@@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.
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.
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
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.
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 👍
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?
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.
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?
I had a shitload of feral hogs tear up my yard and the ruts are unbelievable! But I don't know anything about this kind of stuff. I have a riding lawn mower and was hoping to find some info about using it with some sort of attachment to fix it. I don't even care about it being super level...just so the dangerous deep ruts to be decently filled in so I can actually walk thru it...I can't even ride my mower thru it without nearly dying!! It's horrible.
This is still great for me tho...I can just go around with my wheelbarrow with some soil and fill the ruts in. Would be easier than tilling it all up (or whatever that would be called) and then raking it level-ish.
From what I've read, Sand is good for leveling and high traffic areas because it's durable. I think for most home owners, you're better off with compost and amend with sand for minor leveling like Doc suggested at 50%.
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.
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????
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!!
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.
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,
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.
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.
My first reaction was "Why is it important to have a level yard? Anyone? My yard's not level and it never even occurred to me that this should be an issue. Seems rather OCD to me.
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!
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.
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.
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?
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.
Doc, I have an area where a large tree was removed right in the middle of my grass. If I used the 50/50 sand and potting soil, could I add grass seed to it and expect good results after aerating?
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
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.
i'm sorry for my English but your title says "leveling bumpy lawn" , but your fixing gapes!!! i have removed a brick path 5 jares ago and filed it up with soil, and now have a bumpy path of grass
My yard is extremely bumpy. I live in Iowa, so my yard is soil/dirt, not sand. Can I do something similar to fill in all the low spots? Would I just use dirt?
Doc how much sand would you recommend per Yard of screened soil from a Topsoil supplier ? I am getting 10 yards delivered and what them to add the sand mix for me thanks.
Hey Doc, just put out some Humic DG a little over a week ago, had a light rain , and watered. I noticed quite a bit of the dg particles were not doing their dispersible thing. Have you ran into this?
My yard will need something more persuasive than this method. When I cut the grass, my 36” walk behind mower jumps up and down uncontrollably. 0.6 acres of misery! I wonder if moving would be easier than fixing this lawn.
I have a little more than an acre of lawn that is so rough that the riding mower bounces and bucks around. It's a wild ride and like trying to mow the lunar surface. The lawn is full of hills and craters from years of damage by voles. Variations are probably up to three inches or more in places. It's not just in a few places but over the entire lawn. What do you suggest for fixing this mess?
My property is one big slope that has never been graded. To even grade it would require dump trucks full of soil. And I'm not even talking leveling. I just talking grading so that you can mow it with a riding lawn mower. But I have seen other people with lawns flat as pancakes. And how do they do it? They just get a load of sand every year and work it into the lawn. Now mind you they aren't trying to do inches. When it is all said and done, the layer of sand might not even be 16th of an inch think. And with the first rain or watering, that sand just gets worked into the soil. It then gets mixed in with a years worth of soil conditioning from natural processes and you hardly have any sand at all in the mix. Do this year after year and eventually you simply don't have to do it any more. My point to this is Doc's approach works when you have small ruts in the yard. But if you got some pretty knarly grading issues, just dump filler soil, pack it in, and see what happens with the grass. Its not a perfect fix. Hell, it maybe the first layer of many. And do what doc suggests the next year after this filler has had a year to settle and become part of the yard. But after that, you should be able to get away with just making micro fixes with sand. Again, you are not after correcting an inch gap in the yard. That takes Doc's approach to fix. You are just trying to fill in those last little gaps of unevenness.
Hi doc I have a st. Augustine lawn any pointers in doing this? I have a 2.5 inch deep ruts and bumpy lawn. Should I do 50/50 as well?, and how low should I cut my st. Aug grass before leveling? Thank you!
Do you recommend doing this sorta stuff in the spring or fall? I live in zone 7b (long island, NY).......need to level out a big spot leading up to the patio.....let me know what season is best :)
Since 99% of lawns are 100% dirt, why is there a need for sand? Always just bought cheap bags of topsoil and spread it in low spots or lightly broadcasting after overseeding.
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.
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 just have a soft bumpy yard from moles. Don't want to do anything but press it down. Do you have any suggestions for that. I am thinking of buying or renting one of those big rollers that you fill with water. Then run around the yard pulling it with my lawn mower.
OK this may be a dumb question but I truly don’t know what is the purpose of adding sand to your yard why not just use topsoil dirt only my whole backyard is just about nothing but sandy grounds and I hate it stuff will not grow in it worth a darn was thinking about scraping off at least a foot of the backyard and bringing in New topsoil
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.
