Need advice on lawn

[Maxfli]

Well (with no previous experience) I did my yard when the Septic field was new. The grass looked great and we did not top dress but the soil was pretty good already. The issue I have is the yard looked great for 2 or 3 years but now (pine years in) I have had some settling where the field lines run. I am temped to top dress those areas with some sand now to bring them up the level. I am not sure if I should have done anything differently as I don't think you want to compact to lines much.

 

[charliepff]

Actually that is a really good idea. I was also thinking about renting a home depot dump truck and hauling manure and such myself. I will post pics thisevening of the yard.

 

[FF117]

Having to replace a 5 year old septic system is unusual. Sounds like someone screwed up on the install originally.

My thoughts on the yard are that you are getting to the end of planting time for some grasses and you may be better off grading and waiting till fall. I would also get a soil test done before spending too much on fertilizer and seed. In my area we have very acidic soil and if you don't lime to balance the PH you never get grass to grow. Talk to your county extension agent. They have good info on what works best for your area and how to get a soil test done.

MarkV

I agree with MarkV. Get a soil test done and possibly wait until fall if you can. We installed a pond recently and I assumed that lime would be needed on the back side of the dam, but after having a soil test done I was surprised to find that the ph was actually too high. Applying lime would have been counter productive. The local farm bureau here does soil testing for less than $10 per sample. Money well spent. Also, fall is usually better for establishing new lawns and it will give you some time to prepare and save some money. Whenever you do it, make sure you don't skimp on things like seed, fertilizer, straw, and watering because you probably won't be happy with the results.

I worked for a lawn care business for 5 years and have seen the good and bad. I'm no expert, but if you need I can give you a step by step on what has worked for me.

 

[charliepff]

My work schedule is hemming me up this week. I will probably rake the yard and work on the edges on Sunday since there are still some piles of rock and tree chippings from the stump grinder. I was thinking about spreading the tree chips around the yard and mixing them in with the soil. There are still some low spots I need to shovel some dirt into since they are around the deck and wood piles too.

 

[Ranger Rick]

My work schedule is hemming me up this week. I will probably rake the yard and work on the edges on Sunday since there are still some piles of rock and tree chippings from the stump grinder. I was thinking about spreading the tree chips around the yard and mixing them in with the soil. There are still some low spots I need to shovel some dirt into since they are around the deck and wood piles too.

Adding wood chips to the soil is actually counter productive to getting grass to grow. For the wood chips to decompose it take Nitrogen from the soil thus robbing the young grass of the Nitrogen that it needs to grow. If you can find decomposed leaf mulch or manure that would be better. Rick

 

[forgeblast]

My lawn was nice, I regraded everything, (did not bring in top soil) had it limed and fert, and grass was coming up great. It looked like a nice lawn.
Then my wife was home sick, our road master came by and said "Hay we are working on the roads do you want some dirt?" She says sure and goes back to bed. I come home and find bushes run over, and about 100 ton of dirt in plies and mounds in our yard.
I was at a loss for words. Eventually I was able to call the township, they came out and spread the dirt(that guy was a master with the dozer). and everything was regraded.
Pulled the rocks again and reseeded and limed.
the Grass looks great now in what is basically a mix of soil and modifed gravel If your short on $$ grass will grow, will it be baseball park quality, no but if you need grass now it will grow. You could always, once things calm down $$wise, put compost in the yard and reseed.
My modified drive way has grass in it at times the seed seems to grow better in gravel