Homeowners struggle with uneven lawn surfaces
Multiple users are dealing with dips, divets, and low spots in their lawns after seeding or due to existing conditions. They seek advice on how to level these areas, whether to add more dirt immediately, or wait for natural settling.
SOURCES (60)
“Got my yard aerated yesterday . Majority of the yard looks fine but man they really tore up some areas. I don’t think I’ve ever seen larger areas rip up like this before. Calling for 1.5-2inches of rain over the next couple days. Will these…”
“2 weeks after overseeing and happy with the progress as a first time home owner! I’ve been watering 2x a day for 10 mins each time. Still have some bare spots. When should I mow and what should I do about the bare spots? Also does anybody have tips on how to get a bunch of acorns out of a lawn without ruining the grass! submitted by /u/Certain_Trip_5658 [link] [comments]”
“I had this issue. If you throw down more seed, you can overcrowd the grass and cause more issues. However, I would rake to get some of the dead grass out before proceeding to overseed lightly if you want to go that route…”
“I reseeded a small area that I had filled in with topsoil to cover a sink hole. This is what happens when your new seed is light years ahead of the rest of the lawn 🤣 submitted by /u/lewis9z [link] [comments]”
“I was curious, when you overseed, is it preferable to use premium seeds that you can buy from a speciality supplier or are big box store seeds good enough? Thank you submitted by /u/carmen-1987 [link] [comments]”
“SE mass. Seeded with blue resilience September 7th. Had a couple wash outs since then. I am wondering if I mow this in a few more days or go ahead and add more seed now? submitted by /u/foozeball2468 [link] [comments]”
“That mesh will absolutely fuse into the turf if you leave it down, pull it before the roots grow through it.”
“I dont get why people don’t just seed. More effort up front and patience required but you end up with a much more lush lawn”
“Thank you! At what length should I think about mowing it? The blades are still thin and the ground is soft, so don't want to accidentally damage anything lol”
“Hi all. This is my first time planting grass and I would love some feedback/advice. About 4 weeks ago I dug up the old lawn, doing my best to remove weeds and roots in order to plant grass. Did some research beforehand and thought I had a handle on the sowing part. Raked it all up, cleared weeds, tried to level the best I could, seed in alternate directions keeping it thick but not over crowded, raked back in and walked over it to tamp it. Didn’t lay any additional soil on as I didn’t want the s”
“Yeah do it more frequently to keep the surface wet. If 10 mins is too much then try 6 minutes 5-6 times a day. Key times is when it is sunny to keep it moist since no seed covering, best if you rake in the seeds with top soil, but really optional. Timer is best setup. All in all it is pretty good just want to get the other spots filled in before winter so weeds are more suppressed in spring, but even if it doesn't work out easy to do in spring.”
“Yea. When I say roll, I just meant using a roller. Do a standard quarter to half inch top dressing, and when you hit a big crack, just roll back & forth until the void fills up. Use a push-roller, I mean. You want to work those big cracks. Or just fill buckets and dump sand in the cracks.”
“So do I hit only the areas with almost no grass and gigantic cracks and avoid areas of my lawn with decent grass?”
“Zone 6a. 3 weeks ago I scalped the yard, scarified, raked, aerated, overseeded and fertilized. This is after the first mow. I believe i had some washout in front yard from all the thunderstorms we’ve gotten, but the back (pictured) is mostly nice and flat so it’s looking quite healthy, finally. Thanks for all your help, everyone! submitted by /u/timex_86 [link] [comments]”
“I have a slow/low grow lawn. It's very much tufts of grass. There are areas between some tufts that didn't take. I'd like to fill them with soil and reseed. What should my topsoil/sand be? submitted by /u/ExcellentRound8934 [link] [comments]”
“Thanks! I am most concerned with weeds filling in the bare spots. Is it better to overseed in Spring? Or better to apply a Spring pre emergent and overseed in the Fall?”