Keep trying to find a good video.... My lawnmower (push) jumps like a bronc with a cattle prod up it's butt when I mow. I want ... smooth as butta ..... I like the soil prep ..... middle of Iowa and I wasn't so sure about using just sand.
I call those spots character. My yard has lots of character
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! 😉
I laughed out loud when I saw his definition of ‘deep rut’. Dude has definitely not seen my lawn!!
Lots of work, you just convinced me to pave my entire property
This dude would have a heart attack if he came to my house, lol
1- 2 inches ? What about 1-2 feet?
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.
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.
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, hope my neighbor doesn't drive through my yard anymore with vehicles
His lawn is like a bowling alley compared to my lawn, I almost get thrown out of my seat while I’m mowing.
same, my dogs got a hold of grubs in the yard so now i have craters :(....
When you level the lawn do you go back and put some grass seed in the leveling you did that was 3-4 inches?
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.
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!
what about a clay based soil, will the sand become an issue ? (I have a Fescue lawn)
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
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'd like to take a 2 X 4 to the moles causing the gaps in my yard
I sat and watched this entire video! I learned a lot from you. You are a good speaker too. Nicely done!!!!
I've watched a lot of video on how to fix the lawn; this is the best one by far simple and right.
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 👍
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?
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.
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.
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?
Quarantine life brought me here and I couldnt be happier lol
I had a shitload of feral hogs tear up my yard and the ruts are unbelievable! But I don't know anything about this kind of stuff. I have a riding lawn mower and was hoping to find some info about using it with some sort of attachment to fix it. I don't even care about it being super level...just so the dangerous deep ruts to be decently filled in so I can actually walk thru it...I can't even ride my mower thru it without nearly dying!! It's horrible.
This is still great for me tho...I can just go around with my wheelbarrow with some soil and fill the ruts in. Would be easier than tilling it all up (or whatever that would be called) and then raking it level-ish.
Straight forward..no BS, you got my subscription 👍🏼 thanks
Is the sand necessary?, what would happen if I only used soil?
From what I've read, Sand is good for leveling and high traffic areas because it's durable. I think for most home owners, you're better off with compost and amend with sand for minor leveling like Doc suggested at 50%.
Should mix grass seed in with the 50/50 mix,water 4 times a day,you’ll have your garden perfect within 21 days
Your backyard and general landscaping is incredible. Thanks for the tutorial. I’m going to try everything you recommended in this video.
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.
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.
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????
My lawn is 4 acres.... I barely have time to even mow it! 😆
.. Sheep!
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!!
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.
This is the best leveling video I’ve seen
Why does it seem you are always hiding in a bush?
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.
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,
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.
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.
The only way to fix my yard is with a bulldozer and a lot of beer.
Same here
Does it matter the length of your grass before you do this? Should I cut my grass really short right before?
are you worried about crabgrass moving into the fresh soil?
No offense Doc, but you need to come over and see my lawn and what a real rut is! HAHA
I am planning on over seeding my yard. Would it be ok to this right after or should I wait?
My first reaction was "Why is it important to have a level yard? Anyone? My yard's not level and it never even occurred to me that this should be an issue. Seems rather OCD to me.
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!
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.
It's 2020. Try artificial grass, perfect level every time and you do it only once.
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.
Can screened top soil be used instead of potting soil?
This method would take decades on my yard. I'd probably be better off just renting a skid steer and reseed the whole thing afterwards.
Wow! What about for people with normal fescue lawns? That yard is Bermuda like a golf course. I'll need truck loads to fix my yard.
Why are you dressed like you're hiding from the police?
My rap sheet is killing me...
Dude love the drag. PS everyone has an unlevel yard so this would definitely work great. PM me for HUMICHAR PLEASE!!!
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?
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?
when you calculate your ratios for a soil/sand mix, are you using weight or volume?
50/50 by volume or by weight? I am guessing volume but just wanted to confirm.
Just like to say doc you're video have improved and the beard is starting to fill in nicely 😊👍👍
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?
Would the ratio be the same for clay soil in Toronto,Canada?
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
Why do you mix sand with it? Can I just use soil?
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.
Doc, I have an area where a large tree was removed right in the middle of my grass. If I used the 50/50 sand and potting soil, could I add grass seed to it and expect good results after aerating?
