Leveling TOP DRESSING Low Spots in Lawn | Topsoil or Sand or Both for Leveling LAA25
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- Опубліковано 21 сер 2019
- Leveling lawns or top dressing lawns, what does it mean and what is best for lawn top dressing and leveling? Sand or Top soil or both?
Mentioned in this video are my friends who also have great content on this subject. Choose your own lawn adventure as you enjoy all of our content:
Ryan Knorr:
• Leveling My Lawn Befor...
• DIY Soil Sifter // GRE...
Connor Ward
• TOP DRESSING drag mat....
• How to TOP DRESS your ...
The Left Tool:
• Leveling with SAND vs ...
The Right Tool:
• TOP DRESSING and LEVEL...
Lawn Tips : Ben Yo Mate Waddup:
• How To Level A Lawn | ...
Reel Low Dad soil sifting:
• How to Screen Soil | L...
• Leveling the Lawn Alon...
Visit my website:
thelawncarenut.com/collection...
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GREAT video!!! I think you are very good at organizing thoughts and explaining them at a 5th grade level that I need. 👍🏼
I had a guy say to me that teachers complicate, but communicators simplify. Sometimes I am a little for both.
The Lawn Care Nut
Love it! 👍🏼
I can listen to you talk for hours. Thank you so much for refreshing my lawn skills and enlightening me with new knowledge and resources to follow up
I'll be listening to this my last hour of work. Just in time!
I moved from Romeoville 14 years ago into my current home where I’ve struggled with my lawn over the past 5-6 years. The lawn here was brand new. However, I’ve had issues keeping it as beautiful as my lawn in Romeoville. Well, this video, I think, answered many possibilities as to why I’m struggling. Great information, Allyn! Thanks a heap for your help!!
Excellent materials for the Engineer......as precise and detailed as it gets. Thanks Alyn, you never disappoint or fall short with your “lectures”.
Awesome video with lots of great advice! I am locked and loaded for a full lawn renovation coming up in about 2 weeks. Been binge watching you, Connor, Ryan, Pete, etc all summer to figure out the plan. I can already say with the few changes I have made throughout the summer months, my lawn is looking incredible! Thank you for all your valuable advice! In 2 weeks I am going to be doing some leveling of the existing lawn, aeration, overseed a mostly KBG blend(elite varieties), starter fert, humic acid, and tenacity applications. Going to be a busy few days as I have 1.6 acres to cover! For anyone on the fence about the benefits of humic acid / sea kelp blends: They ABSOLUTELY work! I have a lawn in Michigan that is primarily sand with zero shade (Literally no trees). The lawn has been sparse, pale yellow, and gets heat stressed every summer. Up until this year I have never added fertilizer, watered, or anything. This July I applied a humic acid product along with Tenacity for weed control and NOTHING ELSE to the lawn. I then went on vacation for 2 weeks while we experienced 85-95 degree weather. When I returned I was SHOCKED to see the lawn was a deep healthly green color and almost appeared to be filling in. Keep in mind I still have not fertilized the lawn at all! I am completely sold on the benefits of humic acid. For reference, the product I used is called Root Ruckus from GS Plant Foods (available on Amazon). I sprayed it at a rate of 3oz/1k sq ft. It absolutely works!
Love that Sunshine skyway bridge.
A little bit of Lawns Across America is better than a whole lot of nothing! You really packed a lot of great info in that 16 minutes Allyn! Thanks for putting forth the effort for us LCNs!!
I was going to put down some top soil but you have changed my mind! Sand it is! Thanks Allen!
How did the sand work?
Great subject! Answers many of my questions and concerns. Thank you!
I actually like the shorter format! In fact this video at 1.25X speed is just the right length. Thanks, LCN!
Thanks for the valuable info. Makes sense for leveling. I was conflicted on the topic.
you're welcome!
