer useful advice.
Good video for the homeowner.. It looks like you are in a warmer climate that I, would the 50/50 mix still be good for upstate New York, Rochester area...
This is good tip. About how long will it take for the grass to show through the mix? Thanks
I have some large holes in back yard from dogs digging. Should I use a 50/50 mix with play sand & potting soil??
I'm not doc, or an expert, but I would use top soil and sand for that. Top soil is really cheap, no point in wasting money. Use potting soil for leveling
brandon macias I want to know the answer to this to
I’ve got 4 acres to do. Trying to convert what used to be a hay field into more of a lawn.