A Level Lawn

Sometimes it’s hard to keep things even in our lives. Life will throw us some curveballs. Keeping things level isn’t always easy, but there things you can even out…like your lawn.

Keeping your lawn level and looking green means removing bumps and hollows. It’s not as hard as it sounds. You’ll need some basic equipment and the folks at HGTV have provided step-by-step guidelines to help you level your playing field.

Now, back to that equipment. Here is what you will need:

·         Half-moon cutter

·         Turfing spade

·         Gardening fork

·         Top dressing

·         Pre-seeder fertilizer

·         Lawn seed

·         Broom

·         Garden hose

After you have the equipment, the first thing to do is check over the lawn for any problems.  Then you are ready to start digging:

Use the half-moon cutter and slice a cross shape right through the center of the bump or hollow. Make the cut as even as possible.  Using the turfing spade, cut while making a slicing motion. Your cut should be about two inches deep. Keep the turfing spade as flat as possible to keep turf at an even thickness.  You can now peel back the flaps of turf.  Try not to break them up.  If you are only leveling out a bump, dig out the soil until it is level with the surrounding area.

Now you need to fill in any hollow parts of the lawn.  Fork over the soil to a depth of just about two inches. This should break up any large clumps. Make sure to remove any large stones. After digging, tread down lightly and start filling each hollow area until it is level with the surrounding soil. Use a quality top dressing for the fill. Rake it to break down the soil. Add the pre-seeder fertilizer to the soil.  Gently fold back the flaps of turf. Firm each one down by using the back of a rake.  Start at the edges of the square and work your way to the center of the flap.

If you still have cracks, brush in some of the top dressing. This will help prevent the edges of the turf from drying out. It will also help the next time you use your sprinkler system to water the lawn.  Watering the lawn will help firm up the areas that were leveled off.