Bumpy lawn repair

[Randyr3554]

My lawn is on heavy clay and really bumpy and uneven. So much so that I sprained my ankle stepping in a hole while cutting the grass. Rolled my ankle over and CRACK. That's great.
The grass is good, so how do I fix it?
The bumps, I mean, not the ankle.

 

[Egon]

You may be down to several choices:

One would be to bring in proper topsoil to level out the lawn. The other would require cultivation to level the area and then reseed.

Another option??? would be to convert the lawn to natural wild flowers and just let it grow. Mow once in the fall or the spring.

 

[Thomas]

Dang,now thats rough lawn Randy.
Do you own tractor w/box blade,rear blade,rake..if not maybe rent/hire small dozer to level lawn also pack at same time.

 

[legbuh]

Ours is similar, probably not quite as bad. But there are a a few spots where I bounce out of the seat when mowing.

I have a box blade coming and since I'm overseeding this fall I plan on trying it on the bigger humps first. And if it works slick, then I'll do it on the smaller ones too.

 

[RadarTech]

If it was just a few spots here and there-- Get some sand and drop in the low spots if the grass is thick it will grow through it..

that was posted here somewhere... but I can't remember who posted it...

J

 

[Tig]

I had some nasty heaving in my yard one spring and I needed to fix it faster than grass will grow. I cut slices out of the heave and stomped the remaining bump flat. The bump was pretty much gone. Works well on smaller issues. Right now I've got an 18" heave from two years ago in the corner of my yard near the shore. Been sort of ignoring it for now.
For low spots, holes and general bumpiness I cut the grass real short in early September, top dress and seed. All better in the spring.

 

[beenthere]

Drop piles of black sifted dirt around, and use the box blade to drag the dirt around to fill in the holes. Re-seed this fall and roll with a roller. Water well and you should have a smoother lawn.

Or as said, rototill the area that is rough and start from scratch.

 

[BruceWard]

My guess is that a lawn roller while wet will help a lot. I suggest using a 4wd 4 wheeler to pull the roller around. Most lawn rollers can be filled with water to increase their weight. You certainly want to fill it and bring it up to its full weight.

My wife rolled our 1/4 acre yard with a yard roller and 4 wheeler while I spread out top soil. It did a great job of smoothing and mowing was much easier afterward. The rollers can be pushed around by hand but with the 4 wheeler you are likely to hit it from more directions more times.

 

[radioman]

Well- Since I have no idea where you are located, and its summer meaning the clay is rock hard by now. If I were you, the easeist solution is to wait till spring and roll it. Be sure you go slow and take your time. Once its rolled, stay off the lawn with heavier equipment. Make sure you mow soft areas with a lighter lawn mower and when its the weather didnt rain at least a few days so clay has time to disperse the water.

 

[Ken45101]

Rolling will only do limited amounts of flattening unless the ground is so squishy that you leave tire ruts from pulling the roller

I have the same situation where we converted pasture to yard last summer. Rolling this spring did help a lot, but still only did part of the job. What made it worse this year was all the heavy rains eroded the bare spots

I'm hoping to put down some finely ground dirt and level it with the landscape rake.

For really bad cases, hiring someone with a tracked skid steer and a harley rake to tear up and smooth the bad areas is probably the ultimate solution.

Note also that rolling wet ground compacts it, which is bad for the grass roots.