"Filtered through the wings of angels." 🤣🤣
Nicely done. When looking to improve your soil, getting the proper micro biology into your land is the best thing you can possibly do to turn that dirt into soil. The micro nutrient products you mention toward the end are a good way to feed and maintain the diversity of the soil food web. Properly grown QUALITY compost, or actively aerated compost tea with added components (humic/fulvic/kelp/fish emulsion, etc) is still the best inoculant to introduce the proper micro biology into your “dirt” to make it SOIL. Once we have a soil with the right amount and diversity of microbiology, we can start letting the members of that food web do a lot of this lawncare for us and be provided with the proper structure, that will provide air and water to the root zone which in turn will create drought tolerance. Proper soil biology provides pest and disease resistance as well, eliminating the need for ‘cides... When we think biology first, we can stop thinking so much in terms of NPK’s and more about feeding those micro creatures to keep them working for us. Whether you topdress or level with sand or topsoil, know that the bacteria/fungi will make the enzymes to pull nutrients out of either of those materials as well as any parent material or organic matter in the soil. Good luck to all these cats leveling their lawns...and to those who live on old school lawns like me that like a bit more natural beauty and can live with a few dips and bumps, I salute you as well. There is no right and wrong in lawncare chicks and dudes....damn this was long, sorry Al. Have a good one.
I plan to buy a few bags of topsoil to fill in some big holes and a few low spots as I overseed in a couple weeks. Sure, it’s kind of lazy but it’s been working as I’m slowly getting it more level.
I am grateful to you and gci turf UA-cam channels which introduced me to N-Ext products which is the real deal. I live in a subdivision where you have fescue, and tiftur and my tifway 419. Since using the next products I have NO competition. Thanks a million.
Thanks Allen, love all your video and this one hit real close to home about lawn leveling and what to do. Very good suggestions. Peace
That was a great video! You made me laugh “wings of angels”. I learned a lot thank you.
Thanks for the video LCN.
thanks for sharing other youtubers links. I blew up my lawn but didn't kill of weeds first, weeds all came back, and I still have bumps even with "Landscapers" doing final grade. Even hydroseeded, still all weeds. Now I'm having to spray all 10K sq feet with Tenacity post emergent
you'll get there - remember, eat the elephant one bite at a time.
Well said, I think the situation you are dealing with should specifically dictate what materials you use in your lawn. I did a “partial” burn down of my lawn, I.e I hit the nastiest of weeds and clumping tall fescue garbage with glyphosate, scalped, and reseeded. Mechanical aeration made things even more bumpy but I’m hoping that it breaks down over the next few weeks. No top dressing for the seed, I just threw’er down and hoping for the best :D
Thank you for sharing just subscribed. I’ve been a sub on LCN for awhile. Thank you Al.
Congrats on the 10 sir. Glad you are here.
This is one of my favorites. Allen is The Lawn God.
Awesome dude
Awesome info and great videos
Well said ! I feel like you condensed a 1hr seminar into 16min LOL another job well done
preparing to renovate 800sqm of zoysia grass in a few weeks. cutting back the soil, taking out 80 cubic meter of soil and along with the nut grass weeds and filling it with sand with 5% clay content.
still juggling between adding soil on top of the leveled sand or mixing the soil with compost for turf underlayer, or not as zoysia loves sandy media.
When I asked my pops about stopping seeds from my top soil, he said we can find a very large oven and get it up to 225 degrees... Or expect weeds. Stick to sand.
I love when you talk about the south suburbs of Chicago my friend. That’s where I dominate! But I’m more west over by New Lenox
hoorah bro! One of my best friends from TG lives in New Lenox. Catches some big bass in those little lakes.
💪🏼 Fishing is good around here. Nice little secret ponds everywhere. TG trucks are everywhere in my subdivision.
I like to use compost but you will get various weeds from compost too. When I use compost as a top covering for seed I also will use a Mesotrione to have pre emergent protection. For 4wks after that any weed that comes up can be very easily pulled while mowing- in my experience.
Very nice and clear information. Thanks for sharing.
"Filtered through the wings of angels." ha ha. You are funny dude, Al.
I'm a bit proud of myself after watching this. I have used the same explanation on leveling vs top dressing...even recently on the LCN group. In the older LCN group, there were a couple of guys in there that had lawns that motivated me to level mine. I took a year to read and second guess myself, but I finally got it done. Cool video that I hope will help encourage folks who want to level their lawns.
awesome bro!!!! Thank you for all you do in our group.
