Spring has sprung

[Iplayfarmer]

After an unusually wet early spring, the ground is finally right for working. My back yard currently slopes towards the house such that any time it rains all the water runs into the basement rather than away from the house.

So... I am going to till up the back yard and re-grade so that everything slopes away from the house. I am considering putting in a sprinkler system while I am at it, and I'll probably extend the lawn back another 10 feet or so into what is now the garden (I can't grow anything anyway)

I have already broken up the sod with the rippers on my box blade. I tilted the blade all the way forward and dropped the rippers as far as they would go. My little sub-compact would only pull with it about 4 inches into the ground, but it would pull all five rippers. (I originally thought I'd have to raise some of the rippers and just use two or three.) I have also been over it once and a half with the tiller. On the second pass I'm down about 6 inches. I've left a portion of the lawn still intact between the door and the chicken coop so the kids can go gather eggs without tracking the whole back yard into the house. I'll tackle it last.

Here are the questions I have for now. I'm sure I'll have more later.

How far down do I need to till in order to plant lawn?
Are there any tricks to prepping the soil?
I have a bunch of horse manure piled up in the corral, would that be good to use for this application?
Any ideas for how to pack the ground before planting?
What are the best kind of sprinkler systems?

Any advice, encouragement, and counsel is greatly appreciated.

 

[cp1969]

If you wanted to do it right, I would suggest getting a soil test done, then till in whatever amendments are shown to be needed by the soil test.

I think you've already tilled it plenty, maybe too much. I don't think you need to go anywhere near 6" deep to plant grass seed. All you really need to do is break the crust, sow the seed, and drag it.

 

[LarryD]

I think you've got most of the work done. It will settle unevenly unless rolled and you may have some low spots to fill in later. This would also be a great time to get rid of some of your manure, I always use as much as I can any opportunity I get. 12 ton of hay a year means I'll have more manure next year.

A good heavy drag after rolling will really provide a firmer more level base to plant on.

 

[KiotiJohn]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( How far down do I need to till in order to plant lawn? )</font>
You're going to be dragging dirt all around to get it regraded. How much are you lossening to do that? I would suspect that after moving all that dirt around, you'll have soil loosened enough for planting. It doesn't take a lot of depth, but the loosesness will help the new roots to establish themselves.

I've used cow manure, but not horse manure. I'm sure it wouldn't hurt to use it, if it's composted before hand. If not composted, it could burn the new tender roots.

I don't use built in sprinler systems. For new planting, I water with movable sprinklers, and once established, the grass is on it's own. It either grows or it doesn't. Probably why I have a weed lawn more than a grass lawn! Looks good enough for me when it's cut.
John

 

[Iplayfarmer]

<font color="blue"> ...once established, the grass is on it's own. It either grows or it doesn't. </font>

Around here we're lucky to get over a half inch of rainfall in a month. I've got to irrigate if I'm going to have lawn.