Prepping site for grass

[Morning Wood]

Be got 1/3 acre in my back yard that needs to be cleared and I want a nice lawn. When we bought the place you could barely walk back here. I cut a bunch of brush down but haven't been staying at it for the past couple years. Have to cut some trees so stumps will have to be pulled. But there are alot of roots in the ground from all kinds of briars, brush, and trees. Would a disc harrow be able to loosen this stuff up enough and then go over it with a York rake, or should I be looking at getting bigger equipment in? Ex will have to come in for stumps obviously. There is a lot of ledge too and some rocks, but good topsoil. Only problem is its loaded with roots. Any thoughts? Thanks, Nick.

 

[JimRB]

You do not say where you live. Where I live whatever I cut gets rotten in a few years here I can knock the old stumps loose with a sledgehammer or the tractor. A third of an acre I would be using my pulverizer with the chew up the earth spikes. Or maybe a box blade with the teeth down to pull up the loose stuff. Of course when you run around with disks or teeth you pull up rocks. What about brush cutting it, tossing out seed, scratch the seed in with a rake, cover with straw and water? Just keep mowing and briars will go away. They did on my 9 acres. Roots rot or can be hand grubbed assuming you are not cutting down 36 inch trees. Or if you already own a tractor you could run a single shank subsoiler to tear up the roots.

 

[namesray]

you say you want a "nice" lawn. on just 1/3 of an acre (not that big), i would get the stumps/roots out, scrape all the briars/brush/leaves out and haul in top soil. if not it would be a few years before you get to the "nice" lawn status. all depends on what your final vision is and how long you are willing to wait.

 

[tractchores]

I've done this a couple of times and have found that there's a couple of approaches. You can cover everything up with some nice loam (especially that size lawn), the roots will rot themselves and don't matter. If you want to keep the same grade you can use a rototiller to cut up the roots as much as possible and then rake it out (roots will tend to surface in this process), you can rake by hand or machine and then flatten with a lawn roller and plant seed. One technique that seems promising is a harley rake, it'll loosen the soil, blend it and catch rocks and roots. I haven't tried it yet, but might on my next project. I would recommend getting plenty of good grass seed and mixing it in with the soil when you plant for a thicker lawn.

 

[Carl_NH]

HI - I'd say you live in NE US - CT/PA/NY/NE region by the foliage and rocks. So, step by step, I would cut the briars, weed wack the entire area, rake it up then grind the stumps down and then disc, add some loam and plant grass.

Pulling stumps is only going to get more rocks but if you have lots of rocks then rent an excavator and move them, but pulling stumps out is going to leave you with a root and rock mess more than you have.

FOr this size area its a two weekend job with the right machines and tools.

 

[flusher]

Be got 1/3 acre in my back yard that needs to be cleared and I want a nice lawn. When we bought the place you could barely walk back here. I cut a bunch of brush down but haven't been staying at it for the past couple years. Have to cut some trees so stumps will have to be pulled. But there are alot of roots in the ground from all kinds of briars, brush, and trees. Would a disc harrow be able to loosen this stuff up enough and then go over it with a York rake, or should I be looking at getting bigger equipment in? Ex will have to come in for stumps obviously. There is a lot of ledge too and some rocks, but good topsoil. Only problem is its loaded with roots. Any thoughts? Thanks, Nick.

Use a subsoiler/middle buster plow to pull up the roots and rocks. Clear the debris by hand. Then rototill, roll and level the soil.

Here's some of the equipment I used when I installed lawns at my new house in 2005



Good luck.

 

[muddstopper]

Forget the middel buster, plow, subsoil approach, you will just bring up more rocks and trash than you can hual off. Rocks deep in the soil should be left there and Roots buried in the ground just add carbon to the soil. Use whatever it takes to remove the stumps and trees, then the suggestion about using a harley rake for rakeing and smoothing is 100% your best option. This type of attachment will loosen the top 2 or 3 inches of the soil, it is designed to angle side to side so you can roll the trash and rocks off to one side for easy pickup either by hand or with a FEL if available. The harley will also knock down high spots as it fills in the low spots for a very smooth lawn. Work the soil in at least two directions for best leveling results. After getting rid of all the trash and rocks, the harley also works very well for mixing any soil amendment into the soil, just broadcast the material and go back over the area again with the rake.

Donot use any Urea based fertilizer when planting your new seed. The gasification process as the Urea turns to Ammonium will kill your new seed before it ever comes up out of the ground. Use of ammonium nitrogen based fertiliers is ok, but still not without its risk. In fact, your new seed doesnt need any fertilizer to germinate as the seed already containes everything it needs to start growing. Wait until the grass has comeup before using any fertilizers and you will have a better thicker lawn. If you feel you must use fertilizer while planting, then use a coated fertilizer product for slow release.

The minus to using a harely rake is dust, it will make a ton of it as it grinds up the soil. A plus is the speed at which you will be done with your project. A 1/3 acre plot can be raked and ready to plant in about 30 min.