@@LawnsAcrossAmerica, not sure about cool season lawns so I'll bring this up in case you want to add a disclaimer.
It seems that warm season turfs (Bermuda in my case) have an optimum window that goes from May to late July because of the growth rate. So according to what I've read, for us warm season guys, it's too late. When would the optimum window be for cool season folks?
I plan to get 3 yards of topsoil and seed the lawn this fall. I have tons of low spots in my yard and want to bury the old grass and put down som PRG. Another year, I’ll use sand, but I don’t need to fine tune level, I’ve got a roller coaster lawn.
First Aussie 😁. I feel level today Al, that’s a bonus.😁👍👍
when you are level, the whole world is level bro.
I would like to go from a fine tall fescue to KBG.. if I mow at the lowest setting, dethatch, aerate, and overseed KBG, will it take it over at some point?
Thank for sharing
Allyne what about having to renovate a golfcourse fairway that has clay as it's soil.. The clay has been really compacted which has led to the invasion of goose grass...in such a situation we have decided to core aerate the fairway and topdress with top soil
/compost....is it the best step to take?
I'm in pa. Need to level back yard. Since you recommend sand, what kind? Can I mix sand with top soil or compost together and level out with that leveling rake? I still want to seed this fall or just level out with sand? But with just sand can I still seed?
Is it okay to use loam/ top soil delivered by a nursery to level out established lawn before I aerate. Want to even out as much as possible. I will be aerating plus overseeding plus spreading organic compost late September. Not using sand here to level. It's Loam or nothing. Please advise.
When I took a turf management class in the late 90's to take care of a little league baseball field, topdressing was the term the instructor used for the process of making the turf in the playing field flat. Think about how kids play baseball. The outfielders all stand in the same place. Thus those three spots in the outfield always needed addressing.
What is the recommendation on a sloped lawn? I have a slight pitch for the first 20 yards or so, but then after that it's a heavy slope.... anything i can do there?
Hello this is Eva in Florida i had a beautiful lawn I think i put to much iron on my lawn anyway I notice i have topido growing in my lawn and lots of weeds and my yard is un level can I put mason Sand on top of weed or do i have to get rid of the weeds and were can I get biochar from and do i re seed and put the 10 in 1 down it almost September should i just wait for fall to get the yard ready for next year
I know this is an old video and I feel like I am getting "mix info" from different sources and opinions. With St Augustine, will sand burn the grass and now encourage growth when leveling? I have a low spot after installing irrigation where the lines/valves were dug.
Ended the video with a trip to Key West? Nice.
The referenced videos are all for thinner short turf types. St Aug is so much thicker, it's doesn't seem like the leveling rake would work on a thicker turf like St Aug. Do I need to mow it down to 2" inches before applying leveling sand. Is there a better method for St Aug?
Good information, so right now my lawn is pretty much level with the sidewalk and I want to raise it to 3 inches. Would I add sand
Big help! Changed my game plan for over-seeding. Thanks!
What can I use to level my st augustine lawn? Some say use compost some say use sand, which is it? My dirt is already pretty good, if I water too fast it just runs off the sides, I have to use a sprinkler.
Al,can I use a mixture of both at maybe a 2:1 ratio sand to top soil? Also what kind of sand do you recommend
By using sand what is the upkeep year over year since it contains no nutrients. Will I have to spray bio stimulants in the areas I’ve put down a lot of sand for leveling purposes?
If you have a good established lawn, but have large dips. Where trees used to be wasnt leveled right at the time. I dont want the start over, but theres a 5 inch or more difference in places. Do I dump sand into those valleys?
I would like to do the finish grade myself what is the best machine to use in your opinion in south Florida?
Allyn I just added irrigation to existing lawn. Naturally after backfilling the trenches, the trenched areas are lower now. What's your recommendation in this case as I need to both level these spots out and get them reseeded.
level them out and sod on top would be best.
