Filling in tire tracks

Kentucky bluegrass, Fescue, Rye and Bent, etc
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southern-ct-4
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Filling in tire tracks

Post by southern-ct-4 » July 12th, 2021, 3:26 pm

In March/April/May of this year we had some work done at our house, and I let the guys occasionally drive their trucks on the yard (side of my house so I don't care that much), as they would have otherwise had to walk pretty far lugging a lot of sheetrock, etc...

In any case, some parts have bounced back pretty well, but others have not, and are still quite bumpy (again, I don't care how it looks/you can't even really see it, but it's terrible to mow over and I bounce all over the place in my tractor). I have a pretty deep front yard so the tracks are maybe 80' long (though for some length of that I really may not need anything, vs. needing probably 2" or more in other lengths).

What are my best options for fixing it (again, doesn't have to be perfect, just a lot better than it is)?

Should I wait for later this summer and just pour bags of top soil along the tracks, and then seed (along with the normal seeding steps)? Should I start now and gradually pour a little top soil every few days/week to avoid burying existing grass too much and see if it grows through (so I don't have to seed later)? Should I do this with sand instead?

That being said, I imagine I would need 10, 20, 30...bags of soil, which starts to get impractical unless I do it slowly over time. If I try to do it all at once, I might need a yard of soil delivered. I'm ballparking these figures as it's really hard to say exactly how long the tracks are (where it needs to be filled in) and how deep they are).

Thanks for any suggestions.

YEM
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Re: Filling in tire tracks

Post by YEM » July 12th, 2021, 4:15 pm

Maybe try raising the turf with a pitch fork first. I saw that suggestion in this thread below and it’s seemed to work for me in a few areas this year.
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=24573&p=346928&hilit=Fork#p346928
I also need to try it on some tire tracks (from tree removal trucks), but don’t have the time/energy.

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ken-n-nancy
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Re: Filling in tire tracks

Post by ken-n-nancy » July 12th, 2021, 5:34 pm

I feel your pain on this. Had the same problem with existing lawn being driven over when replacing our septic tank a few years back.

+1 on the raising the turf with a pitch fork. The needed soil is all still there to have it be level. Adding soil on top will simply bury compacted soil below.

If a couple rounds of work with a pitch fork aren't sufficient, this physical compaction is one of the few times that core aeration can be helpful. For that, I'd suggest a manual core aerator, so that you can do only the portion in the tire tracks.

edslawn
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Re: Filling in tire tracks

Post by edslawn » July 12th, 2021, 7:21 pm

What about using a chemical aeration, like BSLC, to help with the compaction and combine it with top soil to help level it?

southern-ct-4
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Re: Filling in tire tracks

Post by southern-ct-4 » July 13th, 2021, 9:20 am

Thanks guys. I'll try the pitch fork idea and see how that goes

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