Grading, Fill Dirt, Topsoil and Seeding?

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drgolf
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Grading, Fill Dirt, Topsoil and Seeding?

Post by drgolf » May 5th, 2022, 9:01 am

Last November I had 20-25 yds of "topsoil" brought in to grade my backyard to improve poor drainage and slope issues causing standing water. I'm about to get ready to plant some grass seed as my backyard is mostly "dirt" now. Should I have the dirt/topsoil tested now to make sure it's topsoil and good condition for seed rather than fill dirt? At this point it doesn't look as black/dark as the bagged topsoil you buy at the store. Sorry for the dumb noob question.

edslawn
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Re: Grading, Fill Dirt, Topsoil and Seeding?

Post by edslawn » May 5th, 2022, 12:55 pm

Welcome to the forum!

Typically, you want to re-seed in the fall (think mid-August) for the best chance of success. A search of this forum will get you a bunch of useful tips on this. On the soil, I'll leave it to others, but it seems to make sense to get a test from logan labs before reseeding. Also, I'd get familiar with soil prep practices ahead of the reseed to avoid problems later.

Good luck!

northeastlawn
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Re: Grading, Fill Dirt, Topsoil and Seeding?

Post by northeastlawn » May 5th, 2022, 1:11 pm

You also have no idea what got brought in with that top soil weed and triv wise. Triv needs to be killed now, not in august it’s a good idea to fertilize and water to get any weeds up now so you can kill them with glysophate.

drgolf
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Re: Grading, Fill Dirt, Topsoil and Seeding?

Post by drgolf » May 5th, 2022, 1:33 pm

Yeah I know most recommend re-seed in the fall. I had extremely poor drainage and worse standing water after a new driveway was put in last October. Re-grading done last November and I don't want a dirt backyard all summer. Although it's nice not having to cut the grass back there for now LOL Maybe the dirt/topsoil is fine but it just doesn't look super dark black like the bagged topsoil. Just don't want to waste putting seed down, watering etc. if It's poor soil. Getting a soil test seems like good insurance before seeding.

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MorpheusPA
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Re: Grading, Fill Dirt, Topsoil and Seeding?

Post by MorpheusPA » May 5th, 2022, 2:55 pm

Yeah, I'd get a Logan Labs soil test. Right now, you have all late spring and summer to fix it in preparation for an August lawn planting--although for summer, if you want, get some annual ryegrass. It'll grow for summer, and you can kill it off in July to prep for your new lawn. If it doesn't look that great, no matter. It's cheap, it'll hold the soil in place, and it's easy to get rid of with RoundUp.

While summer wears on, work on weed control. As noted, you might have some nasties in there you want to get rid of...


edslawn
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Re: Grading, Fill Dirt, Topsoil and Seeding?

Post by edslawn » May 5th, 2022, 5:28 pm

MorpheusPA wrote:
May 5th, 2022, 2:55 pm
Yeah, I'd get a Logan Labs soil test. Right now, you have all late spring and summer to fix it in preparation for an August lawn planting--although for summer, if you want, get some annual ryegrass. It'll grow for summer, and you can kill it off in July to prep for your new lawn. If it doesn't look that great, no matter. It's cheap, it'll hold the soil in place, and it's easy to get rid of with RoundUp.

While summer wears on, work on weed control. As noted, you might have some nasties in there you want to get rid of...
Good idea on the ryegrass!

northeastlawn
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Re: Grading, Fill Dirt, Topsoil and Seeding?

Post by northeastlawn » May 5th, 2022, 6:02 pm

One last tip if you go with the annual rye, kill any grass now. Don’t assume you will be able to kill it in late July, if poa-a or triv go dormant in the summer, roundup won’t work on them, now is the time to kill triv. You can actually spray glysophate at the same time you put seed down.

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MorpheusPA
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Re: Grading, Fill Dirt, Topsoil and Seeding?

Post by MorpheusPA » May 5th, 2022, 8:03 pm

northeastlawn wrote:
May 5th, 2022, 6:02 pm
One last tip if you go with the annual rye, kill any grass now. Don’t assume you will be able to kill it in late July, if poa-a or triv go dormant in the summer, roundup won’t work on them, now is the time to kill triv. You can actually spray glysophate at the same time you put seed down.
Excellent point on that last. I sprayed glyphosate on my old lawn early, but was zapping stuff the last moment as I was seeding. Glyphosate has no impact at all on seed.

PhilWynn
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Re: Grading, Fill Dirt, Topsoil and Seeding?

Post by PhilWynn » May 6th, 2022, 12:51 am

drgolf wrote:
May 5th, 2022, 1:33 pm
Yeah I know most recommend re-seed in the fall. I had extremely poor drainage and worse standing water after a new driveway was put in last October. Re-grading done last November and I don't want a dirt backyard all summer. Although it's nice not having to cut the grass back there for now LOL Maybe the dirt/topsoil is fine but it just doesn't look super dark black like the bagged topsoil. Just don't want to waste putting seed down, watering etc. if It's poor soil. Getting a soil test seems like good insurance before seeding.
Yeah I totally agree with the speaker :good:

drgolf
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Re: Grading, Fill Dirt, Topsoil and Seeding?

Post by drgolf » May 6th, 2022, 8:32 am

Regarding the glyphosate, the backyard is all topsoil right now. Not a thing has grown, not even any weeds. Should I spray with glyphosate now when nothing is there or do I fertilize with Milorganite or something, wait to see weeds start and then spray with glyphosate? Sorry for the simple question.

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MorpheusPA
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Re: Grading, Fill Dirt, Topsoil and Seeding?

Post by MorpheusPA » May 6th, 2022, 11:50 am

No, that's a good question. If nothing's growing, there's no reason to spray. In Ann Arbor, MI, soil temperatures are JUST getting to the point where things will sprout. Source: https://www.greencastonline.com/tools/soil-temperature

Although there have been spikes where they might have earlier. Normally, we'd recommend a pre-emergent at this time, but there aren't any you can use if you're going to put down annual rye (even the specialty ones will cause problems with Festuca perennis [yeah, perennis, even though we call it an annual]).

Trust me, you don't need to encourage them. Weeds just happen.

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