Lumpy lawn

May 9, 2007 3:41 PM

Suggestions for a lumpy lawn?

The lawn in my new home is quite lumpy. There are a lot of little dips and hills all throughout the lawn. I don't know exactly what caused this. I believe the previous owner had a dog; maybe the dog liked to dig.

Whatever the reason for its lumpiness, I'd like to delump it. I looked around at places like Home Depot, but all I saw were large, heavy barrels that were meant to be towed behind a tractor. My lawn is too small for a solution like this. Nor could I afford to just tear everything up and resod (and really, the grass is fine, it's just lumpy)

The lawn is small enough that I think this problem is solvable with a shovel and some dirt, but I'm not really sure how to make it happen.

So can anyone teach my the secrets of an even lawn? Thanks in advance.

posted by chndrcks to home & garden (7 comments total)

If the dips are grass-covered (as opposed to bare dirt holes) you can fill them by raking in layers of sand over the course of a few weeks. The grass will grow up through the sand, add in another half inch of sand and repeat until the dip is level with the rest of the lawn. Lightweight potting soil will also work, but sand is a lot cheaper. If the dips are bare, fill in with garden soil amended with something fluffy (compost, peat moss, perlite, etc) and scatter in some grass seed.

Lumps are a little harder to get rid of and a lot easier to mess up. You might want to fix the dips first and see if that's good enough. If there's still visible hills, punch in a bunch of aeration plugs (those plugs of grass and dirt). You won't see a dramatic improvement in one round but if you remove enough plugs, the mounds will eventually drop down. The trick is to not remove so many plugs at one time that the surrounding grass has a tough time refilling in. If your soil isn't too clay-heavy, you can try renting a roller but those work best on prepped bare dirt, not so much on established lawns--no amount of rolling will fix hard compacted dirt.
posted by jamaro at 4:01 PM on May 9, 2007

If it is small then you can attend to it by hand. In the dips, pull back the grass (cut around it with a shovel when the soil is very moist and remove it like sod) and put some topsoil underneath. Do just the opposite with the crowns. For the smaller lumpy areas spread topsoil around on the surface and even it out. This will make your lawn more lush as a benefit. I would calculate how much is needed to cover it about 1/2 inch deep and have it delivered.
posted by caddis at 4:50 PM on May 9, 2007

I am currently working on a combo of the previous 2 answers - not adding sand though, just using a mix of topsoil and peat moss. Mow your lawn as short as possible, then add the soil (or take away as necessary), sprinkle on some additional grass seed, top with a 1/4" layer of peat moss, water twice a day to the 2-3 inch line for root growth. Now would also be the time to get your lawn dethatched or aerated if it is needed.
posted by blackkar at 5:59 PM on May 9, 2007

for the love of pete, do NOT use sand or peatmoss.

Sand is not a good soil amendment (even if you have heavy clay soil)! and potting soil isn't good for lawns either--it's better for pots, what with the amount of peat and/or coir.

Peat moss is not a good soil additive--when it drys out it's very very difficult to rewet. Also, it's harvesting is piss poor for the environment. (A good substitute for peat in potting mixes is coir fiber which is harvested from coconut fibers)

it'll take a few years, but the best way to do it is to topdress the lawn with some compost (best) or topsoil. Spread the compost over the lawn, over the grass, and gently rake it smooth over the lawn, aiming for like 1/4 inch depth over most places, and filling in the indentations with a little more.

I wouldn't cut into the turf at all if the grass is healthy, because bare patches are never pretty. topdressing takes longer, but is more attractive in the interim
posted by kumquatmay at 7:52 PM on May 9, 2007

A word of warning: I dealt with this by adding 2 inches of soil to the whole lawn (a tremendous effort), raking it level, and adding new seed. But I did NOT rent one of those large rollers to compress the dirt. The grass grew beautifully but a few months later the lumps returned, and I think that not compressing the dirt was the reason.
posted by underwater at 9:08 PM on May 9, 2007

It depends how much time you have. I'd be tempted to rotovate the lawn, then rake flat, and then reseed. That way you'll get a flat garden that's well drained with some terrific grass. The problem is the hard work, and also the fact your garden will be a mess for a few months. Ideally you want to be doing this when the earth is damp too.

I don't know where you live, and "rotovator" might be a foreign term to you. Basically they're mechanical cultivators that turn over the soil.
posted by humblepigeon at 1:34 AM on May 10, 2007

For a small yard, a Turf Hound is just the thing. Basically, you Turf Hound the heck out of your high spots, and chuck the cores into your holes. Unless your yard is clay (in which case the plugs can bake into Confederate bullets in a hot summer sun), you need do little more than water and mow normally for the yard to level out in a season or two. Working a small yard an hour or two, several evenings a week for one summer, you can accomplish a lot. Add a reacher to your tool kit to avoid bending over to toss plugs to the low points, if your back isn't all it could be.
posted by paulsc at 1:51 AM on May 10, 2007