Any tips on how to level a lawn

simplysound_2

Hey I tryed today to get rid of some dips in my lawn (ok, well its my parents lawn, I have recently become a graduate and wanted something productive to do)

I started off my digging the spade a good few inches in to mark out the area i was going to lift the turf from, so it roughly made a square around the dip. Then i divided the square up into strips and set about getting the turf up. This proved hard and the earth underneath the grass was uneven to say the least. Then i chucked some earth into the trench and patted it down before putting the turf back on top.

However i seem to have lost grass, around the edges, and the ground seems fairly uneven, i am dreading rain and feel like a cowboy.

Can anyone offer any advice before i try round two (on a different spot) i dont want to ruin the whole lawn!



cheers!

kazwookie

Top soil and grass seed / or a couple of rolls of turf, I think that is the way to go.

Good luck

SEE

simplysound wrote: »

Hey I tryed today to get rid of some dips in my lawn (ok, well its my parents lawn, I have recently become a graduate and wanted something productive to do)

I started off my digging the spade a good few inches in to mark out the area i was going to lift the turf from, so it roughly made a square around the dip. Then i divided the square up into strips and set about getting the turf up. This proved hard and the earth underneath the grass was uneven to say the least. Then i chucked some earth into the trench and patted it down before putting the turf back on top.

However i seem to have lost grass, around the edges, and the ground seems fairly uneven, i am dreading rain and feel like a cowboy.

Can anyone offer any advice before i try round two (on a different spot) i dont want to ruin the whole lawn!



cheers!

I'd dig the whole lot up, rotavate, then use grass seed. Alternatively, whack the bumps with a spade, and cover with bark chippings:D

moonpenny

Hi! Am in process of redoing back garden on a shoestring.
Have moved loads of paving slabs etc and "patchworked" any lawn I have sliced up so as not to waste anything.
Looks quite good but main problem is, it dips in places and rises in others. I can't afford to returf so is there any way of levelling it off. I thought I read somewhere about adding sand and seed gradually to build up the height!
Also, what kills off clover and moss?

tomsolomon

There are two ways to do this...
You can get top dressing that you rake over the top of the lawn, or for a smaller area try cutting into it with a spade or lawn tool (as if you were going to lift the turf) raise one end with the spade shove some soil under it then replace the turf and press down well. Dont forget to give it good water afterwards.....
As for the clover and moss a general all round weed and feed should do the trick. If the moss is realy bad try scarifying.

tanith

moonpenny wrote: »

Hi! Am in process of redoing back garden on a shoestring.
Have moved loads of paving slabs etc and "patchworked" any lawn I have sliced up so as not to waste anything.
Looks quite good but main problem is, it dips in places and rises in others. I can't afford to returf so is there any way of levelling it off. I thought I read somewhere about adding sand and seed gradually to build up the height!
Also, what kills off clover and moss?

You will never get a bowling green flat lawn unless you dig it up and start from scratch but you can make it acceptably flat by doing as the previous poster suggests... you can buy a lawn feed with moss killer mixed in I find it works fine.. as for the dips in the lawn I found that if I level them with a mix of garden soil and sand gently tread it down firmly and add another loose layer of soil then grass seed them well and cover with some wire or rose cuttings to keep the birds off.. it will eventually grow and level out.. when the grass starts to grow give it a couple of cuts with shears or large scissors and then I found I could mow it along with the rest of the lawn..

moonpenny

Thanks for the advice. Sounds like I was on the right track with the sand but I don't fancy digging turf up to pad out underneath. Got too many big dips.

tomsolomon

You only realy need to use just sand if you have poor drainage.
Best off with a good mix of topsoil, fine compost and a bit of sand for dressing....
If you do have a realy bad clay problem then you can aerate the soil with a garden fork, by putting the fork 3" to 4" into the soil every foot or so. Then dress over the top and rake in.