Okay link the sunglasses on Amazon
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
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.
how long do you wait for the first cut? Wont the mower blow the sand everywhere?
is that 50 / 50 mix by weight or volume?
i'm sorry for my English but your title says "leveling bumpy lawn" , but your fixing gapes!!!
i have removed a brick path 5 jares ago and filed it up with soil, and now have a bumpy path of grass
Will this work for Kentucky Blue / Rye grass in the NE? Or is your Bermuda more aggressive on growth and I will need to reseed?
My yard is extremely bumpy. I live in Iowa, so my yard is soil/dirt, not sand. Can I do something similar to fill in all the low spots? Would I just use dirt?
Thanks for the video. Looks like i will be doing this as a quarantine task
I did the same mix but added an equal amount of Black Kow to the mix
This is a great video that you for sharing Doc! Very clear and simply explained, well demonstrated.
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. :)
Doc how much sand would you recommend per Yard of screened soil from a Topsoil supplier ? I am getting 10 yards delivered and what them to add the sand mix for me thanks.
I'm sure I'm looking too deep into it, but when you say 50/50 mix sand and soil, are you meaning by weight or volume?
Volume. My local fertilizer place suggested the same 50/50 mix for deeper leveling. This was a good watch.
Hey Doc, just put out some Humic DG a little over a week ago, had a light rain , and watered. I noticed quite a bit of the dg particles were not doing their dispersible thing. Have you ran into this?
My yard will need something more persuasive than this method. When I cut the grass, my 36” walk behind mower jumps up and down uncontrollably. 0.6 acres of misery! I wonder if moving would be easier than fixing this lawn.
I'm sure you've answered this before but I must have missed it. Is the mix by weight or volume?
I have a little more than an acre of lawn that is so rough that the riding mower bounces and bucks around. It's a wild ride and like trying to mow the lunar surface. The lawn is full of hills and craters from years of damage by voles. Variations are probably up to three inches or more in places. It's not just in a few places but over the entire lawn. What do you suggest for fixing this mess?
Would topsoil work for the 50/50 mix?
My property is one big slope that has never been graded. To even grade it would require dump trucks full of soil. And I'm not even talking leveling. I just talking grading so that you can mow it with a riding lawn mower.
But I have seen other people with lawns flat as pancakes. And how do they do it? They just get a load of sand every year and work it into the lawn. Now mind you they aren't trying to do inches. When it is all said and done, the layer of sand might not even be 16th of an inch think. And with the first rain or watering, that sand just gets worked into the soil. It then gets mixed in with a years worth of soil conditioning from natural processes and you hardly have any sand at all in the mix. Do this year after year and eventually you simply don't have to do it any more.
My point to this is Doc's approach works when you have small ruts in the yard. But if you got some pretty knarly grading issues, just dump filler soil, pack it in, and see what happens with the grass. Its not a perfect fix. Hell, it maybe the first layer of many. And do what doc suggests the next year after this filler has had a year to settle and become part of the yard. But after that, you should be able to get away with just making micro fixes with sand. Again, you are not after correcting an inch gap in the yard. That takes Doc's approach to fix. You are just trying to fill in those last little gaps of unevenness.
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!
Hi doc I have a st. Augustine lawn any pointers in doing this? I have a 2.5 inch deep ruts and bumpy lawn. Should I do 50/50 as well?, and how low should I cut my st. Aug grass before leveling? Thank you!
Do you recommend doing this sorta stuff in the spring or fall? I live in zone 7b (long island, NY).......need to level out a big spot leading up to the patio.....let me know what season is best :)
thank you Doc, really helpful as i have a lot of these and will be my next project
Since 99% of lawns are 100% dirt, why is there a need for sand? Always just bought cheap bags of topsoil and spread it in low spots or lightly broadcasting after overseeding.
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.
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 just have a soft bumpy yard from moles. Don't want to do anything but press it down. Do you have any suggestions for that. I am thinking of buying or renting one of those big rollers that you fill with water. Then run around the yard pulling it with my lawn mower.
OK this may be a dumb question but I truly don’t know what is the purpose of adding sand to your yard why not just use topsoil dirt only my whole backyard is just about nothing but sandy grounds and I hate it stuff will not grow in it worth a darn was thinking about scraping off at least a foot of the backyard and bringing in New topsoil
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.
Keep trying to find a good video.... My lawnmower (push) jumps like a bronc with a cattle prod up it's butt when I mow.
I want ... smooth as butta ..... I like the soil prep ..... middle of Iowa and I wasn't so sure about using just sand.