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hamiltonblooms

bumpy grass / ground in back yard !

hamiltonblooms
15 years ago

Hi Everyone,

My problem is my back yard grass is very bumpy and gets very hard as the summer season goes on. I was hopeing not to roto-till it because I have 2 kids and a yellow lab who would have a hayday in the dirt.

Any suggestions on how to make the ground / grass more supple without any major work. I have tried rolling it but did not work last season.

any help would be greatly appriciated, Hamiltonblooms

Comments (8)

  • ianna
    15 years ago

    Hamilton,

    So you havea a hard and lumpy grass situation.

    I'm afraid you'd have to bite the bullet on this one. YOu have 3 options and all will involve loose dirt. One is to rototile, 2nd is to add more topsoil to level the yard, the third, is to strip your grass and add new sod.

  • Judy_B_ON
    15 years ago

    You'll have to live with it. Frost will heave the soil, your kids and dog will leave foot depressions if they play on it while wet -- any solution will need to be repeated every spring.

    Rolling is not recommended as it compacts the soil. If your soil is high in clay it will get hard in the summer, but so will any soil if it sees a lot of foot (kids and dogs) traffic.

    You could try areating and top dressing for marginial improvement in soil texture; by repeating yearly you will build better soil over time.

  • clairabelle
    15 years ago

    Could it be a mole problem?

  • hamiltonblooms
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Thanks everyone, after asking around a few garden centers I was given pretty much the same info.

    Thanks again.

  • ottawan_z5a
    15 years ago

    Will a thick top dressing with a sandy loom soil with a lot of sand in it not help her situation? The earth worms in the soil will gradually mix the sand with the clay soil and the lumps will not be as hard as before and will easily erode to level off and further formation of such mounds will be reduced. However, this will require more sand mixed in the sandy loom.

  • curlylocks
    15 years ago

    I guess all of us are experiencing the same thing in Hamilton? My back yard is like that too and I don't have young kids or animals all over it. I found that our problem was mostly from mice overwintering under the snow and their tunneling and we also found evidence of moles or voles (whatever you like) that tunnel from underground. Could this be what you're experiencing and don't know it?

  • ianna
    15 years ago

    If a grass lawn is as lumpy as the person has described, adding sandy loam is not going to help much. I use horticultural sand as top dressing to help build up the grass layer. But beneath such layer, you will still encounter the hardpack clay which because of it's quality will take a long time to straighten out. Lumps can be caused by stones, building refuse and wood, animal holes, etc. Also, when it rains, these become a muddy, soggy mess. In my own yard, I have a heavy clay area - such that when i walk on it when it;'s wet, I leave shoe prints. It will take a lot more than simply top dressing.

    If the lady is desperate, then add a good deal of good topsoil, have it leveled properly, and then lay down sod. This way, the grass is instant, the mess is kept to a miminum.

    Ianna

  • hamiltonblooms
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Thanks again for all the info. we ended up leveling it off with some top soil and seeds for now. it looks great so far.

    hamiltonblooms

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