Any tips on how to level a lawn

Lord_Gardener

Just peel back turf and remove any excess soil - put this into any hollows that you may have!

System

I have abandoned any thought of trying to level our grassed ground.

First of all, the garden is on a slope. There is a level path running through it. On one side the grassed area is two inches above the path, yet three feet away, the ground lowers to 2inches below the path, then hey presto, it rises again. So there is an up & down three times. In the middle of this, there used to be an apple tree and the previous tenant had dug a round bed round the tree. Try as I might, I cannot remove this obvious mound/moat.

I am sure the producers of Telletubbie Land would welcome the use of my garden for their next series as it is identical to the one used in the current series.

To add one further headache, the grass is growing on clay. Is it any wonder we have ducks to keep the grass down as no mower could be adapted to the contour of this piece of land.

smk77

When we moved into our new build house a few years ago I decided to use grass seed to create a lawn. I thought that i'd got it pretty flat but i hadn't. There are now lots of bumps and I'd like to flatten it out. What's the best way of doing this? Just sand or a mixture of sand and soil?

Lord_Gardener

This should help!

http://www.greenfingers.com/articledisplay.asp?id=264

I tend to use a mix of sand and top soil to fill hollows - you should get plenty of soil from the humps if they aren't caused by builders rubble (often the case)!!

BUBBLES_3

Make sure that the sand is river sand [gritty] not builders sand [sticky] and only apply a enough to cover the existing grass. When its grown through that then apply another layer until the hollow has disappeared.

philgee

The best time to top dress the lawn to get rid of hollows is the autumn (if you can wait 'til then!). I usually mix a bit of compost in as well as sand and topsoil. Just make sure you screen out any big stones etc.

If you have any bumps to get rid of, don't be tempted to try and flatten them - if they need removing, carefully lift the turf and remove the soil from underneath and then re-lay the turf.

Regards

Phil

smk77

BUBBLES wrote: »

Make sure that the sand is river sand [gritty] not builders sand [sticky] and only apply a enough to cover the existing grass. When its grown through that then apply another layer until the hollow has disappeared.

whoops! I did it the other night using sand I got for under a patio. I've mixed it with some soil though and spread thinly.

Terrysdelight

Havent got green fingers (yet) but bags of enthusiasm.

I want to level my garden because I can't bear to look at all the humps, bumps, dips, hi and low parts. This is what I plan to do:

Hire a mini digger and remove all the turf

Put it in a skip.

Add new top soil and level out as much as possible with a rake.

Bang down the soil with a heavy plank of wood

Lay new turfs and bang down with heavy plank of wood and then water well.


I'm guessing I've got the basics here - is there anything else I should be doing apart from get the professionals in.......

Appreciate any advice. :j

philgee

Treading or heeling the soil and repeatedly raking the soil to level works well, don't rush it though. Adding fertiliser to the soil is a good idea too.

When laying the turves, they need to knit together to avoid shrinkage gaps.

Depends how good a lawn you want really, I'd recommend buying or borrowing a copy of the Lawn Expert.

Lotus-eater

Look into hiring a turf remover (not sure exactly what they are called) should be cheaper and easier than a mini digger