How to smooth a rough yard

[sixdogs]

A way that works well for me is to approach things in late August when the ground is burnt up and dry as a bone. Drag a disc harrow over it with cut-out blades and then use a Brillion seeder or at least a heavy packer to press the ground down. You don't chew it up too heavily and the understory of grass will pop through when it rains. As well, I add some new seed and this has worked for me.

 

[franklinute]

I rented a core areator to use in my backyard a couple of weeks ago. I have about 3 acres in back and it has a few ruts that are a hard jolt when you mow perpendicular. It rained most of the day but it really pulled up some nice deep cores. A few days later I drug with the chain link fence trying to drag cores into the trenches. This process worked pretty good still a little rough. I may try dragging again.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

You can spread sand over it. It is the great equalizer and will settle into the low spots. Usually sand is the cheapest stuff a dump truck will haul you.

 

[EagleTDL]

Have the same problem with my lot, rough as a cob and will jar your teeth loose on a ZTR... Prior pasture, prior small scale meat processing plant, years of neglect, house construction, etc.

Best solution I've come up with to date is dump topsoil on the low spots and smooth it out with the box blade. To keep the box from "digging", I cut a 1/2" channel length-wise in a piece of 1-1/2" PVC pipe and I slide that over the blade. Grap the topsoil with the box and drag it until I run out of dirt. The PVC-wrapped blade will ride the high spots and deposit dirt in the low ones as you drag the dirt around. Do this in a couple of different directions and that solves the problem 95% of the time. I say 95% because even though I run the BX over the dirt a couple of times, I still get some settling that I'll have to go back and touch up at a later time. Grass will pop right on through in a couple of weeks if you are lucky enough to have some rain...

Eagle

 

[jeffinsgf]

Lost track of this thread for a couple days...

I use to follow a professional turf forum...golf course superintendents, professional groundskeepers and the like. None of them would use a spike aerator. A spike just adds to compaction. Pulling plugs removes material instead of just squishing it. Plus, as has been written elsewhere in this thread, you have the plugs to redistribute to even things out. I've got zoysia in my yard, and it will be time to aerate in just a few weeks. I don't know why, but I love that job. Something about the "click-clack" of the aerator or seeing how dark the soil in my yard is, when the areas I haven't sweated over are so poor. It's just a very satisfying job that I look forward to every year.

EDITED TO ADD:

Kyle's right. Sand works wonders to even things out. That's another thing I picked up on the turf forum...that's why golf courses top dress with sand on a regular basis.

 

[EagleTDL]

Lost track of this thread for a couple days...

EDITED TO ADD:

Kyle's right. Sand works wonders to even things out. That's another thing I picked up on the turf forum...that's why golf courses top dress with sand on a regular basis.

Depends upon where you are located?? In my area, a tri-axle dump of topsoil is a 5th the price of sand! Half-day event for the dump driver to get to the quarry and deliver sand as opposed to a 15 minute trip to the nearest brown dirt...

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Depends upon where you are located?? In my area, a tri-axle dump of topsoil is a 5th the price of sand! Half-day event for the dump driver to get to the quarry and deliver sand as opposed to a 15 minute trip to the nearest brown dirt...

True, true. Location, location, location. Makes me wonder how much is sand per load in the Sahara???

 

[EagleTDL]

True, true. Location, location, location. Makes me wonder how much is sand per load in the Sahara???

Ha! Good point... I like to fell out of my chair the first time I got a sand quote around here! I agree with "jeffinsgf", sand is really the way to fill in low spots in the yard, no doubt. But, if you ain't got it, you use the next best thing, ya know??

 

[jeffinsgf]

Well, I'm pretty sure I'd gladly trade you a load of my cheap creek sand for a load of that black dirt you can get cheap. Black dirt around here is as scarce as hen's teeth and as pricey as gasoline.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

here in Lee county Texas, we have plenty of flint rock rifts, clay where I live and sand all over the place. Used to grow peanuts a plenty.

Maybe 2 years ago, I got a bobtail load of sand for about $85.