What Causes Bumpy Lawns
- Changes in Temperature
No matter the cause of your bumpy lawn, it is wise to take precautionary measures to prevent further damage. By maintaining your yard carefully each season, you will eliminate the potential for a bumpy lawn. This routine lawn maintenance includes regular watering, raking, mowing, and fertilizing.
You can find more information on the cause of rough, bumpy lawns at this link.
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How Can I Level My Yard Cheaply
You can level your yard yourself on a budget, for next to nothing, using a rake, play sand and some soil from your yard. Firstly, level any small bumps with your feet, making sure the ground is moist when you step on them. Any animal holes can be leveled by filling the soil back in with soil from your yard and then topping up with topsoil if theyre small the existing grass should grow over them, for any larger holes you can sprinkle some grass seed if you have it and water.
For mildly uneven areas that require more work, topdressing is easiest. Once youve mowed the lawn, mix together some fine sand with some compost from your yard and apply it to the low areas evenly. Rake even if you have one and run a household broom over it to work it into the grass, water and monitor progress. Repeat if needed.
How To Level A Bumpy Lawn By Hand In 5 Steps
Levelling a lawn by hand might sound like a lot of work, but you can achieve it by following our step-by-step guide on how to level a lawn.
Start by mowing the lawn. Next, dethatch and aerate it. Then prepare a 50/50 lawn levelling mix of soil and sand. Spread the mix evenly across your lawn and run the sprinklers to let it settle well.
Take a closer look at how to level ground for grass.
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Do Not Roll With A Heavy Roller
Rough, bumpy lawns should not be rolled with a heavy roller. While rolling the lawn will remove some of the roughness, it also damages the turf by compacting the soil. Compacted soil conditions reduce turfgrass vigor and may eventually lead to a thinner lawn.
Rough, bumpy lawns are annoying. Breaking down some of the bumps by power raking and developing a thick, healthy turf should help alleviate this problem. Destruction of the earthworms is not feasible or advisable.
Start With A Butch Cut
Right now or in early spring is a good time to do this, because you have to give the grass a butch cut with the mower.
“Scalp the lawn as low as you can and then you can see all the bumps,” Minner says. “And it’s easier to spread the materials and drag them around and do leveling. When the grass is 2 1/2 inches tall, you can’t drag the half inch of material around because it just gets stuck down there in the grass.”
If you have access to a drag implement that can be hooked up behind a lawn tractor, try using it as an easy way to pull the material off the high spots and drop it in the low spots. Minner says this is also a good time to aerify the soil, and drag the plugs around, too.
One thing you do not want to do is try to flatten the yard with a heavy roller. It will take care of some of the roughness, but it also damages the turf by compacting the soil, which is what you’re trying to avoid.
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How To Smooth A Bumpy Lawn With Top Dressing
You can use top dressing to sort out lawns with smaller bumps and shallow dips around an inch deep. If you have bumps larger than this, then scroll down to the next section on how to smooth an uneven lawn by removing the turf.
Equipment needed:
Some people choose to make do with the tools they have rather than invest in a new leveling rake. But I definitely recommend getting a leveling rake. The leveler makes it really easy to get the lawn smooth and work the topsoil into the grass without damaging any of the blades.
Step 1: Mow the lawn as short as possible
Set your lawn mower to its lowest setting and mow the lawn. Having the grass as short as possible will help you see exactly where all the bumps and depressions are.
Step 2: Dethatch and aerate if needed
If you havent dethatched or aerated your lawn in a while, then this is the perfect time to do it.
I recommend dethatching when the layer of thatch in your yard is over an inch thick. When the thatch gets too thick it starts to prevent water and nutrients from reaching the soil.
I used this dethatching rake to remove thatch from my lawn and was very impressed with how easy it was. The rakes made in the USA, so it has a high-quality build and a low carbon footprint. If you have a bigger lawn, then its probably best to use an electric dethatcher. The one from GreenWorks will get the job done in half the time a rake would, and with a lot less effort.