“Looks good! Since you nuked the whole lawn and are basically starting from scratch, I imagine you’ll have to overseed again (maybe in the spring) to fill in any patchy area. Give it probably two more weeks before mowing”
“lawn was totally burnt after hot summer, this is how it looks after 3,5 weeks of overseeding. Will this fill in on its own or should i reseed? submitted by /u/Ok_Veterinarian4287 [link] [comments]”
“Look - anything you do will kill the new the grass as you point out. What I would do - put the seed down, then take the BACK of a rake and run it across the grass to try to push the seed down on to the soil so it's making contact with dirt. That shouldn't damage the existing seedlings. Then the name of the game is keeping them moist. Frequent (3-4x a day) waterings of just a couple minutes to keep the soil wet. Good luck!!!”
Aerate, at the very least. The seed needs to be in contact with the soil.
“Exactly. You might blow a bunch of cash on grass seed but I've never seen anyone post a picture of their lawn that died from overseeding.”
“Started this from scratch after killing off the old lawn/weeds. Spread topsoil, seed, and starter fertilizer about 16 days ago. submitted by /u/EugeneGrowGuy [link] [comments]”
“Yeah. I raked as lightly as I could. Then put down a little more seed and rolled it over with a lawn roller. I figured the raking was fine bc ppl recommend light raking new seed in anyways”
“Thanks. Could i through some seed mix on all other parts of the lawn to try and thicken it up aswell?”
“Ive seeded my entire lawn in late October and come may 1st it exploded. Got great results.”
“I use Gardener's brand steer manure from Lowes when over seeding and it works great. No issues with weeds. Works better than Peat Moss IMO.”
“I need help with this area of lawn.. should i just be throwing on some lawn seeds? Im in NZ so we have just entered Spring submitted by /u/bbradley88 [link] [comments]”
“your soil quality is not good enough, it'd be a slightly slow process, but well worth it if you live there for long since it'll make your future maintenance easier~ like other said, areation would be a good start”
“Looks pretty rough, think that rain screwed ya man. I feel you though, just did the same thing to my yard. 1-2 months of digging huge rocks and leveling. At least you still have time to throw more seed. Edit: I used EZ straw and it was fantastic at sticking”
“First time home owner. Lawn has all this dead grass. How do I fix this? Do I need to rake it out? Midwest submitted by /u/kovobomb [link] [comments]”
“Also working on front. 10 days after reseeding a couple of largr areas where I tore out large aread of bunched tall fescue. Was hoping to overseed entire lawn after aeration, but they havent come out yet and I fear its getting late. https://preview.redd.it/gnr965956prh1.jpeg?width=3060&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=82e5dc9ec16a7cd1ff05982d0a7c40923f2bd28e”
“Post a close up of the grass. My biggest mistake was cutting too short for my grass type. It would start out good every spring and I would mow it and by the time the heat came it would stress the very short grass out until it looked like this.”
“You hand sifted 5 cubic yards of dirt? I just threw it down. Those small rocks will make there way down in the top soil and disappear”
“Just mowed and I am assuming I just need to re seed this? How do I find out which grass this even is? submitted by /u/Chefbigandtall [link] [comments]”
“A few days, gently. Keep it short, basically mow as normal. Overseeding a Lawn | Yard and Garden "After seeding, keep the seedbed moist with frequent, light applications of water. It's usually necessary to water at least once a day. Continue to mow the lawn at a height of 1½ to 2 inches. Mow the lawn frequently to reduce the competition from the established turfgrass. When you begin to mow the new seedlings, gradually increase the mowing height over the following weeks. The final mowing”
“Seeded eight days ago, first time ever nuking an area like this. Coming in great in some areas, thin and slow in others. Since I put five yards of soil in and hand sifted it all I was out there all weekend and every night after work for 10 days. Easily spent 50 hours on this 1500 square foot area. A few of the neighbors have stopped by to ask what I am doing and why. I explained that I had some invasive grass, some low areas, weeds, and some underperforming grass so I wanted a fresh start. She s”
“Honestly I don't think I'd put lawn on those slopes at all. Slopes are difficult and dangerous to mow, particularly when wet. Have the lawn on the flatter areas. Stepped rockeries would slow runoff, provide garden beds for planting veges, plus as an added bonus, add plenty of space for more train tracks. You could have a fully sick terraced outdoor layout! https://preview.redd.it/jfqu1bodlmrh1.jpeg?width=500&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=de7e5990b2466902a6d30e81654207dfc4c386c0”
“Do you think the fact that it stops larger material (clumpy stuff) is a good thing? Last year, I used the cheapest source of local topsoil & compost available. I knew the 5yd dump I got had many weeds in it (I picked out a lot but am sure I removed less than half of them). Considered building a sifting table this year, to remove impurities once dumped in my driveway. I determined that I already look crazy enough to the neighbors. I think the compost spreader, while annoying, saves time. I’d”
“We had a section of the yard we were renovating and our toddler did a good job of noticing that we don’t step on the new dirt area. For the first few weeks we didn’t go out back as much. When we did we made sure to tell him to stay off the fresh dirt/seed. There were maybe one or two times he walked through but it turned out ok. Now two months later and it looks like the rest of the lawn so he knows he’s fine to walk on it.”
