The best time to level a lawn is spring and late summer as the grass is growing vigerously. You can level a lawn and fix a bumpy yard anytime the grass is actively growing. Find a time when there are 3 days of no rain.
You'll need a few materials ie. wheel barrow, bow rake, levelawn or landscape rake, flat pan shovel, and a lawn dethatcher like a dethatching rake / sun joe dethatcher / power rake machine. 1. Measure your lawn - So you know how much product / soil to purchase. 2. Choose the right leveling soil - sand / top soil must be screened. Inform the company your purpose is to level a lawn. Tell them upfront that you can't use soil that has debris like rocks or gravel. If you get a load with rocks, gravel, wood chips purchase a screen at home depot/lowes to manually filter. - for smoothing or leveling only, i recommend using 1 ton of sand per 1000 sq ft of lawn area. Sand to be screened 2mm or finer. Commonly called playground sand or leveling sand. - for amending soil / lawn aerification - clay soils - sand 2mm or finer - Sand soils / sandy loam - 50/50 blend topsoil w/sand at 1 ton per 1000 sq ft. Lawns that are somewhat bumpy and aerating add 1 ton of soil per 1000 sq ft plus 10% Lawns that are very bumpy, and aerating add 1 ton of soil per 1000 sq ft plus 20%
- Raising the height of an area- Recommend purchasing a soil that best matches what you have. For clay, use top soil. For sand, use sand or sandy loam. - estimate the height you intend to raise. measure the sq ft of the area. google, top soil calculator. choose the type of soil and input your measurements. 3. Mow the lawn down to 1" - the purpose of this is to allow the sand to pass through. 4. Remove surface debris - Use a power rake, sun joe dethather or a manual dethatching rake. I recommend purchasing a sun joe dethatcher. Makes the job much easier. - optional service - lawn aeration - minimum two passes, one verticle pass and one horizontal pass. I recommend removing the plugs off the grass afterward. 5. Fertilize the lawn - Apply 1lbs of Nitrogen per 1000 sq ft. I recommend a fertilizer with the first number on the bag between 17 and 34. The application rates on the fertilizer bag will determine the rate. I prefer using the Propeat 17-0-4 at 5lbs per 1000 sq ft. - Optional service- soil conditioner. soil conditioners are a combination of calcium and humates. The calcium helps keep the clay / soil open and the humates help slough sediments off the roots which is why they call is a soil conditioner / enhancer. 6. spread the sand / soil to the lawn - distribute the sand on the lawn. Fill and load a wheel barrow up with sand and take the sand to the furthest point in the yard. Either dump the sand in piles and use your bow rake to distribute the sand or you can throw the sand by using a flat pan shovel (ginja perferred method). Apply between .25" to .5" of sand broadcast on the surface of the lawn. Best to test a small section first to ensure you do not over apply the sand / soil. If the sand is not dry, which it most likely won't be, wait 24 hours before massaging the sand into the ground. Use a levelawn (ginja preferred) or a landscape rake to massage the sand into the ground. I find it best to use the levelawn or landscape rake 4 different directions, in each area, when using the levelawn. This helps make sure the sand / soil is distributed properly. - optional service - grass overseed. - I recommend overseeding at 2-3lbs of grass seed per 1000 sq ft. Top dressing with peat moss highly recommended after seed application. Keep seed damp for 2 to 3 weeks minimum during the germination process.