Step 3: Prepare your topsoil mixture of sand, soil and compost
What Causes A Lawn To Be Uneven
There are a number of ways that your lawn can become bumpy or uneven. Here are some of the main culprits:
Animals
From your neighbourhood cats, to pesky foxes looking for food. Animals are a main cause of uneven lawns as they will happily stray into your garden in the months where your lawn is at its most vulnerable. There are steps you can take to prevent these critters from ruining your lawn.
The other animals
If kids are playing in the garden in when the soil is soft it can put a large amount of pressure on the lawn. This is of course not only bad for the health of the grass but will cause long term issues for the surface.
Nightcrawlers
These giant earth worms can be a real nuisance when trying to perfect your lawn. These little insects can shift between 20 and 25 tons of soil per acre to the surface every year. A great tip to prevent this from becoming a problem is to keep the pH level of your soil low.
Waterlogging
In the winter months the weather can play a big part in causing lumps and bumps in your lawn. If surface water is allowed to sit on your lawn it can cause long term damage, which is why getting your drainage right is so important.
Soil settlement
Things that occur beneath the soil such as rocks, piping and other debris can affect the composition of your lawn. The best course of action to resolve this is excavate the affected areas to break up the rubble underneath.
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How Many Times A Week Should I Water My Lawn
You need to water at least once a week for at least an hour in each area, this generally provides 1-1.5 of water to the roots .New Seeding Watering: Seed must be kept moist until established. This will be influenced by the amount of sun, wind and heat you are experiencing in your particular area. It is normal to require 3-4 short waterings per day to maintain a moist seedbed. Use a light stream of water to lessen disturbance of the seedbed.
How Do I Fix Depression In My Lawn
Start by combining soil, sand, and compost. The mixture should be poured on the low areas and spread out to cover the ground in a half an inch deep layer. The area should be checked to see if it supports new growth.
Once the soil has been thoroughly mixed, it is ready for planting. Mulch will help to keep soil moisture in check and keep the plants from getting too hot. You can also add some compost to the mix to help prevent root rot.
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How Uneven Is Your Lawn
How uneven your lawn is will determine how much work is needed to get it level. For example, your lawn might be on a slight decline or incline and you want to level that. If so, there are a couple of options .
On the other hand, you may have tiny bumps and holes, which youre trying to flatten out. You still have a couple of options but it shouldnt cost you as much in either time or effort.
Lets start with how to level a patch which has a slope
What If My Lawn Only Has Small Imperfections
A lovely lawn, with slight blemishes, made smooth by renovation of scarification, aeration, top dressing and over-seeding.
To smooth out and renovate a lawn that just has minor imperfections in the surface can be done by renovation during the autumn. It is usually best to scarify and aerate before top dressing so that the dressing can easily be rubbed into the dips. Top Dressing can be done by a lawn care professional or you can do it yourself. A range of Top Dressing is available, all being a blend of soil, compost, loam or sand, designed in different mixes to boost nutrition and assist in the germination of new seed. This is quite a big subject so please find more information here on how the professionals do it: or alternatively if you are keen to do it yourself a full range of top dressing products can be found here at The Lawn Store:
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Minor Leveling With Topdressing
Topdressing involves spreading a leveling mix of topsoil, compost, and fine sand. The soil should not contain mulch or plant debris, which can smother the grass.. The best sand to use is play sand, which you can buy at any home center. A typical mixture is 40 percent sand, 40 percent topsoil, and 20 percent compost. The sand provides good drainage, while the compost adds nutrients to the soil to promote grass growth.
Check For Insects And Diseases
Some pests and diseases can result in a lumpy lawn if they cause the grass to die in patches. These dead patches can then turn into depressions as the thatch and underlying soil is eroded away by wind and rain.
Keeping your lawn dense, healthy and disease-free will help to prevent bumps from forming.
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Do Lawn Rollers Really Work
Lawn rollers work if your grass has a few low bumps, but they will not flatten your lawn if it has major lumps caused by bad landscaping, ant hills or digging animals. The seeds will come into contact with the soil if you use a roller to reseed your lawn.