“I'm trying to plant seed in about a 1500sqft section of my front lawn that was completely dug up so it's completely bare ground. I've spent about 50 hours working to get the ground ready to seed because it's heavily compacted sandy clay. It's amended with good compost etc. This is my first time planting seed or having a yard at all and I'm getting too perfectionistic about the process and don't know where to draw the line. I'm planting TTTF and KBG and I'm rig”
“A few years ago they did work on this pipe that goes out to the street. They filled in dirt and laid sod. Lately it sunk more and the grass isn't growing so I was thinking of getting some dirt and putting in seed. The 10 day weather prediction ranges from the lowest as ~50F to about 72, but most days high around 65. Would seeding likely work? If so, how do I estimate how much dirt I need? Can I just shovel it on top of this ditch and put the seeds over it? Does covering with straw work? Is t”
“Central Texas. What’s my first step? Can I throw winter rye out to have some grass? I don’t like what little grass that is there. We trip over the runners. I can’t take everything out and have a dirt back yard. We have a dog. Yes, we know the new fence is a mess. All is being replaced. Full sun. submitted by /u/Separate-Role6498 [link] [comments]”
“I love seeding right before a nice rain. If you’re not on a crazy hill I think a good rain helps push it down and gets it in good soil contact.”
“Overseed the bare dirt patches and spray the weeds. Wouldn't hurt to throw down fertilizer elsewhere. If you're going to overseed this weekend is pretty much your last shot.”
It depends on the type/s of turfgrass you have and how it spreads.
“Got a lot of grubs, and I got a bag of 24hr grub killer. Should I put it down and water it, and add topsoil and seed right away? Or wait 24hrs to add topsoil and seed? submitted by /u/New_Radish_6668 [link] [comments]”
“This area used to be a garden. Too much for my wife and I to upkeep, so decided to expand the yard. Leveled as best I could and seeded on 9/8. Fence will be coming down in the spring and will seed that too, keeping it up to keep the dog out of there for now. When should I give it its first mow? Is it too early? Is this gonna be a pain in the ass come spring with the amount of weeds I already see growing? Anything preventative I can do now? Thank you in advance! submitted by /u/codyka”
“Same thing happened with me this year. After adding new dirt/sand and leveling, my lawn was dotted with a bunch of bare areas. I ended up not having enough peat moss to cover everything. Any area that had peat moss had much quicker and way more germination. I'm talking the same area where 1/2 got covered and 1/2 didn't...there was a clear line of germination exactly where I laid the peat moss.”
“So this side of my yard is completely new this season. It was all overgrown junk and trees for the last 50 years and we cleaned it up over the last two years. Our excavator put loam over everything and seeded with a perennial ryegrass seed. This was completed in May. The grass took well but it’s still very patchy when we view from overhead. I just aerated, applied tenacity, overseeded and put down starter fertilizer two weeks ago. I can see some new germination but it’s still very patchy. Should”
“Seeded Resilience II in this area that we previously had some plants in. Seeded on 9-7 and covered with burlap until I had germination. Minnesota 4b submitted by /u/Mudster88 [link] [comments]”
“Did I ruin my lawn? It was patchy before but just had the lawn slit seeded by lawn doctor and now it’s a muddy mess. The thing that worries me most is that because the backyard was still damp from rain there’s long trenches in the yard now from the machine. Will the soil settle? submitted by /u/knicksfan9 [link] [comments]”