What’s about the liquid-aeration product from Simple Lawn Solutions? Work any good, or snake-oil? 🤔
I'm thinking of doing a topsoil/sand/existing clay mix for dips in the lawn. Eventually adding more over time as the top soil disappears so I don't overwhelm the grass successfully existing there. Allyn, is this considered a teaser clip of LAA25 before it drops on UA-cam?
I have Bermuda growning in my st augustine. Is there anyway I can lay st augustine sod on top of bermuda?
Hi Allen, how timely. i was planning on trying to level three extremely bad areas of my lawn this fall. With top soil! ha!! changing over to sand!!!!
But have question about that sand and possible bare spots , small to maybe medium in size. do i add mulch or topsoil on top of sand along with overseeding ? I have been a fan for 4 years since i retired and took over my lawn from lawn service. Your advise has helped me dominate my neighbors and given me a lot of pride in my lawn thank you Carl Gillmeister, Buffalo , N Y.
How'd it go with the sand? I'm in Lancaster and looking at leveling a few low spots.
Which top dressing soil do you recommend me , to buy from lowes or homedepot
Hey I truly appreciate your helpful insight. Can you forward me some tips for tifway 419
@Lawns Across America
Allyn, you say that there are better ways to rehab the turf and soil than core aerating and topdressing with organics. Can you tell me what those are or lead me to the information? I'm in GA and have 60% established Bermuda and 40% Zeon Zoysia that I sodded this year. Parts of my yard we're too shaded to keep the Brenda strong so my lawn suffered from erosion pretty bad over the past 24 months. That has been remedied, but I need to repair the soil that had been eroded. I'm planning to aerate & topdress with organics this year and possibly level with a sand mix next year. What would you recommend?
The owners of my house originally SEEDED on top of clay soil...sigh. I've been battling this every since moving in 10 years ago. I'm doing a pretty good job but there's some parts of the yard that are still bumpy and dry out like crazy because nothing keeps the moisture in.
I have a t ball field at work that is at a very low level grade and turns into a lake when it rains. I can't run drainage to the street because we don't have sewers and it will go into residents houses. Right now I plan on removing all the infield ball mix and putting down tons of soil to bring up the level then sod. I am in a Chicago suburb. Do you recommend this idea?
That's a whole lot more then I can help you with here in comments. But for sure, the water has to go somewhere so if you build up the ball field, then you may want to consider where the water will go and make sure you are not creating another problem somewhere else.
Bring on the XStart ! Great vid bud .
I’ve got St. Augustine Grass. Would you recommend I use Seaweed compost?
It’s free from city of Fort Lauderdale. It’s a combination of dirt, sand, and seaweed.
YES YES. YES AND. YES
Thanks YM!
Thanks
What if your yard is full of weeds like creeping charlie that you can't get rid of and a couple low areas?
If you wanted to top dress AND level, would you top dress (aerate, collect plugs, top dress) then level? Or should you do one (top dress) then maybe 6 months later do the other?
I want to over seed as well. So should my steps be, punch (sweep plugs away) sand (level) then over seed?
Same thing I am trying to figure out.
To level st Augustine lawn what type of sand is best and what time of year? Congrats. Thanks
st Aug is tougher to do and you will have to scalp it down a little before you level. Use mason sand and you can do it when the lawn is actively growing. Not in winter.
This was a good ass information.
We just moved into to a brand new house and the builder did not put down proper finish grade before the sod. Many bump from the tracks of the vehicles that worked on the site. Should I use sand to fill the bumps? The sand won’t hurt growth of grass in those areas?
Yes sand to level. Rake it in. Don't bury the grass and you will be fine.
How low to cut the lawn before laying sand? Saw where Connor ward cut his half an inch to spread the sand easier.
Is it better to lay sand for leveling and then reseed with the n-ext products? Can I use air8 instead of an aerator machine?
yes you can use Air8 and there is no need for mechanical aeration. I think leveling the lawn is the most important first step, then you can seed later down the road.
Anyone know the name of the song and artist in the introduction? Thanks
I only filter through angel wings pricey but the results are heavenly
Like 👍 your video
godfather, i did a lawn renovation and am seeing elite baby bluegrass at 8 days. maybe the new kbg seed does germinate sooner and/or the heat may help
I have 23.5 acres of land (aka soccer fields) would sand be the best option to leave the fields? Would constantly running over move the sand around, also would the sand stun the growth of grass?
