Leveling your yard without ripping it up is an arduous task. It often requires a lot of planning and a lot of investment in time. It takes the ability to find good soil, establish drainage, make sure your yard is level and draining correctly, prepare the ground, get rid of weeds and grass that might be there, and figure out how deep you need to dig to get it right – all while you’re under pressure from deadline after deadline.
How to Level Your Lawn
Mow
Before you start digging, the first thing you should do is cut the grass. Mowing helps reduce lawn clutter, cools the grass, and opens sunlight to penetrate moisture. Mowing should be done between 8 and 14 days before you start digging. If you’re mowing in late summer or early fall, you’ll want to wait a few weeks, since mowing is especially hard on your lawn in those seasons.
Dethatch
The next thing you’ll want to do is dethatch your lawn. If you haven’t dethatched in a while, you’ll probably notice some roots poking out of the grass. Grab a pick and start digging around the roots. Generally, if you’re leveling to make your yard less sloped and more level, digging up any seeds that are on the surface is a good idea; if you’re digging down, exposing the origins helps prepare for drainage purposes. The more sources that are exposed, the better your lawn will drain.
Broadcast Soil Mix
When you’re done detailing, it’s time to get a shovel and some soil. Broadcast the earth so that it covers all of your lawn evenly, and ultimately – the goal is to get the soil as level as possible. If you have a lot of dirt and very little grass, go ahead and spread the ground by hand. But if you have a lot of grass, applying it with a roller is best because the grass will grow in one direction instead of growing in every order. Ensure your soil is moist, since dry soil won’t broadcast well. Your mud should be about a foot thick.
Evenly Spread Topsoil Mix
Use the firmest soil you can get you don’t want to buy too much ground since it’s hard to spread topsoil when it’s still dry, and there are already quite a few inches of dirt underneath. Use your shovel to spread your topsoil evenly. This is important because if you don’t even out your topsoil, it will drain unevenly, and you’ll see little water lines ringing if you’ve leveled correctly.
Water Your Grass and Topsoil
Wait a few days so that your topsoil becomes moist. Once it does, water your grass and topsoil with the sprinkler or hose. This will get the soil wet, which can be hard to do when you’re covering a lot of ground with a lot of dirt. Use a watering hose with multiple heads or water in circles around the yard if you only have one director on your hose to prevent over-watering. Weed whacker will also help thicken up your lawn once it has been watered.
Leveling your yard without ripping it up is a task you can do with a little effort, as long as you’ve got the knowledge to do it. By following the steps listed above, you’ll be able to level your yard neatly and efficiently, even if you’ve been putting it off for a while. Leveling your lawn requires knowledgeable professionals. If you want accuracy and efficiency, hire Accurate Lawn Leveling. Contact us today for an incredible outcome.