Best Advice for Smoothing out Lawn?
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- Posts: 2
- Joined: July 30th, 2018, 11:18 am
- Location: Kingston, MA
- Grass Type: Kentucky Bluegrass
- Lawn Size: Not Specified
- Level: Not Specified
Best Advice for Smoothing out Lawn?
I have been in my house now for about 9 years and its been a rehab project for sure (yard wise). We have since gained control of most of our 25,000 sq. foot lawn and its on to maintenance style items now. This winter we had 11 trees come down, and well lots of holes in the lawn haha. I am looking for the best way to find/fill and flatten a large lawn area...
Do rollers really work? Any better tools for this?
We have a lot of bumps and such in our lawn and I want to be able to easily identify them and if large (fill in and seed), or small smooth out. They are not super easy to find just walking the grass and its a large area.
Do rollers really work? Any better tools for this?
We have a lot of bumps and such in our lawn and I want to be able to easily identify them and if large (fill in and seed), or small smooth out. They are not super easy to find just walking the grass and its a large area.
- llO0DQLE
- Posts: 1420
- Joined: August 4th, 2013, 3:20 pm
- Location: Edmonton, AB Canada
- Grass Type: KBG and Creeping Red Fescue
- Lawn Size: 1000-3000
- Level: Some Experience
Re: Best Advice for Smoothing out Lawn?
I think scalping and levelling with either top soil or a mixture with sand and soil is the best route. Check out the Warm Season guys for how they do this.
- Dchall_San_Antonio
- Posts: 3341
- Joined: December 17th, 2008, 1:53 am
- Location: San Antonio, Texas
- Grass Type: St Augustine
- Lawn Size: 5000-10000
- Level: Advanced
Re: Best Advice for Smoothing out Lawn?
This is kind of a quandary. When I bought my house there was very little actual turf grass. It was mostly prairie grass/weeds. What I should have done immediately was have the yard 'finish graded.' That would have filled in all the holes, leveled the hills, and improved my drainage off of the property onto the road. Flash forward 4 years and I have lots of turf grass spreading nicely, but also holes when I mow and not the best drainage. Wish I had fixed that at the beginning. You have a similar situation having gone to the trouble of growing grass and now wanting to level it.
Search the warm season grass forum for topics with "leveling" in them and get familiar with the process. It's a lot of work but can be a DIY project.
Search the warm season grass forum for topics with "leveling" in them and get familiar with the process. It's a lot of work but can be a DIY project.
- llO0DQLE
- Posts: 1420
- Joined: August 4th, 2013, 3:20 pm
- Location: Edmonton, AB Canada
- Grass Type: KBG and Creeping Red Fescue
- Lawn Size: 1000-3000
- Level: Some Experience
Re: Best Advice for Smoothing out Lawn?
Pete313 has done this. Just get to a low HOC gradually, topdress and level and you're good to go. If you are not planning on maintaining at 1" or below you probably don't need to be so anal about it.
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- Posts: 176
- Joined: June 10th, 2018, 1:41 pm
- Location: Southeast Michigan
- Grass Type: KBG I think
- Lawn Size: 5000-10000
- Level: Some Experience
Re: Best Advice for Smoothing out Lawn?
Curious about this too.
What is the recommended type of? Sand, top soil or both?
To me, without trying it, it seems that sands would be easier to spread and in my case the amount I would use is so little that it would hardly have an impact.
Could be wrong though.
What is the recommended type of? Sand, top soil or both?
To me, without trying it, it seems that sands would be easier to spread and in my case the amount I would use is so little that it would hardly have an impact.
Could be wrong though.
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- Posts: 1123
- Joined: April 14th, 2010, 7:01 pm
- Location: Syracuse, NY
- Grass Type: Bewitched, Award and Rhapsody
- Lawn Size: 10000-20000
- Level: Experienced
Re: Best Advice for Smoothing out Lawn?
I have a couple of spots like this that I have yet to deal with. What I would do is get a load of topsoil now and put it somewhere out of the way and then in late fall/winter/early spring when the grass is short and dormant and you can see the contours - go around and fill/remove soil as necessary. Actually what I would do is ignore the problem and let the grass camouflage the problem. But that's me!
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- Posts: 2244
- Joined: May 15th, 2012, 6:04 pm
- Location: Dracut, MA
- Grass Type: Northern Mix
- Lawn Size: 20000-1 acre
- Level: Experienced
Re: Best Advice for Smoothing out Lawn?
Amen. This is pretty much the only sane option with rocky, sandy soil and yearly frost heaves.schreibdave wrote: ↑August 23rd, 2018, 5:59 amActually what I would do is ignore the problem and let the grass camouflage the problem.
- Dchall_San_Antonio
- Posts: 3341
- Joined: December 17th, 2008, 1:53 am
- Location: San Antonio, Texas
- Grass Type: St Augustine
- Lawn Size: 5000-10000
- Level: Advanced
Re: Best Advice for Smoothing out Lawn?
We've spent a lot of time talking about the best sand or material to use. My problem with topsoil is you cannot find it without clods. Even a 1/4-inch ball of clod will mess up the process of dragging the soil once it is down. If you're only filling holes, then go for it. If you are filling a large low spot, then sand is preferred for the ability to smooth over without any hassle. I have used clay kitty litter to fill holes. Once the roots embed into the pieces of litter, it becomes a solid surface.
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