23 acres? Yikes
I over seeded this Fall - Is it ok to sand level in the Spring next year?
yes once the lawn starts actively growing again, for for it!
My lawn has some big dips and ruts in it. I am planning on using top soil to level it out and re seed. Maybe in the fall after the new grass is healthy I will take it to the next step with sand. If I used sand now I would have spots that are 2-3 inches thick with sand.
Oh and I am going to spray everything with tenacity to hopefully prevent any weed seeds I bring in from germinating. Fingers crossed.
How'd it go? I'm in a similar boat. I've got a few really low spots
@@scottpugh9586 worked great! I am not even going to bother with sand since I don’t need it reel mower flat.
Thanks for the reply. I'm a teacher and wrapping up my summer downtime. I'll plan on ordering topsoil for know to smooth out the deep spots. Perhaps, I'll fine tune it with sand next summer.
So I've had some pretty good success with overseeding and topdressing with compost the last few years but this year I'd like to tackle leveling. There's a tree in my front yard and unfortunately the roots have caused some major problem areas. There's one decent sized low spot that must be at least 3-4 inches lower than the surrounding lawn. I understand why sand it the better choice for leveling but surely 3 inches of sand will kill everything underneath of it, and can I expect to grow new grass seed in it? I feel like a mix of 50/50 soil/sand might be the right move? Maybe after a few years of doing that it'll be nice and level?
For severe dips you take off the top layer of soil, backfill it with fill dirt, and replace the top layer over that. Then level with sand and some soil over the next few years.
How would I decide if I should burn down and start over?
Sorry if this is a repeat question: what time of the year (spring, summer, fall) is it a good time to level your lawn? I live in West Tennessee. Thank you. Great informational video
you can do it whenever the lawn is actively growing, probably not best just before winter.
@@Thelawncarenut Thank you. Another question: is sand good to use of leveling in the south? I believe our soil is different and I watched your video and understand the benefits of sand but don't know if it works in the south.
What brand of sand do you recommend for leveling your lawn? I heard medium Sand is Best?
I just realized that you stopped doing the lawns across America weekly post. What other ways can you improve the soil besides top dressing?
How do you level out cow hoof prints? Asking for Connor...
😂😂😂
Idea! Seems like 1 bag of sand, 2 bags of peat moss, mix up, lay down.
Something like that.
Living in N.j. What kind of sand do you recommend for leveling?
Mason sand . Not too many fines in it.
Can you talk about seeding a hill and techniques to get the seed to stay and not wash out?
Netting and hay is the only way.
Yes, consider sod on the hill.
3 Keys Brewing was just sold. Hope the new owners don't ruin it.
Really? Dang
@6:14 Mumble mumble...Connor Ward :) Yeah, I caught that
But what of I have to aerate and level.. What do i do? Will the seeds grow from the sanded areas.. Do I then put top soil on top of the sanded parts that I need to level... This video just through me for a loop with the anti topsoil message.. I understand why sand is better to level.. But this fall I'm doing a rehab need to level aerate and seed.. What do I do with the sanded areas?
you don't have to correct every problem right now. Eat the elephant is small bites. Level it now, work on seeding and that next year.
Will sandy soil work?
👍👍
The Hunter Thompson book explains a lot.
👊🤘
Wow that was intense. And basically told me everything I'm about to do is wrong. Ho hum...
Can I level with sand and also overseed with a peat moss covering at the same time?
I would not recommend that. One thing at a time is best.
Lawns Across America That you Allen! I’ll wait to overseed until next season! I’ve got 5 tons of masonry sand on order now!
@@Saltworx SPend the fall getting things flattened out and you can also probably push the lawn with some fert once it pops out of the sand slog.
Lawns Across America My man! Thanks a bunch AL! 👊
Lawns Across America How long should I expect to wait for the grass to make its way through in those deeper areas?
What's the best time of year for leveling? I have Bermuda grass and live in middle Georgia.