If you want to use a roller, you will need to make sure that you have the right type of roller.
Levelling A Lawn With Topsoil Or Sand
Now, how to start levelling your lawn? Can you put soil on top of grass to level it? Or do you need a mix of sand and compost?
The answer depends on how deep the bumps and ruts are. You can do minor levelling with topsoil or sand. You can simply spread a thin layer of either topsoil or sand over the lawn without smothering the grass.
If you need to level some deeply sunken areas in your lawn, youre better off filling them with a soil mix. We recommend using a 50/50 soil levelling mix of sand and compost. The sand will provide good drainage while the compost will add nutrients to the lawn and promote grass growth.
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What Is Topdressing
Topdressing is something that is carried out regularly by the best golf clubs and bowling greens. The greenkeepers apply a thin layer of finely graded sand or soil to the top of the grass and work it down towards the roots. The main purpose of it in this context is to create the perfect playing surface. But it can also help to control thatch, weeds and diseases.
For a domestic lawn, topdressing is the perfect way to smooth out the surface of your lawn without going to the trouble of lifting it or returfing.
Simply distribute the topdressing material around your lawn then work it into the sward using a broom or the back of your rake. You could even use a blower provided its switched onto its lowest setting .
Watch my video to see how it works
How To Level A Yard
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Besides tripping us over from time to time and giving our neighbors a good laugh, the odd bump in our lawns here and there may seem rather benign, but they can actually lead to some pretty severe problems.
The issue we face is how to address these lumps and bumps. Its not exactly something everyone knows how to deal with, and lets be honest, altering a landscape is no mean feat, even over a small area.
Not to worry though, my fellow green thumbs, having dealt with plenty of lawn lumps myself, I know exactly what needs to be done to rekindle that putting green aesthetic. Consider this article your comprehensive bump abolishing guide.
Well be discussing why a level lawn is important, what causes these earthy growths and depressions, and, of course, how to remove them. Sound good? Excellent lets get started!
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Levelling Shallow Spots In Your Lawn
Shallow depressions in your lawn that are about an inch or so deep can be fixed with the application of lawn dressing/top dressing from your local garden center.
Heres how to level a yard with shallow spots:
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Reseed Lawn As Necessary
Depending on how much topsoil you had to put in to make your lawn even, you may find that you have some bare spots where grass doesnt grow through. If this is the case, replant using grass seed in those areas, following the steps you usually would, to patch the bare spots. Once the new grass grows in, youll be amazed at how smooth, and even your lawn looks.
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How To Level A Lawn
There can be many reasons why your lawn isnt level and it can also cause many problems to your lawn if it isnt levelled out. A lumpy or uneven lawn can be difficult to mow and maintain, and water can sometimes have difficulty draining in an uneven lawn. Well explain the causes and solutions on how to level a lawn.
Can You Fix A Bumpy Lawn On A Sloping Yard
Answer: The process of how to level a sloping lawn is a different and much more in-depth one than the method for bumpy lawns described above.
If your lawn has a few bumps or dips, youll need to find your highest and lowest points and correct the bumps accordingly to our steps above.
Re-grading for steep slopes, however, is often a more extensive project than homeowners choose to tackle on a DIY basis. Calling a professional landscaping company may be worthwhile if youre planning to change the slope of your entire yard.
When youre finished, you wont believe how much easier it is to mow your grass.
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A Moderately Bumpy Lawn
The topdressing technique mentioned above often takes a few days or weeks to work. Also, it wont be really effective when you have a few more low spots in the lawn. In these cases, the best solution is to pick up the sod and put dirt under this layer. Heres how it works:
Step 1:
Remove the grass layer in those low spots. If the areas are large, consider cutting out and set aside separate chunks to make it easier to carry around without breaking.
Step 2:
Use the shovel to fill the hole with topsoil so that the area would be smooth after you change the sod.
Step 3:
Add water while shovelling the soil to get rid of air pockets, which might ruin your work.
Step 4:
The last step is to change the sod, then water the grass.